Trojans pick up a serious victory
If Post Falls was going to have any chance of being taken seriously in next weekend’s 5A Region I boys basketball tournament, it needed a win at Lake City Friday.
The Trojans, in their final Inland Empire League contest of the season, got what they needed with a furious second-half comeback in an extremely physical 43-39 victory over the Timberwolves.
Senior point guard Spencer Pingel, who led all scorers with 18 points, including 10 in a 13-0 Post Falls run to start the second half, said he and his teammates were fully aware that they had yet to defeat a 5A team this season.
“It was a must-win for us coming in,” said Pingel, who calmly hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left to provide the final margin of victory. “We get some momentum going into regionals and show everybody how we can play.”
Post Falls (10-10, 5-7 IEL) played a somewhat uninspired first half and trailed by fourteen at the break, 31-17.
But the team that came out of the Trojan Horse at halftime was another animal altogether, full-court pressing Lake City (12-7, 6-5) and outscoring the on-their-heels T-Wolves 16-5 in the third quarter and cutting the lead to three at 36-33.
The fourth quarter wasn’t much different. Though the Trojans had scored only three points through the first five minutes of the period, Lake City hadn’t scored any and Post Falls took the lead when Pingel hit freshman Malcolm Colbert on a fast-break to make it 38-36.
LC junior post James Colburn tied the score with a turn-around jumper from 8 feet. But the T-Wolves missed a couple of foul shots and the Trojans’ Pingel put it away, scoring on a runout and three-point play after a huge block by Brandon Haas on LC’s Tyler Stoddard.
“It was like we were all sleeping in the first half,” Haas said. “Then, in the second half, it was like ‘Hey, we decided to come and play – I don’t know what hit us.
“We sent a message tonight, I think, that everyone is going to need to look out for us,” Haas continued. “If we play like this every night, we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”
Trojans coach Dave Stockwell said it’s what he’s been trying to tell his team all year long.
“At halftime, I told them I can’t draw anything up on the board,” Stockwell said. “Either you want it, or you don’t want it.
“And they came out and they answered the call – I was very pleased.”
The regional tourney is scheduled for next Friday and Saturday at Coeur d’Alene High. On Friday, Lake City and Lewiston play at 5:30 and Post Falls squares off with Coeur d’Alene at 7.