6A DISTRICT 1 BOYS BASKETBALL: Dean’s play propels Post Falls to win over Coeur d’Alene

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

POST FALLS — Early in the third quarter, with the Post Falls Trojans up by one point and having just missed a shot, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings rebounded with a chance to go down the court and take the lead. 

That’s when Post Falls senior Alex Dean knocked the ball loose from the Coeur d’Alene player, and the play led to a layup by the Trojans’ Jaxon Lysne. 

That play sparked a run of 13 straight points by Post Falls, in an eventual 17-2 run that broke the game open and propelled the second-seeded Trojans to an 81-61 victory over the third-seeded Vikings in the loser-out first round of the 6A District 1 boys basketball tournament at The Arena. 

“His energy is unmatched,” said first-year Post Falls coach Jayson Ulrich of Dean, who finished with five points and nine rebounds. “All momentum, right? It just takes one play, of playing hard. And you get that momentum going, and you’ve got other guys around you playing just as hard. Just that little deflection, steal, layin for Jaxon ... that’s what Alex brings to us — a huge amount of energy and just kept us rolling.”

Lysne finished with 29 points — 11 in the fourth quarter — for Post Falls (15-6), which advances to play top-seeded Lake City (14-7) in a best-of-3 championship series to decide the district’s lone representative to the state tournament. Game 1 is Tuesday at Lake City; Game 2 is Thursday at Post Falls and Game 3, if necessary, is next Saturday at Lake City. 

“We did not have an answer for him the entire game,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kent Leiss said of Lysne. 

Caden Symons, the Evansville signee playing on a strained MCL in his right knee, scored 36 points for Coeur d’Alene, which finished 8-14. The Vikings’ all-time leading scorer, Symons finished his career with 1,574 points, and averaged 31.1 points this season. 

Leiss said Symons injured his knee in Tuesday’s victory over Lakeland. He practiced Wednesday, didn’t practice Thursday and Friday, and gave it a go on Saturday. 

“He was a warrior, and just battled through that injury,” Leiss said. 

Senior Connor Carver added 19 points and nine rebounds for Post Falls. Junior Cashton Bodman scored 12 points for the Trojans, and junior Sawyer Norisada hit two big 3-pointers for Post Falls. 

The Trojans led by as much as six points in the first half but couldn’t shake the Vikings, leading 29-28 at halftime before erupting for 52 points in the second half. 

After Dean’s play early in the third, Carver and Cashton Bodman followed with back-to-back 3s. Carver then drove the lane for a three-point play, and Isaiah Naylor hit a pair of free throws to cap the 13-0 run. 

“I thought we shared the ball better,” Ulrich said of the decisive run. “We got back to running our stuff, not settling for the first shot, but getting to the rim.” 

Junior Tannar Stern finished with 10 points for Coeur d’Alene. 

“We came out and took a couple bad shots,” Leiss said of Post Falls’ decisive run. “But we also had a few turnovers where they just ripped the ball out of our hands, like we were in middle school. That was the game, at the beginning of the third quarter. They just came out and played harder than we did, were more aggressive than we were.” 

Lake City and Post Falls split their two meetings in 6A Inland Empire League play, both winning at home — Lake City, 68-60 and Post Falls, 68-65. 

“We talked about the battles, right?” Ulrich. “Now we’re headed to the war. This will be an absolute war, every single game. They’re tough, but I think we’re pretty tough, too.” 

Coeur d’Alene     12    16    12    21    —    61 

Post Falls     18    11    25    27    —    81 

COEUR d’ALENE — McCall 6, Fagan 0, Braga 2, Stern 10, Wright 0, Whittaker 7, Symons 36, Priebe 0. 

POST FALLS — Norisada 6, Auble 0, Bodman 12, Smith 0, Lysne 29, Naylor 7, Munday 0, Brown 3, Carver 19, Bresee 0, Dean 5.