PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Lysne lifts Post Falls in 6A IEL opener

POST FALLS — Senior Jaxon Lysne scored 20 of his 26 points and the Post Falls Trojans started pulling away early in the third quarter en route to an 85-62 victory over the Coeur d’Alene Vikings in the 6A Inland Empire League opener for both teams Tuesday night at The Arena. 

“Jaxon was huge tonight,” Post Falls coach Jayson Ulrich. “They executed everything we wanted them to do, getting up and down early in our transition. And then the second half, playing in the half court was really nice. We had a little adversity in the third, kids got relaxed, slowed down, ran our stuff. I didn’t have to call a bunch of sets, just put Connor (Carver), Jaxon and Cashton (Bodman) in certain spots, and we were able to get what we wanted.  

Senior Connor Carver, who missed the last game with an ankle injury, added 22 points for Post Falls (10-3). Junior Cashton Bodman had 17. 

“Alex Dean gave us some energy, and Sawyer Norisada was huge off the bench, just being a pest,” Ulrich said.  

Caden Symons, the Evansville signee, scored a game-high 39 points for Coeur d’Alene (5-6).  

“Caden’s a load, and we knew he was a load,” Ulrich said. “It wasn’t an easy 39. I think he’s going to be tired tonight, just like the guys that were guarding him.” 

The Vikings are already shorthanded, with two projected starters out of the season with injuries. 

On Tuesday, Coeur d’Alene was down two more players, including junior starter Justin Fagan, who suffered a broken finger one minute into the Vikings’ second game in Las Vegas at the Tarkanian Classic in December.  

“Besides Symons, nobody else has experience playing in these big league games,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kent Leiss. “The first 11 minutes of the game, we were very poor defensively. But then the last five minutes of the second quarter we buckled down and gave ourselves a chance.” 

Post Falls jumped out to a 23-9 lead after one quarter. Coeur d’Alene pulled to within 39-33 two minutes into the third quarter before the Trojans started to pull away again. 

“We really struggled at the beginning of the third quarter,” Leiss said. “We got four fouls immediately, and then we just got tired, because we don’t have a lot of depth. Giving up 85 points is unacceptable.  

“We had a lot of issues tonight. We just have to get better at defensive rebounding and taking care of the ball, and developing some of our other players so Symons doesn’t have to score 40 points for us to have a chance. That’s just not going to be sustainable.” 

Coeur d’Alene plays at Lake City on Friday in the annual Fight for the Fish spirit basketball games. 

Post Falls returns to action Jan. 14 at Lake City.

Coeur d’Alene     9    18    19    14    —    62 

Post Falls     23    14    21    27    —    85 

COEUR d’ALENE — McCall 5, Braga 2, Stern 2, Murrell 2, Rouse 1, Gatten 0, Wright 0, Whittaker 9, Symons 39. 

POST FALLS — Norisada 6, Auble 0, Bodman 17, Lysne 26, Naylor 0, Munday 5, Brown 0, Carver 22, Bresee 0, Dean 9. 

St. Maries 63 

Kellogg 58 

ST. MARIES — Senior JJ Yearout nearly had a triple-double, totaling 19 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals as the Lumberjacks fended off the Wildcats in Central Idaho League play. 

Senior Isaiah Gustaffe added 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, along with five rebounds for St. Maries (5-1, 1-0 CIL). Senior Xavier Sloper had 16 points and six boards. 

“it was kind of an ugly win,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “We know each other so well, you just have to go out and make plays eventually.” 

Chase praised the defense of Gustaffe, with help from Yearout, on Kellogg’s Draeden Taylor, who finished with eight points. 

“He had 41 in their last two games at that Lewiston tournament,” Chase said. “They did a good job making it tough on him.” 

Porter Lewis led Kellogg (3-6, 0-2) with 17 points, and Cayden Honnerlaw added 13. Evan Vindasius made three 3-pointers and scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. 

“It was a really good game tonight,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said. “Offensively, we got stuck in the mud a little offensively. St. Maries does a good job of sending bodies to the ball and we weren’t able to find the bottom of the net. We’d get back into it and they’d make a run. In the middle of the third, we just let JJ (Yearout) get loose, and he was super effective in the second half. It was good to see our guys answer the call, but we just didn’t make enough plays to get over the hump.” 

Kellogg hosts Timberlake on Saturday. 

St. Maries plays host to Potlatch on Thursday. 

Kellogg     15    4    18    21    —    58 

St. Maries    14    13    17    19    —    63 

KELLOGG — Coburn 2, Johnson 0, Taylor 8, P. Lewis 17, Honnerlaw 13, Cheney 4, Vindasius 11, Kimstayton 3. 

ST. MARIES — Harold 0, J. Barta 2, Yearout 19, Gustaffe 15, B. Barta 0, Riberich 9, Speakman 2, Sloper 16. 

Lakeside (Wash.) 60 

Timberlake 44 

NINE MILE FALLS, Wash. — The visiting Tigers, playing for the first time in three weeks, were outscored 34-9 in the middle two quarters in the loss to the Eagles. 

“We didn’t match the energy level of Lakeside,” Timberlake coach Juston Henry said. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds that put us in a deep hole in the second and third quarters.” 

Max Simpson added 12 points for Timberlake (3-3), which plays at Lakeland on Thursday. 

Luke Howie scored a game-high 33 points for Lakeside (7-3). 

Timberlake     15    7    2    20    —    44 

Lakeside     19    18    16    7    —    60 

TIMBERLAKE — Shively 2, Short 2, Walter 0, Simpson 12, Van Gundy 3, Vallieres 7, Rush 18, Smith 0, Barnhart 0, Martin 0. 

LAKESIDE — C. Hanson 9, B. Hanson 2, Haff 3, Almond 0, Cummings 6, Howie 33, Floyd 4, Starr 3. 

Wallace 59

Clark Fork 42

CLARK FORK — The visiting Miners (3-4, 2-1 Scenic Idaho Conference) downed the Wampus Cats (2-2, 0-1).

No other information was available.

Christian Center 72 

The Oaks 47 

SPOKANE VALLEY — Cyrus Coppinger scored a game-high 35 points to lead the Lions past The Oaks at The Oaks Classical Christian Academy. 

Luke McWhorter scored 10 points for Christian Center (8-2, 5-0 MCL), which faces Kootenai Thunder at Cocolalla Base Camp on Thursday. 

Christian Center    23    18    22    9    —    72 

The Oaks        6    10    14    17    —    47 

CHRISTIAN CENTER — Miller 7, Secrest 0, Kellmer 2, Vara 3, Coppinger 35, McWhorter 10, Cotten 4, Alexander 0, Milbourne 2, Quimby 9. 

THE OAKS — Singer 10, M. Harken 11, Wendt 4, Doster 2, Sherle 8, Dowers 0, W. Harken 9, VanHorn 3. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Coeur d'Alene senior Alexander McCall (0) drives to the basket as senior Alexander Dean (55) and junior Joseph Auble (1) of Post Falls defend on Tuesday at The Arena at Post Falls.