PREP BASKETBALL: Post Falls' loss is Lake City's gain ... Timberwolves take IEL title, top seed to 6A District 1 tournament

LEWISTON — The window got left open just a little bit a few weeks ago. 

Now, it has closed on the Post Falls Trojans for now. 

Post Falls, needing an Inland Empire League win at Lewiston on Friday to nab the No. 1 seed to districts, fell to the Bengals 62-60 at Lewiston High after sophomore Brady Rudolph scored on a driving layup with 10.3 seconds remaining. 

Post Falls had a chance to tie the game, but turned the ball over with 3.3 seconds remaining. 

“Defensively, we wandered off some of their shooters too often, especially in the second quarter,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “We didn’t do a good job of defending in the second quarter and gave them too many open looks.” 

Lake City (17-4, 7-1 IEL) will be the top seed in the 6A District 1 best-of-3 championship series, and host the first game next Friday. No. 2 seed Post Falls (14-7, 6-2) will host No. 3 Coeur d’Alene (11-9, 4-4) in a loser-out game on Wednesday, with the winner playing Lake City.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge coming to Lewiston with a team shooting like that,” McLean said. “We’ve got to be dialed in against a skilled Coeur d’Alene team that has something to prove. Both of our games have been absolute wars, and I’d expect the same on Wednesday.” 

Junior Jordan Walker scored 21 points and junior Royce Fisher added 20 points for 5A Lewiston (17-3, 6-2), which travels to Sandpoint on Tuesday. 

Junior Jaxon Lysne scored 23 points and junior Connor Carver added 14 for Post Falls. 

“We were dealing with some adversity and need to be better about sticking to the game plan,” McLean said. “Lewiston can really shoot the 3, and we can’t have defensive lapses like we did tonight.” 

Post Falls    23    12    15    10    —    60 

Lewiston    19    20    13    10    —    62 

POST FALLS — Naylor 0, Ostlund 0, McLean 10, Lysne 23, Cameron 2, Bodman 6, Carver 14, Blake 3, McKeown 0, Dean 2. 

LEWISTON — Torpey 2, Fisher 20, Alldridge 3, Walker 21, Krasselt 0, Rudolph 8, Hepburn 3, Bogar 6, Way 0. 

Sandpoint 50 

Lakeland 42 

RATHDRUM — The host Hawks had a chance to snatch the No. 2 seed to regionals with a win, but ultimately fell to the Bulldogs for the second time this year in Inland Empire League play, this time at Hawk Court. 

Mason Hensley and Zack Cook scored eight points each for Lakeland (9-11, 2-7 IEL) 

Brock Yarbrough scored 16 points, Emerik Jones 14 for Sandpoint (9-11, 4-4), which will be the second seed to the 5A Region 1 tournament, and play host to No. 3 Lakeland next Friday in a loser-out first-round game. 

Sandpoint     13    10    11    16    —    50 

Lakeland     9    9    9    15    —    42 

SANDPOINT — Williams 8, Iverson 0, Yarbrough 16, Zimmerman 0, Chamberlain 0, Roos 0, Gion 2, Corbett 10, Leisy 0, Jones 14. 

LAKELAND — Hensley 8, Taylor 6, Hillman 6, Harris 3, Carrel 6, Yager 1, Larcher 0, Weil 0, Varner 0, Cook 8, Roth 4. 

Bonners Ferry 78 

Timberlake 35 

BONNERS FERRY – Asher Williams led four players into double figures with 18 points, and the host Badgers wrapped up the Intermountain League title with the victory over the Tigers. 

Thomas Bateman added 17 points, Brody Rice 14, Sulay Abubakari 11 for Bonners Ferry (20-1, 2-0 IML), ranked No. 1 in 4A. 

By sweeping Timberlake in IML play, if Bonners Ferry defeats the Tigers in the first game of the best-of-3 4A District 1 championship series on Feb. 24, the Badgers will earn the district’s lone berth to state. 

Tyler Engelson scored 11 points for Timberlake (8-10, 0-2), which wraps up the regular season next week, at Kellogg on Tuesday and at home vs. Priest River on Thursday. 

Timberlake     11    5    8    11    —    35 

Bonners Ferry     20    23    23    12    —   78 

TIMBERLAKE — Engelson 11, Dykeman 9, VanGundy 2, Shively 4, Vallieres 1, DeVore 0, Rush 2, Simpson 6. 

BONNERS FERRY — Schrock 0, Blackmore 9, Rice 14, Hinthorn 7, Williams 18, Bateman 17, Cartwright 2, Abubakari 11.  

St. Maries 72 

Grangeville 50 

GRANGEVILLE — Junior Brock Barta went 6 of 10 from the 3-point line in the first half, finishing with a team-high 22 points for the Lumberjacks in a Central Idaho League win over the Bulldogs at Grangeville High. 

“Brock was fun to watch because it was really one after another,” said St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, whose team led 41-16 at halftime. “His teammates wanted to keep him going and were getting him the ball and trying to get another one. We kind of rode it for a while and got a nice lead at halftime.” 

Barta also had four rebounds, junior JJ Yearout 11 points, seven assists and four steals, sophomore Landon Riberich nine points and four rebounds and junior Jack Barta had five assists for St. Maries (10-9, 6-1 CIL), which travels to Priest River to conclude the regular season on Tuesday. Both the Lumberjacks and Spartans, who host Kellogg today, have one loss in league play. Priest River beat St. Maries 54-44 in St. Maries on Jan. 21. 

Sophomore Tate Thacker scored 24 points for Grangeville (4-16, 0-8). 

St. Maries    24    17    18    13    —    72 

Grangeville    11    5    15    19    —    50 

ST. MARIES — Harold 4, Sexton 0, J. Barta 4, Yearout 11, Gustaffe 12, B. Barta 22, L. Riberich 9, Defoort 0, Speakman 9, T. Riberich 1, Dickinson 0. 

GRANGEVILLE — Astle 1, Schumacher 2, Thacker 24, Stamper 5, Told 5, Long 2, Smith 11. 

Wallace  58

Clark Fork 30 

WALLACE — The Miners outscored the Wampus Cats 23-7 in the second quarter en route to a Scenic Idaho Conference win at Kirby Krulitz Court, clinching the second seed to the 2A District 1 Tournament starting Monday. 

Senior Julian Davis scored 19 points, freshman Cooper Miller 17 points for Wallace (13-7, 3-3 SIC), which clinched the berth after having a higher MaxPreps ranking than Genesis Prep, which also finished 3-3 in conference. 

Westin Caven and Owen Howard scored 10 points each for Clark Fork (4-12, 0-6). 

On Monday, fourth-seeded Clark Fork will visit top-seeded Lakeside, while Wallace hosts Genesis Prep in opening round games. 

Clark Fork    8    7    7    8    —    30 

Wallace        9    23    17    18    —    58 

CLARK FORK — E. Montgomery 8, Caven 10, Howard 10, Cruz 2, Adams 0, Yanik 0. 

WALLACE — Miller 17, Davis 19, Guardipee 7, Larson 2, Myles 2, Anderson 6, Williams 0, Strange 5, Rose 0, McGillivray 0, Darg 0. 

Genesis Prep 76 

Coeur du Christ 71 

POST FALLS – Gabe Meyer and Spencer Farrell scored 18 points each as the host Jaguars withstood a 45-point outburst from Ben Connelly and downed the Saints in nonleague play at The Courts at Real Life. 

Meyer scored all 18 of his points in the first half for Genesis Prep (9-12), including 16 of the Jaguars’ 26 in the second quarter. Farrell hit three 3-pointers and Emmaus Nichols added 12 points, 10 in the second half. 

Connelly scored 32 of his 45 in the second half for Coeur du Christ (11-7). Grant Clemens added 17 points for the Saints. 

With Wallace’s 58-30 victory over Clark Fork on Friday in Scenic Idaho Conference play, Wallace finished tied in league with Genesis Prep at 3-3. Wallace earned the tiebreaker over Genesis Prep due to a better MaxPreps ranking, and will be the No. 2 seed to the 2A District 1 tournament. No. 3 Genesis Prep will travel to No. 2 Wallace on Monday in first-round game. No. 4 Clark Fork will play at No. 1 Lakeside on Monday. 

Coeur du Christ plays host to Kootenai on Tuesday at Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene in North Star League play. 

Coeur du Christ     14    11    29    17    —    71 

Genesis Prep     17    26    18    15   —    76 

COEUR du CHRIST — Ja. Cools 0, Clemens 17, Luafalemana 0, Connelly 45, Clute 0, Hayes 3, Je. Cools 5, O’Neill 1, Denke 0. 

GENESIS PREP — Nichols 12, Tosh 9, Martin 0, S. Bateman 0, Earley 8, Meyer 18, I. Bateman 2, Gintz 9, Farrell 18, Swanson 0. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur du Christ freshman Grant Clemens runs down a loose ball during the first quarter of Friday's game against Genesis Prep at The Courts in Post Falls.