COEUR d'ALENE - In a game which was bizarre throughout, perhaps it was only fitting an offensive rebound off a missed free throw would decide this one.

Lake City senior Kyle Guice chased down his own missed free throw and scored the go-ahead layup with 15 seconds left, lifting the Timberwolves past the Post Falls Trojans 36-35 in 5A Inland Empire League boys basketball Friday night at Lake City High.

"I have no idea what just happened," said Guice, who was fouled on a jump shot with 17.3 seconds left, and sank the first free throw to pull Lake City within 35-34. "That was crazy. I knew it (the second free throw) was going to be short, I just followed my shot, and it fell in my hands. Weird way to lose ... or win."

Guice, scored all nine of his points in the second half for Lake City (10-4, 3-1 5A IEL), despite having to leave the game a couple of times due to illness.

After Guice's basket, Post Falls coach Mike McLean opted to have the Trojans (8-6, 0-2) rush the ball up the floor instead of calling timeout. As a Trojan player drove to the basket, Lake City's Justin Pratt reached in and knocked the ball away, and Guice scooped it up as the buzzer sounded.

"We hold a team to 36 points, we feel we should win that game," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "We've given up, in two league games, 80 points combined. We should not be 0-2 (in league)."

" A weird, weird game from the start," Lake City coach Jim Winger said. "And it finished that way. Just a strange, strange game ... I'll be really interested to watch this on tape, because I really don't have a feel for it, even yet."

Lake City opened in a zone, but Post Falls sank 3 of 6 3-pointers in the first quarter - one each by Joe Pfennigs, Nick Hall and Michael McKeown - to build a 14-4 lead at the quarter.

The T-Wolves played man-to-man the rest of the way, and Post Falls made just two 3s after that - the Trojans finished 5 for 20 behind the arc - though one came from Dalton Thompson at the top of the key with 1:25 left to put Post Falls up 34-31.

Guice answered with a jumper, and Max McCullough hit a free throw with 34.9 seconds left to make it 35-33 Post Falls.

Post Falls went 1 for 12 from the field (0 for 8 from 3-point range) in a two-point second quarter, and Lake City pulled within 16-13 at intermission. Lake City led 22-21 after three, but McCullough hit a 3-point basket, then added a three-point play to boost Post Falls' lead to 31-26 with 4:04 left.

J.J. Winger led Lake City with 10 points, and Guice had eight rebounds. Thompson had 10 points and six rebounds for Post Falls, and McCullough added nine points. Corey Koski had seven boards.

"Defensively, we did exactly what we wanted to," McLean said. "We challenged their shots; we tried to force them into taking shots that we wanted. I thought we rebounded well against their size ... I was very happy with our effort on both ends, I thought offensively we got a ton of open looks, what I would consider good lucks. Just didn't fall."

Lake City took just 34 shots in the game, making 14.

"Post Falls' defense was pretty tough; they made us play pretty conservative," Jim Winger said. "Our possessions were pretty lengthy. We wanted to reverse the ball and attack, and I think we got conservative. I thought the times we had great chances to attack, we kinda got a merry-go-round going on offense. But I think Mike's kids defensively were part of the reason for that."

The win kept Lake City tied for first with Coeur d'Alene in league at 3-1, each with two league games remaining.

"It was a very, very, odd game," Winger said. "Whatever you tried to do, the game stays the same. Whether you went to a set play, or different motions, or even some traps on defense, the game just seemed to play out the same no matter what went on. It was, for lack of a better word, a haunted game."

Post Falls plays host to Lewiston (3-11, 0-2 5A IEL) today at 5. Lake City is home vs. Glacier of Kalispell, Mont., today at 3:45.

Post Falls 14 2 5 14 - 35

Lake City 4 9 9 14 - 36

POST FALLS - Hall 5, McKeown 3, Davenport 1, Pfennigs 3, Hillman 0, Anderson 2, McCullough 9, Thompson 10, Koski 2.

LAKE CITY - Adams 6, Pratt 1, Louie-McGee 4, Vetsch 2, Guice 9, Turner 2, Dahl 2, Winger 10, Mitchell 0, Hancock 0.