STATE 6A GIRLS SEMIFINALS: Coeur d'Alene loses big to No. 1 seed Eagle again

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

NAMPA — Try as they might, it just wasn’t the fourth-seeded Coeur d’Alene Vikings' night on Friday against Eagle.

Again.

Eagle, the top seed in the state 6A tournament, shot 30 of 62 from the field, paced by junior Taya Nelson, who scored 23 of her 33 points in the first half as the Mustangs beat the Vikings 76-47 in a semifinal game at the Ford Idaho Center.

“They just got better,” second-year Coeur d’Alene coach Stacy Boyd said. “They played with poise and they’re well coached. I thought we had a good first and second quarter, then it seemed like we couldn’t match their energy and intensity. And that’s one thing that we talked about, going out with an energy and intensity, and matching theirs and we didn’t do that today."

Nelson scored 26 in the previous matchup at Coeur d’Alene on Dec. 4, a 75-56 Eagle win.

“We had a good game plan, and we wanted to stop Berkley (Jones) from having a game like she normally has, whether it’s 30 or 35 points, and we did that," Boyd said. "And then we kind of slowed down Trinity (Holslinger), and No. 3 (Nelson) went off on us. I looked up and she had 23 at the half, and we didn’t really manage that because she’s more of a role player. And that’s the difference with that team because they’re so deep.”

Junior Brookeslee Colvin scored 21 points for Coeur d’Alene. Colvin was briefly sidelined in the third quarter due to a right ankle sprain, but returned to the game.

“Eagle’s a great team all-around,” Colvin said. “They’ve got shooters and deep in their bench. They’re just a great team.”

Coeur d’Alene (22-3) faces second-seeded Rigby (24-1) today at noon in the third-place game at Timberline High in Boise. Eagle (24-2) faces Middleton (21-4) in the title game tonight at the Idaho Center.

Semprimoznik scored all 12 of her points in the second half for Coeur d’Alene.

“When you see one go in, it really makes the basket seem wider,” Semprimoznik said. “You get some confidence. When you see a player like that (Colvin) go down, you want to get it going for her and it creates opportunities for others and you want to step up for her.”

Coeur d’Alene had won 16 straight entering Friday.

“We knew they were playing well coming into this game,” Eagle coach Jeremy Munroe said. “This game, Brookeslee was key tonight and Lexie Wheeler, we knew they could change the game. And we had to make sure they didn’t have a big night tonight as well.”

Colvin also had a team-high seven rebounds for the Vikings, who were 13 of 50 from the field.

“We still tried to do the best we could and we tried to manage Brookeslee and told her we’ve still got another game,” Boyd said. “But she’s a warrior and was trying to help the team win. It’s an ankle sprain, but I’m sure it’s minor.”

Coeur d’Alene took a 13-12 lead on a 3-pointer by Wheeler, a sophomore, with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Eagle scored 14 of the final 15 points in the first half to pull away.

“Eagle’s a good team, and at any given time, they can get into a stretch where they’re scoring it and you’re down by 20,” Boyd said. “I was throwing everything I could at them, going man-to-man, and went to defense. And they just had shooters everywhere. Tonight was one of the nights where they shot at the right time, and it worked.”

Jones finished with 20 points for Eagle, in the championship game for the first time since 2019, when the Mustangs won their only title, under Cody Pickett.

“We didn’t make a lot of adjustments from when we played them before,” Munroe said. “We tried to get the ball out of her (Colvin's) hands when we could. We wanted to have someone else beat us.”

Coeur d’Alene    13    8    12    14   —    47

Eagle    18    21    16    21    —    76

COEUR d’ALENE — Yates 0, Wheeler 7, Brown 5, Bridge 0, Wallis 2, Colvin 21, Shafer 0, Semprimoznik 12, Reardon 0, Robertson 0, Legg 0. Totals 13-50 13-16 47.

EAGLE — Elitharp 2, Nelson 33, Lamm 0, Lake 0, Hosac 0, Thompson 0, Holslinger 9, Ellsworth 5, Jones 20, Baxter 0, Mitchell 7, Taylor 0, De Vries 0. Totals 30-62 8-10 76.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Coeur d'Alene sophomore guard Lexie Wheeler attempts to deflect a pass from Eagle's Trinity Holslinger during the first half of Friday's state 6A girls basketball semifinal game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.