Post Falls Buries Ice-Cold Bengals

Prep basketball

Lewiston’s road woes continue to haunt Bengals boys basketball coach Dick Richel.

“It’s been a struggle for us,” a subdued Richel said following a 67-33 loss to Post Falls in an A-1 Region I Tournament game on Thursday at Trojan Gym. “We’ve won one game (out of 10) on the road all year.”

Richel also believes the Bengals are capable of scoring more than 10 points in two quarters.

But that was all Lewiston could muster in the second half, as the Bengals shot a miserable 15 percent (5 of 33) from the field.

And Lewiston missed all 20 of its 3-point field-goal attempts in the game.

“We’ve only scored 60 points twice all year, but I think we can score more than 33,” Richel said. “We’ve got to regroup; it’s going to be hard. If you lose by one or 101, it still puts you in that third-place game.”

Post Falls (11-8) moves into the regional championship game on Saturday night at Lewiston’s Booth Hall against top-seeded Lake City (17-4) at 8.

Lewiston (6-14) meets Sandpoint (8-14) in a loser-out game at 6.

“Particularly in the second half, I thought we did step it up and control the ballgame,” Post Falls coach Scott Moore said. “We’re just starting to come into our game. The second half we were much more patient, trying to take the shot they were giving us.”

Post Falls established the lead off a free throw by Travis O’Briant with 1:46 left in the first quarter.

Junior reserves Jeremy McLean and Brason Alexander held the Bengals at bay in the closing 5:10 of the second quarter.

McLean scored the Trojans’ last 10 points of the half, including a trio of baskets off Alexander’s assists.

An Alexander steal set up McLean’s rebound conversion at 17 seconds which put Post Falls up 31-23.

Senior Brett Hollenbeck pushed the Trojans’ pace in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 19 points on 6-of-6 shooting.

“We just came out and picked it up; the second half is usually our better half,” Hollenbeck said. “It was my last game on the floor and I thought I might as well get it all out.”

Hollenbeck keyed a 10-0 run midway into the third quarter, scoring eight points, including two 3s to stretch the Trojans’ lead to 46-27.

The Trojans outrebounded the visitors 46-31, led by nine rebounds from post Austin Lee. Post Falls shot 52 percent from the field (28 of 54).

Lewiston’s scoring leader, 6-foot-8 senior post Ben Feider, went scoreless in the second half and finished with six points.

Post Falls 67, Lewiston 33

Lewiston 13 10 6 4 - 33

Post Falls 17 14 19 17 - 67

LEWISTONCharlo 0, Perez 0, Frei 6, Farris 2, Steele 6, Sullivan 0, Frasier 0, Albright 2, Williams 5, Lorentz 0, Feider 6, White 2, Egland 4.

POST FALLSBechel 2, Alexander 2, Quesnell 2, McLean 14, Hollenbeck 19, Campbell 0, O’Briant 7, Lee 4, Shepherd 5, Juhlin 12.

North Star

Lakeside 58, Mullan 51

The visiting and fourth-ranked Knights (17-3, 8-0) toppled the Tigers (12-5, 6-2) to win the league title and top seed to district. No details were reported.

The district tournament begins Wednesday at Lakeland High in Rathdrum.

The Knights enter the tourney with double-elimination status. The other three teams play single elimination, and must beat Lakeside twice to qualify for state.

F.Christian 70, Clark Fork 65

Jared Horton scored 23 and freshman Drew Baker, in his fifth varsity game, made five 3-pointers and added nine assists as the Eagles (7-10, 2-5) surprised the visiting Wampus Cats (9-10, 3-5) at Post Falls.

Ben Larson added 11 rebounds for FC, which can tie CF for third place by beating Kootenai tonight. Matt Lamburth scored 26 and hit four 3-pointers in the second half, when the Wampus Cats cut into the Eagles’ 15-point lead.

Clark Fork 9 15 13 28 - 65

Falls Christian 15 12 23 20 - 70

CLARK FORK B.Stevens 9, Lamburth 26, Stutzke 13, Reuter 2, Powell 10, J.Stevens 5.

FALLS CHRISTIAN Bligh 10, Smith 0, Burns 2, Backs 0, Horton 23, Larson 14, Baker 21.

Non-league

Wallace 53, Bonners Ferry 46

Matt Hegbloom made 7 of 10 from the floor, and he and Ian Cotter hit two free throws apiece in the final seconds as the Miners (7-12) stopped the visiting Badgers (10-9) to avenge a 71-51 loss at Bonners.

Ryan Nipp had nine rebounds and five steals, and he and Brian St. Peter made 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to ignite the Miners. Wallace meets the No. 2 team from District II on Feb. 24 in Moscow for a state berth.

Bonners Ferry 15 17 4 10 - 46

Wallace 18 12 6 17 - 53

BONNERS FERRY Bahe 5, A.Hiatt 15, Hubbard 0, Meeker 17, Ashby 0, Ross 3, Staples 2, Robertson 2, Carey 2.

WALLACE Carlson 3, St.Peter 3, Heyn 1, Cotter 5, Schillereff 4, Nipp 14, Hegbloom 21, Stutzke 2.

, DataTimes