NAMPA — In these daytime placing games in state basketball, sometimes a team needs to provide its own intensity.

But Post Falls fell behind early and could never catch up, losing to fellow 5A Inland Empire League foe Lewiston 69-62 in the third-place game of the state 5A boys basketball tournament Saturday afternoon at Columbia High.

“As a program, we talk a lot of things big picture,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “Obviously this afternoon’s game didn’t go the way we wanted. In the first half, we didn’t play with that edge, with that hunger that we needed to play with to finish out the season. I was very proud of their effort in the second half — there’s lots of times, with a team that doesn’t have the character ours has, would just roll over and just get rolled. Our kids battled and made it a game. But it’s a life lesson that you can’t attempt to reach a goal without giving maximum effort from the get-go. I thought our kids played hard in the first half, but not as hard as they could.”

Junior Jake Pfennigs scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half for Post Falls (19-5), which finished fifth. Sophomore point guard Drake Thompson added 11 points.

Post Falls trailed by 10 at halftime and by as much as 13 in the second half. The Trojans battled back and pulled within 62-60 on freshman Colby Gennett’s 3-pointer with a minute left. Moments later, with Post Falls down 3, Gennett’s 3 from the left baseline rattled in and out, and Lewiston (15-9) then put it away from the foul line.

Both teams were coming off semifinal losses Friday night. Post Falls lost a close one to Centennial, and Lewiston was pounded by Rocky Mountain.

“In my opinion, I don’t think last night’s game had anything to do with today,” McLean said. “Obviously our kids didn’t want to be playing here (the title game was later that night at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa), but we were playing a league opponent, and you always want to play your best against a league opponent.”

The taller Bengals pounded the Trojans 40-24 on the boards. Guard Riley Way led Lewiston with 21 points. Trystan Bradley, the 6-7 Lewis-Clark State signee, had 16 points and nine rebounds, and power forward and future Idaho Vandal quarterback Colton Richardson had 13 points and eight boards.

McLean praised his lone senior, guard Cameron McKeown.

“We talked very little in the locker room about this game, except what we can learn from it,” McLean said. “Cameron’s leadership bridged the gap between this team and a bunch of guys that graduated when he was an underclassman, and learned from. The fact he was willing to sacrifice his stats, maybe some minutes that he would have liked, for the greater good, is exactly what we preach to our kids — be selfless. All the other kids are going to have to learn from that.”

“At the beginning of the year I started off as a starter, and then I had a (back) injury and Drake (Thompson) stepped up and just played a huge role,” said McKeown, who had some NCAA Division III offers in football, but said he plans to attend Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. “I accepted that. Our team chemistry was the biggest thing. That team (that won the state title in 2015), I was pulled up and didn’t play a single minute. But seeing the type of chemistry that team had, I wanted to carry that over to this team.”

Post Falls started three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman most of the season. The immediate future looks bright, but McLean knows better than to look ahead.

“Next year will be next year,” McLean said. “That group (in the locker room) will never been the same. Cameron’s gone, we’re another year older, and life happens. You can’t take anything for granted.”

Lewiston 16 12 20 21 — 69

Post Falls 13 5 20 24 — 62

LEWISTON — McKenzie 3, Driskill 7, Wilson 7, Clarke 2, Way 21, Light 0, Bradley 16, Richardson 13 Totals 21-47 23-37 69.

POST FALLS — Gennett 7, Thompson 11, McKeown 5, McCliment-Call 7, Walker 2, Bourgard 5, Fleming 0, Ballew 0, Pfennigs 17, Morris 8. Totals 22-52 9-16 62.