NAMPA — Columbia High has become a home away from home of sorts for the Post Falls High boys basketball team.

The Trojans practice there while at state, and have played for a trophy each of the last three years in that building.

For the first time during that span, Post Falls was victorious, beating Rigby 57-48 in the third-place game at the state 5A tournament on Saturday afternoon.

“We talked about how it was going to be a challenge,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “Our first two games down here were as physical a games as we’ve played since I’ve been coming down here. So their bodies were a little weathered. We were determined today to show the mental toughness and resiliency.”

Sophomore Alex Horning scored 16 points, junior Colby Gennett 15 for Post Falls (19-7), which lost to Madison of Rexburg in the semifinals on Friday night, after knocking off two-time defending champion Rocky Mountain of Meridian in the opener.

“More than anything, our guys felt that against Madison, we didn’t get to play our best game,” McLean said. “Today, it wasn’t so much about a trophy — we were going to go out and play our best game that we could play. I thought we played about an A-minus game.”

Post Falls trailed Rigby (20-8) 20-12 in the second quarter, before battling back to tie it at 27 at halftime. The Trojans — the Post Falls version — led by as much as 13 points in the second half.

“I thought our shot selection was a little bit better (after the first quarter),” McLean said. “We did a much better job working the ball around, inside and out.”

Sophomore Caden McLean made 3 of 5 3-pointers and added nine points for Post Falls. Gavven Desjarlais, the lone senior starter, finished with seven points and five rebounds.

Post Falls finished 16 of 34 from the field. Rigby was 18 of 48.

Junior guard Britton Berrett led Rigby with 12 points, and senior guard Wyatt Taylor added 11.

Post Falls was at state for the 10th time in 12 seasons under McLean, including state championships in 2010 and ’15. Post Falls lost the third-place game the last two years at Columbia. This year’s group featured six sophomores — three of them starters — who will be hungry to come back for more in the next two years.

“I think the first thing that it showed us was that we belonged,” McLean said. “Maybe, physical appearance, we’re not Rocky or a Madison or a Borah — those are big kids, big people. As long as we’re playing as hard as we can, and executing offensively and defensively, we belong.”

Rigby 13 14 9 12 — 48

Post Falls 12 15 15 15 — 57

RIGBY — Martin 3, Byram 0, Taylor 11, Berett 12, Thompson 2, Olaveson 4, Kaden Hall 2, Uffens 10, Togiai 4. Totals 18-48 8-10 48.

POST FALLS — Gennett 15, McLean 9, Hauser 0, C. Rutherford 7, Ballew 0, Shields 0, Desjarlais 7, Horning 16, J. Rutherford 0, Mitchell 3. Totals 16-34 17-25 57.