Eagle Flies Away From Post Falls Trojans Battle Gamely, But Can’t Keep Up The Pace After Star Ruen Fouls Out

The surprise isn’t that the Post Falls High girls basketball team came close to knocking off Eagle and advancing to the State A-1 championship game.

The amazement is the Trojans nearly pulled off an upset Friday by playing all but 59 seconds of the fourth quarter without their top gun, top defender, top passer, top rebounder.

That’s the four-in-one Janelle Ruen, who fouled out nearly a minute into the fourth quarter and had to watch her team gallantly fight before coming up short 64-58 in a semifinal contest at the Idaho Center.

Eagle (24-1) will meet district rival Centennial (23-4) in an all-Southern Idaho Conference state final tonight.

Post Falls (18-9) will take on Madison (23-2) for third place at 10 this morning PST, immediately following the Lake City-Highland game for fourth place.

In the other semifinal, Centennial had no problem with Madison, 60-41.

Trojans coach Chris Johnson will wonder what could have been had Ruen played most of the fourth quarter. As it was, she played 19 of the 32 minutes, scoring just six points but managing seven assists and six steals.

But even in the third quarter, with Ruen on the court, it was tiny sophomore point guard Carmi Eberle who single-handedly kept the Mustangs from turning the game into a rout.

The Mustangs were expected to trot away from the Trojans. But Post Falls wouldn’t allow it.

After falling behind by eight points three times in the first quarter, the Trojans clawed back. They got within 20-19 with 2:21 left before halftime when Eberle hit a 3-pointer.

Two free throws by Megan Billetz with 28 seconds left in the second quarter trimmed Eagle’s lead to 24-21 going into halftime.

Foul-plagued Eagle had two of its key starters back in the third quarter. It was the long-range shooting of Emily Gaythwaite that constantly kept the Trojans fighting from behind. Gaythwaite hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, when she scored 11 of her team-high 18 points.

But Post Falls countered with the 5-foot-2 Eberle, who put in 10 of her game-high 21 points in the quarter, 18 in the second half.

An Eberle trey gave Post Falls its first lead at 29-27 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. After Eagle regained the lead, the Trojans took it back one last time when Ruen hit her last basket, a runner in the key, to put her team ahead 31-30.

Eagle used its sizeable advantage inside to open its biggest lead at 53-43 with 5 minutes left.

The Trojans didn’t quit. An 18-foot jumper by Eberle her right foot was just inside the 3-point arc pulled the Trojans within 53-50 with 2:58 left. But the Mustangs made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:23 to stop the Trojans.

“Obviously, without Janelle, we’re not the same team,” Johnson said. “I have to give credit to Eagle for playing great defense. They hit some big shots in the third quarter. We lost track of (Gaythwaite) a couple of times.”

Freshman Desiree Johnson finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Trojans and Billetz added 10 points. The Mustangs placed four players in double figures. Complementing Gaythwaite were Trisha Tucker with 13, Alison Graham with 12 and Crista Peterson with 11.

“I think we showed a lot of heart if nothing else with Janelle not in the game,” Johnson said. “The kids did their best to pick it up. They didn’t back down.”

Eagle coach Bob Brunzell praised the Trojans.

“We feel pretty fortunate,” Brunzell said. “That Post Falls team is a great team. To their credit, they didn’t quit and they kept the pressure on us. There was no time to relax at all.”

Johnson didn’t spend much time in the locker room, except to tell his players how proud he was of their effort.

“They’re down; they’re disappointed,” Johnson said. “I told them everybody in the (Idaho Center) was impressed by their hustle, their play, and they had nothing to be ashamed of. The real test now is how well we bounce back tomorrow.”

Eagle 64, Post Falls 58

Eagle 16 8 20 20 - 64

Post Falls 10 11 18 19 - 58

EAGLE - Tucker 13, Gaythwaite 18, Hansen 2, Graham 12, Connors 0, Lewis 8, Peterson 11.

POST FALLS - Eberle 21, Billetz 10, Brown 0, Foster 0, Edmonds 4, Holland 2, Swanstrom 2, Ruen 6, Johnson 13.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo