Trojans take 3rd from Hawks

Post Falls High boys basketball coach Dave Stockwell doesn’t believe his Trojans are head and shoulders better than Lakeland.

At least not 21 points better, which is Post Falls’ average margin of victory over the Hawks in three games.

The Trojans had their way again against their Rathdrum Prairie rival Thursday in a 65-51 Inland Empire League home victory at The Arena.

Post Falls beat Lakeland 85-52 in mid-December in the non-league Prairie Pig matchup. In the first league game, the Trojans pulled away 56-40.

Stockwell suspects he knows why it appears the Trojans own the Hawks.

“It’s a great matchup for us,” said Stockwell, whose team won its sixth straight after a 1-5 start to move to 7-5 overall. The Trojans, 4-1 in league, stayed within half a game of unbeaten and idle Moscow (11-0, 4-0).

“(The Hawks are) a talented team and Trent (Derrick) does a great job coaching them,” Stockwell added. “It’s just one of those things.”

Post Falls set the tone in the first half as it does whenever it plays well – the Trojans made their 3-pointers. The Trojans combined to hit 7 of 15 attempts beyond the 3-point arc to take a 28-19 lead into halftime.

Lakeland (5-7, 2-4) didn’t have an answer in the first half. The Hawks shot a frigid 6 of 25 in the opening two quarters before warming up to make 11 of 21 in the second half. But they couldn’t dig out of the hole they found themselves in at intermission.

A basket by Kyle Turpin and two free throws from Scott Stockwell gave Post Falls its biggest lead at 54-39 with 4:34 to go. The Hawks fought back briefly, closing within 54-46 on a 3-pointer from Daniel Brunner, a basket in transition by Ben Ward and two Ward free throws with 2:30 remaining.

Post Falls made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 2:04 to hold off the Hawks.

Stockwell, the Trojans’ senior point guard, had a quiet scoring night, finishing with 13 after taking six shots through three periods. But he had an efficient floor game, picking up six assists. K.C. Billetz matched Stockwell’s 13 points and all 10 Trojans scored.

“I was looking to shoot, but I wanted to get my team involved,” Stockwell said. “I’ll get my shots, but I need to get my team involved more to get that confidence going.”

Dave Stockwell thought his bench had some key contributions.

“This being the third time playing Lakeland, it’s not your first five that wins ballgames for you – it’s your second five,” he said. “They may not have advanced the lead, but they held the lead it and that’s what you need from your bench. We’re coming. They’re starting to believe.”

Derrick told his team before the game that if the Trojans were going to win, they’d have to beat the Hawks from behind the 3-point arc. Post Falls made 11 of 27 from 3-point range.

“In a way, they did that,” Derrick said. “That was a big thing, but also we’re still struggling shooting. That’s the bottom line. You’ve got to put the ball in the hole.”

Ward led Lakeland with 16 points and Ryan Gallia added 15.

Derrick suspects his team could have a matchup problem with Post Falls.

“Matchups are harder against (Post Falls) than we have with other teams,” Derrick said. “They’re a good team; they’re a solid team. There’s no doubt about it. They do good things. They’re fairly multifaceted.”