Iel Boys Championship Up For Grabs This Weekend

They’re headed to Lewiston. As expected, the Inland Empire League boys basketball championship and top seeding into the regional tournament will be decided this weekend during final regular-season games.

Preseason favorite Post Falls and Lake City are tied in first place at 5-2. Lewiston is a half-game back at 4-2.

Conventional wisdom says Lewiston (12-6 overall) should capture the league title with two victories when Lake City visits Friday and Post Falls stops by Saturday.

At stake for the three teams are two host berths in the first round of the state-qualifying regional tournament next week.

Here are the possible scenarios:

LC can clinch no worse than a share of the league title and a host berth by beating Lewiston. A loss and LC would finish in a tie for a host berth. A coin flip would determine the host berth.

Lewiston captures the league title outright with a sweep. The key game for the Bengals is Post Falls. Lewiston could lose to LC but earn a host berth by beating Post Falls, because a win would give the Bengals a league sweep over the Trojans.

Depending on the combination, Post Falls can win the title outright, earn a share of the league title or end up traveling to either Lewiston or LC for a first-round game. Post Falls can clinch no worse than a share of the league title with a win and could earn the title outright if Lewiston beat LC and the Trojans beat the Bengals.

Then there’s Coeur d’Alene (2-5, 3-16) and Sandpoint (1-6, 5-14), playing for the right to host a loser-out playoff game Tuesday to get into the double-elimination regional.

Coeur d’Alene, which throttled Sandpoint 69-53 in the first league game, goes to Sandpoint on Friday. If the Vikings win, the playoff will be at CdA. A Sandpoint win would require a coin flip to determine the site.