COEUR d'ALENE - Tony Naccarato missed the first free throw, had a timeout to think about it - then drilled a free throw in the face of the Lake City student section with 6.2 seconds left to effectively extend Coeur d'Alene High's season - and end Lake City's.

"We got robbed (from going to state) the last two years - I'm telling myself 'I'm giving our team a chance to make it to state,'" said Naccarato, a senior. "There's no way I'm missing that second one; we worked too hard; we deserved to have that game."

Lake City's last chance officially ended with a missed runner from about 15 feet, and Coeur d'Alene's students rushed the floor to celebrate the Vikings' 46-45 victory over the Timberwolves in a loser-out second-place game in the 5A Region 1 tournament Thursday night at Lake City.

"We were horrible at the free-throw line all night - I think at one point we were 3 for 13," Coeur d'Alene coach Kurt Lundblad said. "Honestly, I just knew it was going to go in. There was nobody else I wanted at the line in that situation. A big-time free throw by our big-time player."

Coeur d'Alene (16-8) advances to a state play-in game Saturday at 3 p.m. at Grangeville. The Vikings will face Borah (18-6) of Boise, which tied for first place in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference, but slipped to a fifth-place finish at the District 3 tournament.

Lake City, which had whipped the Vikings by 20 points on the same floor in the first round just six days earlier, finished 12-12.

"We just had to go back to the drawing board, and reflect and come together as a family," Naccarato said. "We were playing for each other tonight; I think that's was the difference was. We moved the ball more on offense, closing out on defense, just doing the extra stuff that should be done."

Brody Lundblad hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points for Coeur d'Alene, and Joey Naccarato added 13 points and seven boards.

Lake City coach Jim Winger said he was "tickled" to be tied at 25 at halftime, as well as Coeur d'Alene had played, and as much foul trouble as the Timberwolves were in.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second half until Nick Hancock, who led Lake City with 15 points and seven rebounds, hit a short jumper from the left of the key to put the T-Wolves up 45-40 with just under 3 minutes left.

But Lake City ran into turnover issues, and never scored again.

Tony Naccarato answered Hancock's hoop with a basket in the lane, and Brody Lundblad's 3 with 2:18 left tied it at 45.

Lake City missed a one-and-one with 31.7 seconds left. Tony Naccarato took a pass in the right corner, drove to the rim and was fouled, setting up the winning free throw.

"I thought we played our butts off," Winger said. "We probably didn't finish it exactly the way we wanted to. I'll take some of the blame for that; I had a feeling that trap was coming, and probably should have went over that thoroughly. We got surprised by that."

Tony Naccarato, who had averaged 7 points in three previous games vs. Lake City this season, finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and a pair of steals.

"He's been our go-to guy," Kurt Lundblad said. "I knew his confidence was a little down because they had maybe got the better of him in the first three games. But he was super tonight. When he plays with that energy, and plays inspired basketball like that, we're just a much better basketball team."

"The Naccarato kid just played great," Winger said. "I thought our zone did a good job tonight, but the problem with our zone all year - we just can't rebound out of the zone."

Coeur d'Alene led most of the first half, by as much as seven at 17-10 on Brody Lundblad's second 3 of the game. Brandon Dotson's 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half for Lake City tied the game just before halftime.

The Vikings helped their cause with a number of offensive rebounds against Lake City's zone, which led to putbacks.

"The last time we came in here, we got our lunch," Kurt Lundblad said. "We spent a lot of time talking about putting the brakes on (Joe) Pasquale, and keeping their big men off the glass. And I thought our kids were absolute warriors in those two phases of the game tonight."

Pasquale added 13 points for Lake City, which shot 14 of 45 from the field - 5 for 18 from 3-point range. Coeur d'Alene was 16 of 43 from the field, and finished 9 for 20 at the line.

"It's too bad, because it's the most resilient group of kids I've ever had," Winger said. "For kind of an up-and-down season, it's just been thoroughly enjoyable."

Coeur d'Alene 17 8 13 8 - 46

Lake City 12 13 11 9 - 45

COEUR d'ALENE - J. Naccarato 13, Lundblad 14, Lynn 0, Daniels 4, Yankoff 0, Schuon 0, Sparks 0, T. Naccarato 15.

LAKE CITY - Goggin 0, Dotson 6, Hunter 7, Hughes 2, Pasquale 13, Colwell 0, Mitchell 2, Hancock 15.