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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Vikings hold off late Timberwolves rally

That’s all the Coeur d’Alene/Lake City boys basketball rivalry needed Wednesday.

No. 1-ranked Coeur d’Alene held off a furious Lake City rally to clinch the Inland Empire League championship 56-55 in an intense finish before an estimated crowd of 1,400 at Elmer Jordan Court that will only ratchet up the rivalry another notch if it’s possible.

The Vikings (18-2, 12-0) earned the top seed to the 5A Region I tournament, which will begin in a fractured format. Second-seeded LC (16-4, 10-2) will meet No. 3 Lewiston (13-6) at 5:45 at CdA on Friday, while CdA will entertain No. 4 Post Falls (8-12) Saturday at 6.

CdA isn’t playing until Saturday because it played one more game than the other four teams this week in rescheduled contests that were postponed earlier because of weather.

CdA had Wednesday’s game all but won, leading 56-51 with 15 seconds remaining. But as LC guard Jason Wheelock took a pass cutting to the basket, he was fouled from behind by Andrew Prohaska. The referee called an intentional foul.

Wheelock made both foul shots, and LC had possession because the foul was ruled intentional.

LC post Nick Fromm then made a 7-foot jumper to pull the Timberwolves within the final margin with 8 seconds to go.

After a timeout, LC’s Trent Bridges stole the ball under his basket and had an open look, but the ball rolled out. Alertly, teammate Adrian Swenson grabbed the ball, but a held ball was called. LC maintained the ball on the alternating possession rule.

As LC’s players were setting up, the same referee who called the intentional foul moments earlier called LC guard Jason Wheelock for an offensive foul after he and Prohaska exchanged shoves before the ball was handed to Bridges to begin the play.

Prohaska, who finished with a game-high 19 points, missed both free throws, and as the horn sounded several fans rushed the court. Administrators from both schools and policemen intervened, keeping what was a heated situation from overheating.

CdA coach Kent Leiss called the league title special.

“These kids worked pretty hard and they’re fun to coach,” Leiss said. “We’re not always perfect as we saw tonight, but we found a way to win – barely. It’s pretty satisfying.”

LC coach Jim Thacker thought his team played inconsistently until it somehow had a chance to win at the end.

“We make the layup, we win,” Thacker said. “I didn’t think they (the referees) let the kids win the game. They probably should have walked in there and separated the two and just let the kids win the game. We just didn’t play well most of the game.”

Two key statistics were turnovers and free throws. LC committed 16 turnovers to CdA’s nine and CdA made 16 of 25 foul shots to LC’s 9 of 11.