6A DISTRICT 1 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP: A record night, and trip to plan .... Colvin smashes Viking scoring record, sends team to fourth straight district title

By JASON ELLIOTT 

Sports writer 

POST FALLS — They were expected to go in November. 

But second-year Coeur d’Alene girls basketball coach Stacy Boyd didn’t want to think about it. 

Not then. 

Not even on Thursday afternoon. 

Thanks to a record-setting night by Coeur d’Alene junior guard Brookeslee Colvin, the Vikings can start making those plans for southern Idaho again. 

Colvin scored 44 points, eclipsing former Viking Madi Symons (1,461) for career points with a free throw with 4:24 remaining in the top-seeded Vikings' 71-54 win over the second-seeded Post Falls Trojans in Game 2 of the 6A District 1 championship series at The Arena. 

Coeur d’Alene (21-2), fourth in the MaxPreps.com rankings, which are used to seed the state tournament, won the best-of-3 series 2-0 and advances to state starting next Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it (the record) tonight and was just playing the game,” said Colvin, who is now at 1,465 career points. “Doing it as a junior, I’m really thankful for my teammates and coaches for giving me that opportunity to be able to go out and break that record.” 

Post Falls finishes 8-16. 

Colvin scored 25 points in the first half for the Vikings, who led 36-25 at halftime. 

“It was big for her,” said Boyd, in his second year as coach. “For her, it was good. Brookeslee came in and kept us afloat. We’re still working on some things and starting the game fast. I never want to look past the game in front of me and haven’t even put together a trip itinerary year, because I just don’t do that. Overall, it was a good game, and I’m proud of my girls.” 

It is the fourth straight district title for Coeur d’Alene, which lost in the state third-place game to Madison of Rexburg last year. 

“It feels just as good as the other two,” said Colvin, a three-year starter. “Hopefully next year we can get that four-peat. Getting three in row has been awesome to get it done.” 

"I was talking to (Post Falls) coach (Marc) Allert and was telling him it seemed like we were doing a good job on her tonight," first-year Post Falls coach Brian Carlson said of Colvin. "Then you look up at the scoreboard and she's got 44. She's a special, one-of-a-kind player. I've been around a while and she's one of the best I've seen come through North Idaho. When I used to officiate, there was some good girls that came through here — Madi Symons, Kama Griffitts, Carli Rosenthal, Katelyn Loper, who were all studs. And she was just as good. What she does on the defensive end wrecks us and we've got to get better on that."

Post Falls cut the deficit to 26-22 with 3:13 remaining in the first half on a 3-pointer by junior Brooklyn Reese before the Vikings pulled away. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of my kids,” Carlson said. “They got beat pretty good three times and we got the lead down to eight points in the third quarter. They had some defenses they wanted to save, and didn’t want to show them, but they did to blow us out. I could not be more proud of how our girls competed and they could have easily thrown in the towel after getting beat three times by them. The seniors, I was proud of how they competed until the end.” 

“Games are supposed to be difficult when it comes to the postseason,” Boyd said. “We never panicked and were glad we had to deal with some adversity, because that’s what we’re going to have to deal with when we get to state. Post Falls came out ready to play, which was good. But we stuck to our game plan and didn’t change anything up.” 

“It’s super special,” said Coeur d’Alene senior Karisa Wallis, in her fourth year on varsity. “I’ve had some really special teammates and great coaches along the way.” 

Coeur d’Alene led 55-39 after three quarters. 

“We knew there was going to be a point in the game where we’d have a good cushion,” Boyd said. “We picked it up after halftime and we knew it was time to go. And they knew it.” 

Reese scored 18 points, sophomore Annabelle Tucker 13 points for Post Falls.

"Hopefully we get this in the right direction," Carlson said. "We're looking forward to continuing to get better."

Coeur d’Alene    15    21    19    16    —    71 

Post Falls    9    16    14    15    —    54 

COEUR d’ALENE — Yates 0, Wheeler 14, Brown 3, Bridge 2, Wallis 5, Colvin 44, Shafer 0, Reardon 2, Robertson 1, Legg 0. 

POST FALLS — Hollenbeck 7, Haines-Picchione 2, Reese 18, Felix 9, Johnson 3, Tucker 13, Gluhak 0, Walton 2. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene junior guard Brookeslee Colvin drives to the basket during the third quarter of Game 2 of the 6A District 1 girls basketball championship series at The Arena on Thursday.