POST FALLS — Some students might have taken advantage of Monday’s snow day in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls to go sledding, skiing or snowboarding.

Members of the Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team took a little different approach.

With practices canceled due to the school closure, the Vikings got some gym time in anyway, at the Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene.

“We were just talking about when we could all get together and go shoot,” Coeur d’Alene sophomore Skylar Burke said. “One of our point guards, Jaelyn (Brainard-Adams) suggested the Kroc, and we ended up scrimmaging a little with some guys at the gym. And it ended up helping us be a little tougher with the ball.”

In Tuesday’s 5A Inland Empire League matchup, it worked like a charm for the visiting Vikings, who beat the Post Falls Trojans 46-35 at The Arena.

“We refocused ourselves on what the culture of the program was going to be,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons said. “Our program was going to be about defense, and starting our offense on the defensive end. I was just happy to see them grind in, play hard on the defensive end. It just opens things up offensively.”

Burke scored seven of her 15 points in the second quarter, sparking a 15-0 run for the Vikings in the period.

“I think we’ve been boxing Skylar in a little bit and getting her to run different stuff,” Symons said. “We just told her to go out and play and have fun today — all of the girls, really. And it was good to see the team back again.”

Freshman Madi Symons, the coach’s daughter, scored 16 points for Coeur d’Alene (12-4, 1-1 5A IEL).

“Madi and I have played together a long time,” Burke said. “We like to be creative on the court and have fun. When we’re having a lot of fun, we tend to play a lot better as a team.”

“If Skylar’s playing with confidence, then it rolls downhill and she takes us with her,” Nicole Symons said. “Post Falls was doing a good job of taking Madi away inside, so we pulled her outside and let her go off the dribble. All of the girls played really well tonight with their effort on the defensive end.”

Katie Fleming hit a pair of 3-pointers to give Post Falls an 8-6 lead after the first quarter. The Trojans (9-6, 1-1) finished the game with 12 field goals.

“From the very beginning, Coeur d’Alene was the aggressor and we were on our heels from the start of the game to the final buzzer,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “Give them all the credit. They were aggressive offensively and defensively, and we never came close to matching that. And that starts with me. That’s the head coach’s responsibility and I didn’t do my job today.”

Coeur d’Alene had lost three straight games after starting 11-1.

“I think we started to worry about how to stop other teams instead of playing to our strengths,” Nicole Symons said. “We just kind of focused on what we can do really well, and playing downhill, we can do that well.”

Both teams are scheduled to resume 5A IEL play on Friday at home, with Coeur d’Alene hosting Lewiston and Post Falls entertaining Lake City.

Coeur d’Alene 6 18 8 14 — 46

Post Falls 8 6 9 12 — 35

COEUR d’ALENE — Matheson 2, Brainard-Adams 3, Whiteman 0, Symons 16, Younker 5, Chavez 5, Zanetti 0, Burke 15.

POST FALLS — Heath 8, Blake 1, Lovett 3, Johnson 0, Fleming 10, LaFountaine 2, Walton 5, Carpenter 4, Christensen 2.