Post Falls boys toughen up ... Trojans escape with 6A IEL win at Coeur d'Alene
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 6 months AGO
MARK NELKE/Press Post Falls senior Jaxon Lysne goes to the floor for the steal and the pass that led to a basket in the second half against Coeur d'Alene on Saturday at Viking Court.
MARK NELKE/Press Coeur d'Alene senior Alex McCall (0) looks to pass while being defended by Alex Dean (55) and Isaiah Naylor (11) of Post Falls during the first half Saturday at Viking Court.
By MARK NELKE
Sports editor
COEUR d’ALENE — Job 1 for Post Falls senior Jaxon Lysne was to guard one of the top players in Idaho.
But the Trojans needed his points as well.
And none were bigger than the 3-point dagger Lysne hit with 20 seconds left that sealed a hard-fought 68-66 Post Falls victory over the Coeur d’Alene Vikings in 6A Inland Empire League play Saturday afternoon at Viking Court.
“We were looking to get it inside, but the shot came to me, and I knocked it down,” said Lysne, who finished with 19 points. “I saw that I was wide open, my defender helped down, and I knew I was going to knock it down.”
Post Falls (11-5, 2-1 6A IEL) needed two big spurts — one to close the first half, the other midway through the third quarter — to fend off Coeur d’Alene (5-11, 0-4), after beating the Vikings by 23 points at home on Jan. 6.
“We had to get tougher, but we squeak out a one-point lead for some reason (at halftime) by not playing very hard,” Post Falls coach Jayson Ulrich said. “But when you have a senior crew like this, you just count on them. They calm the storms at times, and do just enough to get that win. And that’s what we needed tonight; we just needed to break the monotony from the last two games (losses) and get the win and get out of here.”
“We’re getting a lot better,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kent Leiss said. “We were a disaster in both of those games (at Post Falls, and at Lake City in the Fight for the Fish). But in the last week, two weeks, they’ve really improved. They’ve bought in, they’ve listened to what we do in practice, and tonight it almost paid off in a win. We’re proud of the effort they gave tonight.”
Coeur d’Alene led 28-21 late in the second quarter. Post Falls closed the half on a 10-2 run, then added a 9-0 run fueled by its three-quarter court trapping defense to go up 41-32 midway through the third.
That’s a 20-4 advantage during that stretch.
“In that third quarter, there was a few times they took it away from us, like they were stealing our candy on Halloween night,” Leiss said. “They big-brothered us.”
Still, Coeur d’Alene kept fighting, and tied it at 52 on a 3-pointer by senior Alex McCall with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Vikings regained the lead at 58-57 on a driving basket by junior Davis Whittaker.
Senior Connor Carver, who finished with 14 points, spun in the post for a left-handed layup to put Post Falls back up 61-60 with 2:08 left.
With the Trojans up two in the final minute, Carver was covered on the block, and passed to the top of the key to Lysne, who drilled his clutch shot to give Post Falls enough of a cushion.
Cashton Bodman also scored 19 points for Post Falls.
Guarded most of the game by Lysne, Evansville signee Caden Symons scored 23 points for Coeur d’Alene.
“It takes a lot (out of me),” Lysne said. “I’m tired, but you have to dig deep.”
“They were outrebounding us, honestly, and we were being soft,” Lysne said of the first half.
“Jaxon’s our best defender,” Ulrich said. “He might say he got tired, but great players don’t get tired.”
Taking advantage of the attention drawn to Symons, Tannar Stern added 17 points, Whittaker 10 for the Vikings.
Saturday’s result means Coeur d’Alene will be the third seed in the 6A District 1 tournament, and will travel to the No. 2 seed (either Post Falls or Lake City) on Feb. 21 in a loser-out game.
“We feel like, right now, we’re just as good as Post Falls,” Leiss said.
Post Falls plays host to Sandpoint on Tuesday, then is home vs. 6A IEL-leading Lake City (10-6, 3-0) on Friday.
Coeur d’Alene visits Sandpoint on Thursday.
Post Falls 10 21 16 21 — 68
Coeur d’Alene 13 17 15 21 — 66
POST FALLS — Norisada 0, Auble 0, Bodman 19, Lysne 19, Naylor 8, Munday 2, Carver 14, Dean 6.
COEUR d’ALENE — McCall 6, Fagan 0, Braga 5, Stern 17, Murrell 0, Wright 0, Whittaker 10, Symons 23, Priebe 3.
MARK NELKE/Press Coeur d'Alene senior Alex McCall (0) looks to pass while being defended by Alex Dean (55) and Isaiah Naylor (11) of Post Falls during the first half Saturday at Viking Court.