6A DISTRICT 1 BOYS BASKETBALL: Trojans in the zone ... Second-seeded Post Falls wins Game 1 at top-seeded Lake City
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 3 hours, 39 minutes AGO
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Post Falls senior guard Jaxon Lysne shoots over Lake City junior Jackson Anderson during the first half of Game 1 of the 6A District 1 best-of-3 championship series against Lake City at Lake City High on Tuesday.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lake City senior Josh Watson pulls down a rebound in a crowd during the second half of Game 1 of the best-of-3 6A District 1 championship series against Post Falls on Tuesday at Lake City High.
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
COEUR d’ALENE — Looking into the Den with 6.6 seconds remaining, Post Falls senior Jaxon Lysne stepped to the free-throw line with one goal.
Not quite the ultimate goal, but it’s a start.
Lysne made 1 of 2 shots to give the second-seeded Trojans a 46-43 lead and top-seeded Lake City missed a tying 3-pointer as time ran out in Game 1 of the best-of-3 6A District 1 championship series on Tuesday at Lake City High.
“I knew I had to knock them down,” Lysne said. “Sometimes, you miss shots, but it’s OK, we got a good stop at the end.”
Post Falls (16-6) can clinch a berth to state with a win over Lake City (14-8) on Thursday at 7 p.m. when the series shifts to The Arena in Post Falls. A Lake City win sends the series to a deciding third game at Lake City on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“They’re good,” Post Falls coach Jayson Ulrich said of Lake City. “Trying to stop them is a lot of work. But we tried to take away their first and second action. If Jaxon isn’t one of the best players in the league, both offensively and defensively, somebody’s crazy out there. The job he did tonight, and everyone did, staying with their assignments, bodying things up. This felt like a physical game when I played in the 90s, and an old IEL game.”
Lysne hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to give the Trojans a 26-22 halftime lead. It was the first time in the half that either team led by more than two points.
“I think we showed some mental toughness,” Lysne said. “We played with as much energy as we could, and I think that’s what got it done. Getting Game 1, it’s the biggest game of the series, especially on the road.”
“We’ll enjoy it, but we’ve got to go back to work tomorrow,” Ulrich said. “We’ve got to be ready for Thursday.”
Lysne finished with 17 points, senior Connor Carver 13 points and junior Cashton Bodman 10 points for Post Falls, which is ranked fourth in the MaxPreps.com rankings, which are used to seed the state tournament. Lake City is third.
“We’re going to keep fighting and we’ll keep fighting until the end,” Lake City coach James Anderson said. “You can control only what you can control, and we’ll control our controllables and keep fighting and do everything we can to reverse this fortune.”
Bodman hit a 3-pointer with 6:45 remaining to give the Trojans a 43-34 lead. After the teams exchanged baskets, Lake City rallied to cut the deficit to 44-43 with 1:37 remaining on a basket by Ian Williams. Lysne closed out the game at the foul line.
“Cashton was huge from the last time we played them,” Ulrich said. “And we need all three of them. When they play like that together, we’re tough and that’s what really makes it fun. It was a team win. Having our cheerleaders here, parents and students come out, it was a fun atmosphere. But it’s far from over. Lake City’s good.”
Post Falls and Lake City split their two games in the regular season, each winning at home.
“We didn’t do a good job of attacking the zone, but we’ll address that tomorrow,” Anderson said. “They gave us a small curveball there, but I don’t think it was a huge gamechanger, but we’ll look at other ways to attack it.”
Junior Jackson Anderson scored 13 points, junior Jordan Carlson 10 points for Lake City.
“In this league with three teams, you’ve got to be able to win on the road,” Ulrich said. “Coming here, into a hostile environment, it felt like our backs were up against the wall and we had something to prove, and we did it. Our kids made me look good tonight.”
Post Falls 14 12 14 6 — 46
Lake City 12 10 12 9 — 43
POST FALLS — Norisada 0, Bodman 10, Lysne 17, Naylor 0, Munday 4, Carver 13, Dean 2. LAKE CITY — Williams 4, Winey 2, Plummer 0, Carlson 10, Watson 6, Bowman 8, Anderson 13, Pearson 0.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lake City senior Josh Watson pulls down a rebound in a crowd during the second half of Game 1 of the best-of-3 6A District 1 championship series against Post Falls on Tuesday at Lake City High.