Sandpoint boys oust Post Falls
Basketball, they say, is a game of runs.
Tuesday night at The Arena, Sandpoint’s run was bigger and the Bulldogs survived to play another day with a rough-and-tumble 54-39 victory over Post Falls in the second-place game of the 4A Region I boys basketball tournament.
Sandpoint (10-13) next travels to Grangeville for a state play-in game Saturday at 3:30 against the Boise area’s District III third-place team.
The sparse crowd of Trojans fans on hand at PFHS had plenty to cheer about as the home team went out to a 9-0 lead in a low-scoring first quarter that ended with Post Falls up 9-4.
The second quarter, however, was all Sandpoint. The Bulldogs outscored the Trojans 19-2 in the frame, forcing nine Post Falls turnovers and completing a 23-2 run to take a 23-11 lead to the locker room.
The Trojans, who shot just 21 percent from the field in the first half, fought back early in the second half, pulling to within four points at 27-23 on Joe Bodman’s 3-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter.
But as the final seconds of the quarter ticked off, sophomore guard Ryan Armbruster delivered a backbreaking 3-pointer to stretch Sandpoint’s lead to eight at 34-26 and Post Falls would never get any closer.
The Bulldogs hit 22 of 28 free-throws in the second half – 16 of 22 in the fourth quarter, including 6 of 7 by senior post Brian Shultz.
Shultz, whose team dropped two of three meetings with Post Falls this season including a loss in Friday’s regional opener, admitted he had his doubts in the early going.
“I was a little worried, to be quite honest with you, because this was do or die – if we lose, we’re out,” said Shultz, who led all scorers with 16 points. “We came back really well, though – a 23-2 run? Up 24-11 at halftime?
“That just shows our character – we played hard, and the best team won.”
Sandpoint coach Tyler Haynes was nothing short of effusive following the win, taking a shot at his team’s detractors and giving it up for his younger players and his core group of three seniors – Shultz, Michael Brewer and Chase Lowther.
“Our kids in Sandpoint in the winter, all they do is play basketball and they ski and they hunt – they don’t read,” said Haynes, whose team shot 37 percent from the field in the game and outrebounded Post Falls 35-33. “So they didn’t know that they were the second-best team.
“As for the game, there were so many things that came up – Michael Brewer shutting down (Brandon) Haas, our defense shutting down (Spencer) Pingel, and our young guys, Armbruster and Drake Hanson, stepping up as the season went on … and I’ll take my three seniors over anybody in the state – I love them dearly.”
Post Falls coach Dave Stockwell summed up the loss, as well as the season.
“Sandpoint played very well, and they played their game,” Stockwell said. “There was grabbing and hitting and the stuff that wasn’t getting called, so they were going to keep doing it and we got into their game a little bit where we started pushing and shoving, and we don’t play very well that way – we’re more of a finesse team.
“But my kids played their hearts out all year, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group.”
Kyle Turpin, returning from an ankle injury, played 25 minutes and led the way with nine points for Post Falls, which finishes its season at 13-10.