COEUR d'ALENE - It took three days for the snow to stop so they could get around to deciding the 5A Region 1 high school boys basketball championship.

And Coeur d'Alene High made it worth the wait Friday night.

Chad Chalich scored 20 points, Deon Watson 19 and Jake Matheson 16, and the No. 3 seed Vikings came up big in the fourth quarter to beat the fourth-seeded Lewiston Bengals 67-58 before an estimated crowd of 1,200 at Elmer Jordan Court.

“We were all amped up to play Monday night,” Matheson said. “You get here, it’s canceled. It’s canceled two more times. It was good to get out on the floor. We just won it with heart tonight. We didn’t shoot the ball great, but coach says the game is 32 minutes, and we played every one of them tonight.”

Coeur d’Alene advances to state next week at the Idaho Center in Nampa. The Vikings (15-7) open the tournament Thursday at 12:15 p.m. PST vs. Eagle (14-10), the fifth-place finisher in District 3.

It will be Coeur d’Alene’s first trip to state since 2008, when the Vikings won the second of back-to-back regional titles.

“I’m proud of these guys — it’s our third region championship in five years,” Coeur d’Alene High coach Kent Leiss said. “I thought Lewiston played extremely well for three quarters. I thought we tightened our defense in the fourth quarter, and Chalich and Matheson were huge. We just kept our composure, ran our offense and made our free throws.”

Lewiston (12-10), which couldn’t make it north on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday because of hazardous travel conditions, planned to stay in Coeur d’Alene on Friday night. The Bengals play at top-seeded Post Falls (18-4) today at 5 for the region’s second berth to state.

In a game tight all the way, Lewiston led 47-45 with seven minutes left before Coeur d’Alene scored six straight points, four of them by Chalich. The Vikings never trailed again, and slowly pulled away. Coeur d’Alene hit 12 straight free throws — six by Chalich and four by Matheson. Midway through the fourth, Watson made a big play by blocking a layup and tossing a long pass to Matheson for a layup and a six-point lead.

“I just thought it came down to some key turnovers at inopportune times, and a couple of poor shot selections,” Lewiston coach Corey Williams said. “They (the Vikings) took advantage of some matchups down low, and didn’t settle for the 3.”

Watson, normally a perimeter player, also had eight rebounds, two blocked shots, two assists and two steals, and did some of his damage posting up.

“I didn’t want to run tonight, to be honest,” Watson said. “Coach said if you don’t post, we’re going to run,” Watson said.

“He would just as soon play outside and shoot jumpers, or take one dribble and pull up,” Leiss said. “I’ve got to create these little gimmicks to get him to go down to the block and post up. He’s 6-5, 205, and I don’t care which guy is responsible for guarding him, he’s hard to guard, and we can’t afford to have him hanging around the perimeter his whole life.”

Matt Kalbfleisch scored 23 points for Lewiston, which shot 57 percent (12 of 21) in the first half and led 30-28 at intermission. Sam Heitzman added 17 on 8- of-12 shooting.

Coeur d’Alene went 16 for 19 at the line, with Chalich going 8 for 8, Matheson 5 for 5.

Lewiston finished 21 of 45 from the field, and Coeur d’Alene went 24 for 51.

“It just feels great,” Chalich said. “We got it done tonight. Our seniors stepped up and really gave us leadership tonight.”

Lewiston 14 16 15 13 — 58

Coeur d’Alene 13 15 15 24 — 67

LEWISTON — Fuentes 4, Imel 2, Hansen 6, Kalbfleisch 23, Thomason 6, Mai 0, Heitzman 17, Beck 0.

COEUR d’ALENE — Matheson 16, Chalich 20, Roletto 0, Loy 5, Higbie 4, Baracco 3, Watson 19.