COEUR d'ALENE - Many of the fans may have come to get a glimpse of the 7-footer who has signed with Gonzaga.

But what they also got was a nice stocking-stuffer of a high school boys basketball game Saturday afternoon.

Both teams pushed the pace in an entertaining, up-and-down-the-court game, finally decided on a 17-foot jumper by sophomore Colby Daniels with 4 seconds left that lifted Coeur d'Alene (5-1) past Glacier (3-1) of Kalispell, Mont., 70-68 at Elmer Jordan Court.

"Those guys are good," Coeur d'Alene coach Kent Leiss said of Glacier. "Talent-wise, with the 7-footer and his supporting cast, that's the best team that we've played so far. Coach (Mark) Harkins (of Glacier) was my assistant coach at Flathead, so we have the same philosophy - we want to run, and run and run. So that was a good test for us.

"I was hoping we could wear them down, but we had way too many turnovers in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, we weren't perfect, but we took care of the ball a lot better, and we made some clutch free throws."

Glacier's Ryan Edwards, a 300-pounder who had missed 2 1/2 of the Wolfpack's first three games after spraining his ankle in a scrimmage prior to the season opener, finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists.

Leiss said Kelton Hunter, a 6-6 junior, "did a good job" as the primary defender on Edwards. Hunter also finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals. Sophomores Tony Naccarato and Nick Hancock also logged some of the dirty work underneath, as the Vikings mostly tried to front Edwards, who finished 4 of 11 from the field.

"They got real physical with him, and that's what teams are going to do," Harkins said. "We'll see that all year long."

But what hurt the Vikings was Glacier's quickness and drives to the basket, especially by fast-handed junior point guard Evan Epperly, who finished with 18 points and four steals. Matt Peters added 13 points, Logan Iverson 12.

"They were hard to defend," Leiss said. "They had some kids that could shoot, they had kids that could drive and they had the 7-footer. They were really good at isolating and spreading the floor so if you fronted him (Edwards), they would just throw over the top and there wouldn't be any back-side help."

Coeur d'Alene countered with in-your-face, man-to-man defense and balanced scoring, with four players in double figures. Daniels led the way with 18, sophomore Ryan Walde added 16 and soph Devin Kluss had 13.

"Kent has a great program; his kids always play hard," Harkins said. "I don't think we'll see pressure like that anywhere else. ... I know Kent well; we knew what to expect. We weren't shocked, we knew we were going to get it - his kids always play such great, up-in-your-face defense. I'm disappointed we lost, but we got better tonight because we played a good basketball team."

In stark contrast to the slower pace of Coeur d'Alene's 44-40 loss to Lake City on Tuesday, this one started fast and stayed that way. Glacier led 11-7 less than 2 minutes into the game.

Coeur d'Alene built a 48-42 lead on Alajah Tripp's steal and basket with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Glacier answered with a 16-4 run, going up 58-52 on a 3-pointer by Bryan Michaels - the Wolfpack's only 3 of the game - with 5 1/2 minutes left.

But the Vikings responded with a 14-4 run of their own to go up 66-62. Glacier, which made it to the semifinals of Montana's state AA tournament last year, pulled even at 68 when Charlie Obermiller sank 1 of 2 free throws with 23.5 seconds left, and Coeur d'Alene called time with 20.9 seconds left.

The Vikings ran motion out of the timeout. As the clock wound down, Daniels drove from the left wing to just left of the top of the key, where he rose up and sank a jumper just inside the 3-point line.

"We were supposed to be cutting and screening, and I felt like I could take my guy," Daniels said. "Coach said I had the green light. I knew it was good the second it left my hand - same move I've been working on since fifth grade."

Glacier, however, nearly stole the victory. Epperly took the inbounds pass and fed ahead to Edwards, whose turnaround 25-footer from the top of the key bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer.

Edwards missed Glacier's first two games and played in part of the third game. Harkins said the other Wolfpack players were still getting used to playing with the big man, but said a bigger problem was Glacier making just 15 of 27 free throws on Saturday. Coeur d'Alene sank 18 of 22.

"The effort from both sides was fantastic," Harkins said. "It was a good high school basketball game. Down the stretch, there were a couple things Coeur d'Alene was able to do that we didn't. We didn't shoot free throws very well."

Coeur d'Alene opens vs. Kelowna (British Columbia) Secondary School on Thursday in the first round of the Coeur d'Alene Inn-vitational at North Idaho College.

Glacier 17 12 22 17 - 68

Coeur d'Alene 12 22 18 18 - 70

GLACIER - Obermiller 1, Siderius 5, Epperly 18, Michaels 7, Reed 2, Iverson 12, Cutler 0, Peters 13, Edwards 10.

COEUR d'ALENE - Paulsen 0, Walde 16, Tripp 2, Daniels 18, Carpenter 3, Naccarato 4, Moore 0, Hancock 0, Kluss 13, Hunter 14.