Post Falls Stages A Late Comeback, Beats Sandpoint Juhlin, Alexander Lead The Way As Trojans Finally Get With It

There must have been a reason for the Post Falls Trojans wanting their fans to stay through the duration of their Inland Empire League boys basketball game against Sandpoint Friday night.

And those hardy souls who did survive the Trojans’ less-thanstellar play through the first three quarters certainly got their money’s worth.

Post Falls, behind a impressive fourth-quarter outburst, shook off a young and pesky Sandpoint team for a 73-61 victory before 400 fans at Trojan Gym.

With the win, the Trojans go to 2-1 in the IEL and are 7-5 overall.

The Bulldogs fall to 0-3, 5-10.

The Trojans trailed 49-45 going into that final period before going on a 13-2 run to establish a 58-51 lead they never relinquished.

And it was two juniors who were largely responsible for leading that charge. Guard Brason Alexander had seven fourth-quarter points as did post Chad Juhlin, who also hit 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch.

Juhlin and Alexander led Post Falls in scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

For Sandpoint, it was a matter of not being able to close the door once it gained control.

The Bulldogs held leads of 12 and 10 points in the first half and appeared to have some momentum.

But the Trojans responded and were able to cut the deficit to just four at 31-27 at the half.

Sandpoint again came out strong to start the second half, jumping out to a 45-34 advantage, but that’s when the Trojans began their charge.

“Free throws and turnovers killed us,” Sandpoint coach Jack Dyck said. “Three or four times we had 10-point leads. It’s just silly things. We get a lead and we need to learn to take better control of the ball.”

And while the Bulldogs were wondering what hit them in the final quarter, Post Falls coach Scott Moore and his Trojans were breathing a collective sigh of relief.

“We just got tired of being outworked,” Moore said. “We came out in the fourth quarter with the mindset that we could come back and win the game, and that’s what happened.

“We slowed it down and looked for the good shot, and we didn’t do that for the first three quarters.”

In addition to Alexander and Juhlin, two other Trojans scored in double figures. Brett Hollenbeck had 11 points and Travis O’Briant added 10.

The Bulldogs got 18 points from junior Carson Jeffres (13 in the first half) and 11 from sophomore Caleb Bowman.

Post Falls travels to East Valley tonight in a non-league matchup.

Post Falls 73, Sandpoint 61

Sandpoint 20 11 18 12 - 61

Post Falls 13 14 18 28 - 73

SANDPOINT Jeffres 18, Bowman 11, Eller 8, Boren 1, Herrington 5, Palmer 7, Downard 4, Kleinert 7, Nieman 0.

POST FALLS Bechel 5, Alexander 13, Quesnell 4, McLean 4, Hollenbeck 11, Campbell 5, O’Briant 10, Lee 7, Shepherd 0, Juhlin 14.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo