Don’t Count Post Falls Out
The Post Falls High School boys basketball team isn’t finished just yet.
The Trojans, playing tenacious defense and displaying uncharacteristic patience offensively, held off cold-shooting Lewiston as Post Falls eliminated the Bengals 72-58 in an A-1 Region I Tournament finale Tuesday at Trojan Gym.
Post Falls (19-4 overall) meets the winner of Wednesday’s Borah-Boise game Saturday afternoon at Grangeville High School in central Idaho to decide a final berth to the state tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 1.
Lewiston ends its season at 14-9.
Though the state tournament doesn’t begin until next week at Pocatello, it essentially began Tuesday for the Trojans.
The Trojans have carried a weighty burden all season, as they were considered a heavy favorite to advance to state from the Inland Empire League.
But Lake City knocked off the league champion Tuesday, forcing the Trojans to take a circuitous route to state.
Post Falls played like its 79-63 spanking by Lake City was a distant memory Tuesday.
“That’s the best half of halfcourt defense we’ve played all year,” Post Falls coach Scott Moore told his team in the locker room. “But the job isn’t finished.”
Equally impressive was the composure the Trojans showed against Lewiston’s zone defense. Post Falls’ perimeter players didn’t force the ball inside, and were effective in finding the lanes to drive to the basket.
Trojans senior guard Tim Roberts played an intelligent game, scoring 20 points and frequently driving inside where he was fouled by Lewiston’s taller and slower defenders.
Roberts wasn’t about to let his team’s season end Tuesday.
“I didn’t want to have my last memory of high school basketball be a loss at home,” Roberts said. “Nobody on our team are quitters. We proved that tonight. We played real patient, and that’s tough for us because we want to run and get something going.”
After a tightly contested first quarter, Post Falls began to pull away from Lewiston in the second quarter. Lewiston fueled the run by making just 3 of 15 shots from the field in the second period, 6 of 23 for the half and 16 of 53 for the game.
Roberts gave Post Falls its biggest lead in the opening half when he completed a three-point play with 52 seconds left before halftime. Roberts was nearly leveled as he drove to the basket, but managed to make the basket to put the Trojans ahead 35-24.
Trojans sophomore Austin Lee provided an offensive spark inside in the second half. Lee, who finished with a season-high 15 points, got out in transition and took a football-like pass from Trojans quarterback Darick Pope for a breakaway layup that put Post Falls ahead 47-30 with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter.
But back-to-back 3-pointers by Lewiston trimmed the lead to 11 points. Another basket by Lee and a tough hoop under the basket by Mike McLean extended Post Falls’ lead to 51-35 by quarter’s end.
Lewiston was never able to get the lead below 10 points in the fourth quarter.
“We lost the game in the first half,” Lewiston coach Dick Richel said. “When you can’t make shots, it’s tough to win. But that’s a good basketball team (Post Falls) and we simply didn’t have it and it was obvious early.”
Post Falls 72, Lewistons 58
Lewiston 13 13 10 22 - 58
Post Falls 16 19 16 21 - 72
LEWISTON Perez 0, Frei 6, Scharnhorst 0, Baerlocher 19, Farris 6, Gomez 2, Ulrich 3, Gilchrist 9, Smithwick 5, Feider 8.
POST FALLS Curtis 4, Alexander 0, Edmonds 5, Roberts 20, Hollenbeck 2, Pichotta 1, Pope 4, McLean 9, Cudmore 9, Lee 15, Froelich 2.