PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Symons goes off for 53 for Vikings at Tarkanian Classic

LAS VEGAS — Caden Symons put on a performance that hadn’t been seen by anyone in a Coeur d’Alene uniform in nearly four decades Saturday at the Tarkanian Classic. 

The Viking senior hit 10 3-pointers and scored a 53 points in an 87-71 loss to Alta of Sandy, Utah, in a consolation round game in the Spalding Bracket at Coronado High. 

“In my 29 years as a head coach I’ve never seen anything like it,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kent Leiss said. “He was literally coming across the halfcourt line and burying shots.” 

Symons hit eight of his 3s and scored 34 points in the first half. Leiss said Alta double-teamed him in the second half, and he still scored 19. 

Symons, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in career scoring at Coeur d’Alene with his first basket in Friday’s game vs. Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif., came within two points of the school record of 55, set by Kyle Wombolt on Dec. 21, 1986 vs. Cheney. 

Davis Whittaker added 12 points for Coeur d’Alene (3-4). Junior Justin Fagan suffered a possible broken bone in his hand two minutes into the game, and did not return.  

Coeur d’Alene led by 13 points at halftime, and the game was tied with 9 minutes left. Games in this tournament are played in two 16-minute halves, and four 30-second timeouts, rather than two 30s and two full timeouts. 

“We just don’t have the depth, and we’re getting tired,” Leiss said. 

Dash Reiser, a 5-foot-10 senior point guard, hit 10 3s and scored 38 points for Alta (7-2). Coby Goodfellow hit three 3s and added 15 points. Colin Hansen had three 3s and scored 11. Alta finished with 18 3s. 

After a day off today, Coeur d’Alene plays Casteel of Queen City, Ariz., on Monday at 11 a.m. at Coronado High. 

Alta     28    59    —    87 

Coeur d’Alene         41    30    —    71 

ALTA — Reiser 38, Hansen 11, Goodfellow 15, C. Anderson 9, Lundberg 9, Eckman 4, Bennett 0, Larsen 1. 

COEUR d’ALENE — McCall 0, Fagan 0, Braga 2, Stern 2, Wright 2, Whittaker 12, Symons 53. 

Post Falls 86 

Moscow 49 

POST FALLS — Senior Jaxon Lysne scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, and also had five rebounds and four assists, as the Trojans ran away from the Bears at The Arena. 

Senior Connor Carver, who missed the last game due to illness, added 21 points, six rebounds and three assists for Post Falls (5-3). 

“We needed to bounce back, and fix some things before we go into break,” Post Falls coach Jayson Ulrich said. “A lot of kids contributed in a lot of different ways. Connor did a real good job on the block. Jaxon hit two 3s in the first quarter and 3 in the half; it was a good inside-out combination between the two. 

Junior Cashton Bodman added 15 points. 

Ulrich also had praise for senior point guard Isaiah Naylor, who had four assists and zero turnovers. 

“He did a nice job running the offense, and getting the ball to people in the right spots,” Ulrich said. “He had a tremendous alley-oop pass to Cashton in the third quarter, and Cashton just hammered it.” 

Senior Abram Godfrey hit five 3-pointers and scored 20 points for Moscow (1-7). 

“The third quarter was our cleanest quarter,” Ulrich said. “We gave up 31 points in first half; we were aggressive and we fouled them and put them at the free-throw line,” Ulrich said. “The third quarter we were aggressive and forced turnovers.” 

Post Falls returns to action on Dec. 29, against Madison of Rexburg in the first round of the East Idaho Shootout at Idaho Falls High. 

Moscow     15    16    15    3    —    49 

Post Falls     23    26    28    9    —    86 

MOSCOW — Leisinger 0, Godfrey 20, Frei 7, Couch 3, Brown 4, Pike 2, Fitt 1, Carr 0, Maxcer 0, Mordhorst 12. 

POST FALLS — Norisada 5, Auble 4, Bodman 15, Lysne 21, Naylor 1, Munday 8, Brown 0, Carver 21, Bresee 4, Dean 7. 

St. Maries 73 

Freeman 52 

ROCKFORD, Wash. — Trailing 47-46 late in the third quarter, the Lumberjacks went on a 25-4 run to knock off the host Scotties to finish 2-0 at the Greg Larson Memorial Tournament at Freeman High. 

“Just our will and determination,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “I think our kids just wanted it.” 

Senior JJ Yearout had 24 points, six rebounds and five steals for St. Maries (4-1). Junior Landon Riberich added 14 points and 12 rebounds, Isaiah Gustaffe 10 boards for the Lumberjacks, who outrebounded Freeman (5-3) 40-18. 

“For a big, physical strong team I was proud of that,” Chase said. “We limited them to one shot for the most part; we rebounded hard on both sides.” 

Freeman senior Micah Hodges, who scored 40 points the previous night vs. Mt. Vernon Christian, was held to 13 by St. Maries, with Chase praising the defense of Yearout and Jack Barta. 

St. Maries returns to action Jan. 6 at home vs. Kellogg in the Central Idaho League opener. 

St. Maries     19    18    21    15    —    73 

Freeman     13    19    15    5    —    52 

ST. MARIES — Harold 3, Dickison 0, Pugh 0, J. Barta 5, Yearout 24, Gustaffe 6, B. Barta 2, Riberich 14, Chatigny 0, Speakman 6, Sloper 13, Blackwell 0. 

FREEMAN — Schultz 8, Olson 0, Jydstrup 0, Hodges 13, Beck 0, Dumars 4, Wellner 0, Mendenhall 2.