PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Post Falls wins, to host Lake City again in 6A loser-out game

POST FALLS — Sophomore Annabelle Tucker scored eight of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter for the Post Falls Trojans, who beat the visiting Lake City Timberwolves 57-50 in a 6A Inland Empire League game. 

With the win, Post Falls (7-14, 2-2 6A IEL) will be the second seed and host third-seeded Lake City (7-12, 0-4) in a loser-out game in the 6A District 1 tournament next Saturday. Had Lake City won, the Timberwolves held the tiebreaker with a 2-2 record against 5A IEL teams, compared to 1-3 for the Trojans. 

“Our girls did a good job of competing and turning up the pressure,” Post Falls coach Brian Carlson said. “And we’ll try to do it again next week.”

“We knew we were going to end up playing each other, so we did pretty much the same stuff that we did in our last game against them,” Lake City coach David Pratt said. “We might have changed some stuff here and there, but really it came down to us missing some wide-open shots and turning it over a boatload. His kids run around really well and they forced us into some turnovers.” 

Junior Brooklyn Reese scored 15 points for the Post Falls. 

“Both Brooklyn and Annabelle had great games offensively and defensively,” Carlson said. “We asked them to guard some of their better players and they really stepped up.” 

Senior KaeLee Kolden scored 15 points and junior Ella Pearson had 12 points for Lake City (7-12, 0-3). 

“I’m so proud of my kids,” Pratt said. “They worked so dang hard and just get after it. We got into some foul trouble, and it put a wrench into our game plan. We had to keep two starters on the bench, and that was tough.” 

Post Falls beat Lake City 51-38 on Jan. 14 at Lake City High. 

“We’ve got to continue to get better,” Carlson said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times.” 

Lake City    12    12    16    10    —    50 

Post Falls    12    13    15    17    —    57 

LAKE CITY — Kolden 15, Hiltenbrand 4, Pearson 12, Baltzell 5, Brouse 0, Johnston 12, Johnson 2. 

POST FALLS — Benzinger-Stephens 0, Hollenbeck 1, Haines-Picchione 8, Reese 15, Felix 5, Morrison 0, Johnson 0, Tucker 18, Gluhak 1, Walton 9. 

Lakeland 66 

Lewiston 31 

RATHDRUM — Part one is complete. 

Now comes phase two. 

Senior Karstyn Kiefer, the lone senior, scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half for the 5A Inland Empire League champion Hawks in a win over the Bengals on senior night at Hawk Court. 

Junior Presley Fagan scored 15 points, all on 3-pointers for Lakeland (16-4, 6-0 5A IEL), which claimed its first league title since the 2018-19 season.

“An awesome senior night for Karstyn and a strong all-around team effort to close out the regular season,” Lakeland coach Caelyn Caufield said. “Presley was a force for us again tonight. We’re looking forward to continuing the work with this group.” 

Lakeland will be the top seed in next week’s 5A Region 1 tournament and will host the fourth seed next Saturday in the opening round. 

Darta Serdane scored 10 points for Lewiston (7-12, 1-4), which hosts Sandpoint on Tuesday to conclude the regular season. 

Lewiston    9    10    8    4    —    31 

Lakeland    17    15    20    14    —    66 

LEWISTON — Balmer 2, Bruce 7, Cahill 0, Fisher 2, Mellinger 0, Lathen 0, Samuels 2, Schnell 6, Serdane 10, Hemphill 2. 

LAKELAND — Kar. Kiefer 14, Forsman 5, Bowie 4, Hoffman 11, McMurray 0, Kap. Kiefer 0, Fagan 15, Bretveld 5, Bullington 12.