NAMPA - The record will show that senior post Jack Millsap made 10 of 12 free throws Friday night, including 8 of 10 in the final 3 minutes, 24 seconds, to lift the Post Falls Trojans into the state 5A boys basketball championship game tonight.

But what Post Falls coach Mike McLean was most impressed with was the effort by Millsap which led to those free throws.

"The part that impresses me the most was, at times it was getting a little loose, and some kids, in some spots, won't really go hard after the ball," McLean said after the Trojans held off the fast-closing Capital Eagles of Boise 61-56 in a semifinal at the Ford Idaho Center. "And Jack flashed hard to get the ball, and knew the foul was going to come. And he knows before the foul comes what this means."

Post Falls (24-1) will play Highland (22-2) of Pocatello tonight at 7 PST at the Ford Idaho Center in the title game. It's the Trojans' third title-game appearance in six years; Post Falls won in 2010 and was runner-up in '12.

Highland routed Borah of Boise 66-39 in the other semifinal.

Millsap, senior post Jake Blakney and junior guard Max McCullough each scored 12 points for Post Falls, which shot 58.1 percent (18 for 31) from the floor.

One night after struggling to beat Nampa in the first round, Post Falls came out stronger, and started pulling away from Capital (18-7) in the second half.

"We had to make a statement; we knew we didn't show what we had yesterday, so we brought it today," Millsap said of the increased intensity level.

Early in the fourth quarter, back-to-back 3-pointers by reserves Zach Hillman and Jake Pfennigs capped a 7-0 run and hiked Post Falls' lead to 48-36 with 7 minutes left.

"I thought those were huge plays," McLean said.

Moments later, Blakney tipped in a missed shot, let out a scream, and Post Falls led 52-38 with 6 minutes left.

Capital then picked up the pressure all over the court, and slowly crept back into it. Post Falls helped by missing 4 of 5 free throws in one stretch, and was called for stepping over the foul line on one it did make.

Capital still had to foul, and Millsap started his parade to the foul line by making 1 of 2 for a 53-43 lead with 3:24 left. He hit his next two, then one of two. Justin Saunders and Derrick White hit 3s for Capital, and Saunders fed Cameron Godeny-Scott for a layup to pull Capital within 57-56 with 1 minute left.

Millsap sank a pair with 31.7 seconds left to make it 59-56. Capital went for the tie, but White, a guard who scored a game-high 19 points, saw his deep 3 from the top of the key curl out of the rim with 5 seconds remaining. Millsap grabbed the rebound and sealed the win with a pair of free throws.

"Just knew I had to do it," Millsap said. "Knock 'em down."

"I'm sure a lot of people watching us think we get loose and a little squirel-ly down the stretch, but I give a lot of responsibility to my guys," McLean said. "I don't call a lot of timeouts; if I trust them in the first quarter and second quarter and third quarter to play a certain style that we've preached to them, I've got to trust them down the stretch. And sometimes that's hard for people to watch in the crowd, and it tests my patience on the bench, but it's their season - my job is to get them into positions, and they need to execute. We got a little loose with the ball, and missed a few free throws, but I had confidence."

Wyatt Millsap hit a couple 3-pointers early in the second quarter for Post Falls. Capital didn't press much in the first half, but at the end the Trojans beat the Eagles' half-court trap and McCullough drilled a 3 in the final minute for a 30-27 halftime lead.

McCullough finished with four assists. Millsap and Blakney were both big on the boards.

Saunders and Talon Pinckney each scored 10 for Capital, which shot 53.3 percent (24 for 45) from the floor.

"They shot the ball so well," Capital coach Paul Rush said of Post Falls. "The first half we gave them open ones; the second half they made some tough ones. They gave themselves a lot of second-chance opportunities. We had stops, and they'd get the O-boards and get to the free-throw line. That hurt us on a couple of those possessions, especially when we were trying to cut into that lead."

Highland beat Post Falls 48-45 last year in a loser-out game at state.

"It'll be a good show," McLean said. "Highland reminds me of a lot of teams I had in the past, with a couple of horses that could flat-out get things done."

Highland's "horses" are guard Stefan Gonzalez, who has signed with Saint Mary's, and junior swingman Connor Harding, who has drawn interest from Arizona State, BYU and Utah State. Gonzalez hit 4 of 8 3s and totaled 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists against Borah, and Harding added 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

"We've got to contain their two horses, and make them work for everything, and try to limit what anyone else gets."

Capital 13 14 9 20 - 56

Post Falls 10 20 11 20 - 61

CAPITAL - White 19, Saunders 10, Daron 5, Pinckney 10, Larson 0, Anderson 4, Ashby 0, Poulson 0, Godeny-Scott 8. Totals 24-45 3-4 56.

POST FALLS - W. Millsap 6, McCullough 12, Anderson 8, English 0, Pfennigs 3, Thompson 4, Hillman 4, J. Millsap 12, Blakney 12. Totals 18-31 18-29 61.