PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Post Falls defends, advances

POST FALLS — Over the course of a week, the Post Falls Trojans went from a potential first-round bye to a loser-out game in the 6A District 1 boys basketball tournament. 

Such is life in the 6A Inland Empire League. 

On Wednesday, Post Falls went back to basics defensively, built a nine-point lead in the second quarter, increased it to 15 in the third quarter, and went on to a 63-43 victory over the Coeur d’Alene Vikings in the loser-out first round of districts at The Arena. 

“Our guys showed great discipline tonight, defensively,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “We had not been real happy with our defensive attention to detail; against Lakeland and Lewiston we were out of character. Our guys did a better job of being disciplined on defense tonight.” 

Post Falls (15-7) will play No. 1 Lake City (17-4) in a best-of-3 series for the district title. Game 1 is Saturday at 1 p.m. at Lake City. Game 2 is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Post Falls. Game 3, if necessary, is next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Lake City.

Senior Tyras Blake scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, junior Jaxon Lysne added 14 points and five steals, and senior Trenton McLean scored 10 points for Post Falls, playing at home for just the fifth time this season.

“Offensive we did a good job of not settling for a quick jump shot,” Mike McLean said. “Our guys did a good job of taking the shot we wanted. In the fourth quarter Cobe Cameron did a good job of controlling us on the offensive end.” 

Junior Caden Symons scored a game-high 21 for Coeur d’Alene, which finished 11-10 in a season which saw Viking head coach Jon Adams fired on Jan. 29 for unspecified reasons. Coeur d’Alene went 3-2 under interim head coach Arnold Brown, who was Adams’ assistant. 

"We played well in the first quarter," Brown said. The second and third quarter we went in the other direction a little bit; I think it was more them. The third quarter we turned it over eight or nine times, and most of them led to baskets.

"But our kids gave it everything they had; that's all I can ask. Change is tough for everyone."

Post Falls and Lake City split their two matchups in Inland Empire League play, both winning at home — Post Falls by five points, Lake City by two. Post Falls had the tiebreaker over Lake City for the No. 1 seed until losing at Lewiston last week. 

"Lake City is really, really special," McLean said, "and when we play hard, were a fun team to watch. It should be a high-level series."

Coeur d’Alene     13    5    17    8    —    43 

Post Falls     13    12    22    16    —    63 

COEUR d’ALENE -- McCall 0, Murray 0, Montague 2, Booth 2, Stern 0, Riley 0, Wheeler 11, Symons 21, Robertson 7. 

POST FALLS — Ostlund 0, McLean 10, Lysne 14, Cameron 9, Bodman 8, Carver 6, Blake 16. 

Kellogg 80

Coeur du Christ 54

KELLOGG – Sophomore Ty Cheney scored 21 points – 13 in the third quarter – for the Wildcats, who outscored the Saints 31-17 in the third quarter in a nonleague win at Andrews Gymnasium.

“We finally started to make some shots around the rim,” said Kellogg coach Mike Martin, whose team went 9 for 24 from inside the 3-point line in the first half. “We did a much better job of being tough around the rim in the second half.”

Senior Ben Connelly scored a game-high 35 points for Coeur du Christ (12-8), which faces the winner of a 1A District 1 loser-out game between Mullan and Kootenai on Feb. 27 in the championship game at North Idaho College.

“He made some tough shots in traffic and finished well,” Martin said of Connelly. “He’s a little unorthodox with how he attacks you, but he’s a solid player. He really took it to us tonight.”

Senior Tristan Baker scored eight of his 12 points in the second half for Kellogg (11-9), which plays at St. Maries in the opening round of the 2A District 1-2 tournament on Monday.

Coeur du Christ    12    9    17    16    –    54

Kellogg        14    10    31    25    –    80

COEUR du CHRIST – Anderson 0, Ja. Cools 3, Clemens 8, Connelly 35, Clute 3, Hayes 1, Je. Cools 2, Conaty 0, Denke 2. 

KELLOGG – Robinson 11, Johnson 0, McDonald 8, Taylor 7, Desmarais 0, Lewis 4, Honnerlaw 4, Bonnel 2, Cheney 21, Vindasius 9, Baker 12, Calandrucio 2. 

Lakeside 81 

Genesis Prep 66 

PLUMMER – Sophomore Furyus Louie hit six 3-pointers and poured in 26 points as the top-seeded Knights battled past the third-seeded Jaguars in the semifinal game of the 2A District 1 tournament at Ron Miller Court. 

Louie hit four 3s and scored 13 of his points in the first quarter for Lakeside (14-5), which advanced to the district championship game next Thursday at 7 p.m. at North Idaho College. 

“Genesis Prep started out in a triangle-and-two,” Lakeside coach James Twoteeth said. “We told the players someone is going to be wide open, so step up and shoot it. Preston (SpottedHorse) and Furyus stepped up, as well as Jaydin Pluff.” 

Genesis Prep (10-13) will play second-seeded Wallace (14-8) on Tuesday at 7 at NIC in a loser-out game. The winner will have to beat Lakeside twice to win the district title. 

Tyson Charley had a triple double with 20 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for Lakeside, which led by just two points at halftime, and by only seven after three quarters. Pluff had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Knights. Louie had six rebounds, SpottedHorse five assists. 

Senior Dylan Tosh scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half for Genesis Prep. Gabe Meyer added 18 points for the Jaguars, eight in the first quarter, and Spencer Farrell scored all 12 of his point in the first half, including 10 in the first quarter. 

Genesis Prep     26    11    12    17    --    66 

Lakeside     23    16    17    25    --    81 

GENESIS PREP – Nichols 2, Tosh 25, Martin 0, S. Bateman 9, Earley 0, Meyer 18, Farrell 12. 

LAKESIDE – Peone 8, Louie 26, Greensky 0, Mitchell 0, SpottedHorse 15, Charley 20, Pluff 12. 

Wallace 59

Clark Fork 55

WALLACE – The second-seeded Miners held off the fourth-seeded Wampus Cats in a 2A District 1 loser-out game at Kirby Krulitz Court.

Clark Fork’s Owen Howard scored on a layup with 6.8 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 57-55, but the Miners were able to run out the clock.

Sophomore Henry Larson scored 17 points, senior Julian Davis 15 points and freshman Cooper Miller 12 points for Wallace (14-8), which faces third-seeded Genesis Prep in a loser-out game on Tuesday at North Idaho College at 7 p.m.

Clark Fork finished 4-14.

Clark Fork    15    13    18    9    –    55

Wallace    16    15    18    12    –    59

CLARK FORK – Montgomery 16, Yanik 0, Cavin 10, Adams 7, Cruz 11, Howard 13. 

WALLACE – Miller 12, Davis 15, Larson 17, Myles 6, Williams 5, Strange 0.