Trojans down Vikings

Post Falls had a lot on the line when Coeur d’Alene paid a visit Thursday evening.

With a win, the Trojans would keep hope alive for a No. 2 seed and assure themselves no worse than No. 3 in next week’s Idaho 5A Region I girls basketball tournament.

And win they did, 47-44, exploding for 21 points in the third quarter to erase a nine-point halftime deficit and hand the Inland Empire League-champion Vikings their first league loss.

The victory also gave the Trojans (16-3, 8-3) a dose of much-needed confidence heading into tonight’s regular-season-ending home matchup with Lake City (13-4, 8-2) and next week’s regionals.

Senior wing Jenny McVeigh, who led Post Falls with 18 points and hit a pair of huge 3-pointers and scored the last eight points in that all-important third period, said there was a point in the game at which she and her teammates might have given up in the past.

“I looked up (at the scoreboard) and I went, ‘Oh, no, it’s happening again, they’re pulling ahead,’ ” McVeigh said, referring to the last 3 minutes of the first half in which the Trojans watched a 17-17 tie disintegrate in a 9-0 CdA run. “But we went into the locker room, and we all looked at each other and we said, ‘We need to have a big start in the third quarter,’ and then we came out started hitting the shots that weren’t falling (in the first half).”

But the game was not all Post Falls in the second half, as CdA took a 43-42 lead on freshman forward Carli Rosenthal’s basket underneath on a nice feed from junior standout Kama Griffitts with 2 minutes to go.

Rosenthal then hit the first of two free throws to put the Vikings up by two before Post Falls sophomore Katelyn Loper made two free throws to tie it at 44.

C.J. Schmidt sealed the victory, hitting both ends of a bonus with 10 seconds to go.

In other IEL play, Megan Mills had 12 points to lead three players in double figures and the Lewiston Bengals (9-10, 6-5) cruised past the Lakeland Hawks (5-14, 3-9) 59-17 at Lewiston.

•In non-league action, Darbie Shelden had 18 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists to lead the St. Maries Lumberjacks (10-6) past the Wallace Miners (2-13) 59-21 at St. Maries.

Boys

Devon Brown had 18 points to lead the Lewiston Bengals (9-6, 4-4) to a 76-36 Inland Empire League victory over the Lakeland Hawks (5-10, 1-8). … At Post Falls, Nate Clinton scored 21 points to give the Coeur d’Alene Vikings (13-2, 7-0) a 63-56 win over the Post Falls Trojans (7-9, 5-3).

•In Intermountain League action, Josh Masterson scored 20 points to lead the St. Maries Lumberjacks (7-8, 2-2) to a 63-57 win over the host Timberlake Tigers (0-16, 0-4) at Spirit Lake.

•In North Star League play, Nick Arthun scored 18 points and Wallace (10-3, 6-0) held Mullan (3-12, 0-6) scoreless in the fourth quarter in a 68-21 victory at Mullan.