Trojans Are High On Hog 1,800 See Post Falls Sweep Lakeland

Lakeland High took home the bacon, but Post Falls collected the wins Wednesday in the second annual battle for the Prairie Pig between non-league rivals before a spirited crowd of 1,800 at Lake City High.

In the opener, Post Falls’ girls throttled Lakeland 66-35. Then in the boys game that was as ugly as a pig through three quarters, the Trojans rallied for a 52-40 win.

Lakeland was awarded the tiny battery-operated pig, symbolic of the spirit competition between the students, parents and boosters in the Kootenai County communities. Lakeland also earned the spirit honor last year.

Boys

It was a first half all too familiar to Post Falls coach Wade Quesnell.

His Trojans couldn’t hit the broadside of a pig - pardon the pun - and that further influenced their overall play.

To Lakeland’s credit, it played solid defense in the first half, not allowing easy baskets.

Still, the Hawks should have had a bigger lead than they did at halftime (21-13). They were victims of rushing their offense (14 turnovers), especially in the second period when they committed nine miscues.

As Post Falls settled down in the second half, the Trojans’ fullcourt pressure took a toll on Lakeland.

The Hawks committed eight turnovers in the third quarter. Post Falls took its first lead at 31-30 when Chad Quesnell hit a soft 9-foot jumper at the buzzer.

“We let our poor shooting (in the first half) affect every phase of our game,” said Wade Quesnell, whose team made just 4 of 24 shots from the field in the first half, 1 of 12 in the opening quarter.

“We’re not very good shooters. I told them at halftime that the ball was flat not going in. But we can’t let that affect how we play defensively, how we rebound, how we motion and how we pass the ball. We came out in the second half and quit worrying about not scoring.”

Better defense inspired improved shooting in the second half as Post Falls made 14 of 29 shots.

Lakeland’s Joe Ploetzner put back his own miss to open the third quarter, giving the Hawks their final lead at 32-31.

Giving Post Falls a big lift off the bench in the second half was senior post Shaun Leary, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

And when Lakeland was forced to foul, Post Falls made 11 of 12 free throws - the lone miss coming on the last attempt with 4 seconds left and the game well in hand.

Quesnell led the Trojans (9-6) with 19 points. Brad Rasor’s 12 led Lakeland (4-8).

Post Falls avenged an earlier 55-50 loss to Lakeland.

Lakeland 14 7 9 10 - 40

Post Falls 5 8 18 21 - 52

LAKELAND - Bertsch 1, Moore 0, Rasor 12, Skidmore 10, Ploetzner 6, Reese 8, Hansen 3.

POST FALLS - Klaudt 2, Meeks 0, Quesnell 19, Christiansen 0, Fehling 3, Miller 7, Leary 13, McArthur 0, Thornley 8.

Girls

The Hawks were no match for the Trojans.

Post Falls used an 11-0 run to close the first quarter with a 19-5 lead, and the drubbing continued after brief resistance by the Hawks.

A 9-0 Lakeland spurt in the opening 4 minutes of the second quarter - the Hawks’ best moments - saw the game tighten momentarily at 21-14.

The Trojans quickly pulled away thereafter, extending their lead to 33-17 by halftime.

It got worse for Lakeland (6-9) in the second half. The Trojans (13-6) played their best quarter when they made their first 10 shots, including two 3-pointers, in the third quarter. They finished 11 of 12 in the period.

Two free throws by Jennifer Swanstrom gave Post Falls its biggest lead at 57-19 with 1:24 left before the fourth quarter.

“We were finally hitting on all cylinders,” Post Falls coach Chris Johnson said. “I’ve been telling the kids all year that sooner or later we’d get hot some time.”

Many hands made for easy work, too. The usual top contributor, junior wing Janelle Ruen, finished with team highs for points (16), steals (9), rebounds (8) and assists (7). Megan Billetz had 12 points, freshman post Desiree Johnson had 11 points and seven rebounds and Carmi Eberle added 10 points. Anika Duvall led Lakeland with 12.

Lakeland 5 12 6 12 - 35

Post Falls 19 14 27 6 - 66

LAKELAND - Foldvik 0, Douglas 8, Smith 1, Burstein 0, DeBoer 2, Campbell 2, Houchin 0, Waller 2, Egbert 3, Berger 5, Duvall 12.

POST FALLS - Eberli 10, Billetz 12, Mills 2, Brown 3, Foster 0, Edmonds 6, Holland 2, Swanstrom 4, Ruen 16, Johnson 11.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo