6A REGION 1 GIRLS BASKETBALL: A statement night for Vikings ... Coeur d'Alene pulls away late for third-straight district title

POST FALLS — It’s becoming an all-to-familiar story for the Coeur d’Alene girls basketball team. 

Navigating a tough schedule early in the season. 

Bouncing back from injuries. 

Catching on fire when it matters most. 

Senior Kelsey Carroll scored a game-high 24 points for the top-seeded Vikings, who beat the second-seeded Post Falls Trojans 70-48 in the second game of the best-of-3 6A District 1 championship series on Tuesday, winning a third straight district title. 

“It always feels special to win,” said Carroll, who also celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. “It always feels special to win, especially when you’ve got a good group of girls that work hard day in and day out. They want it as much as you want it, and the coaches push you each day in practice.” 

Coeur d’Alene beat Post Falls 70-40 in Saturday’s first game at Coeur d’Alene High, and won both games in the regular season. 

“It’s kind of hard to play the same team five times,” first-year Coeur d’Alene coach Stacy Boyd said. “Sometimes you get different results each time. I just told them to keep their composure and play it one game at a time. Brookeslee got into foul trouble, but what I like about our team camaraderie is that it’s next player up, and we’ve done that all year.” 

Coeur d’Alene (16-7) advances to the state 6A tournament starting next Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Post Falls (8-16) will face the fifth-place team from District 3 (Boise area) in a state play-in game on Saturday in Grangeville.

Boyd took over for Nicole Symons, who coached the team to back-to-back state titles in 2023 and 2024 before stepping down at the end of last season. 

“Nobody expected us to be here,” Boyd said. “It’s a new coach, with a new philosophy and new expectations, but the players have all bought into that mental toughness. And they’ve been doing it all year long.” 

Carroll scored 11 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter. 

“It was a mix of everyone working hard,” Carroll said. “I couldn’t get them without my teammates working hard and doing what they do, so props to them.” 

Post Falls cut the deficit to 58-48 with 4:17 remaining on back-to-back 3-pointers by Myckenzee Mitley before the Vikings closed the game on a 12-0 run. 

“We didn’t feel like we fought on Saturday, and give Coeur d’Alene a lot of credit, they elevated their game from the regular season,” first-year Post Falls coach Mike Divilbiss said. “We had to elevate ours a little bit to play with them today, and I’m proud of my girls. They fought all year. It’s easy when you’re winning 20 to 25 games, but when you’re fighting for growth, and it’s 2-9 and it’s really dark and you stay positive and just keep working and keep the big picture in mind, that’s something to be proud of and they’ve done that extremely well.” 

Colvin scored 21 points for the Vikings. 

“I think honestly we just wanted to get it done tonight and not let it get to a third game,” Coeur d’Alene sophomore Brookeslee Colvin said. “That was our main priority, and we got the job done tonight.” 

Mitley scored a team-high 22 points for Post Falls. 

“For me, it was really special,” Mitley said. “We had to change our energy from the last game and we knew we were going to put up a fight tonight. Even with the outcome tonight, I’m proud of my team.” 

Post Falls is seeking its first appearance at state since 2022. 

“Knowing that we’re in the play-in game, we’ve been ready for this,” Mitley said. “Practice, we’ve made perfect and Saturday, or confidence level has improved so much. I know my team is ready for Saturday.” 

Coeur d’Alene    13    17    22    18    —    70 

Post Falls    13    9    9    17    —    48 

COEUR d’ALENE — Bridge 3, Wheeler 12, Semprimoznik 7, Wallis 3, Colvin 21, Shafer 0, Carroll 24. 

POST FALLS — Hollenbeck 1, Reese 0, Felix 3, McGowan 2, Johnson 0, Tucker 1, Mitley 22, Walton 17. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene sophomore guard Brookeslee Colvin drives through the Post Falls defense during the third quarter of Thursday's 6A District 1 tournament game at Post Falls High.