Lake City’s Overtime Work Pays Dividends In Girls Basketball Poll

Lake City and Borah swapped places in this week’s A-1 girls basketball poll.

By virtue of a 52-46 overtime win over Borah last weekend, Lake City moved atop the rankings. Borah, rated No. 1 by the state’s sportswriters in the preseason poll, dropped a notch.

The leaders in the other three divisions - Preston (A-2), Grangeville (A-3) and Troy (A-4) - remained the same. The second through fifth slots were shuffled in most rankings.

“It’s nice to be ranked No. 1, but that’s where we want to be at the end of the season,” LC coach Dave Stockwell said.

The night before the Timberwolves topped Borah, LC defeated Boise 47-36. LC will travel to the Boise area this weekend to take on Eagle (Friday) and defending State A-1 champion Centennial (Saturday afternoon).

Coeur d’Alene (0-2) will make the same trip and swap opponents with LC.

Early returns

The LC-Borah game Saturday could very well have been a preview of the state title game in February.

LC dominated the first half, building a 33-20 lead at halftime.

“That’s as good of girls basketball as you can see,” Stockwell said.

LC led 37-20 early in the third quarter before the T-Wolves went 12 minutes without scoring. It took two clutch free throws from sophomore Laura Dodge for LC to force overtime.

LC awoke in the extra period, needing just 2 minutes to build a 10-point lead.

The T-Wolves don’t have a weakness in a starting lineup that features senior Katie Hatrock (point guard), juniors Lindsay Herbert (guard), Heather Stetson (post) and Alison Asher (post) and Dodge (wing).

If the bench develops - “It’ll be there by Christmas,” Stockwell said - then the T-Wolves will be difficult to knock off. Lewiston’s post-heavy team has the best shot it appears.

While LC is the team of the present, rival Coeur d’Alene could very well be the team of the future.

Sophomore Kellie Stern and three freshmen will see considerable playing time. And four other promising freshmen are gaining valuable experience on junior varsity.

The Viks gave Boise a fight in a 48-45 loss Saturday. Boise figures to battle for a District III state berth.

Cross country honors

Kenny Benjamin of Moscow and Greta Johnson of Potlatch were named runners of the year on the All-North Idaho Team voted by coaches.

Runners were named to the team based on overall season performance, with significant emphasis placed on district and state meets.

Johnson, a sophomore, won the State A-3 individual title by 16 seconds. Benjamin, a senior, captured the A-2 District I-II title and finished third at state.

Lake City’s boys, who won the A-1 Region I title, were represented by two selections to the first team: sophomore Charlie Miller, who won the individual regional title, and junior Josh Johnson. Other first-team picks were: Jeremy Badgett of St. Maries, Adam Grace of Coeur d’Alene, Mark Allen of Sandpoint and John Potter of Troy.

Joining Johnson on the girls first team were: Yvonne Shea of Moscow, Nicole Maloney of Sandpoint, Kelsi Luhnow of CdA, Aree Stone of St. Maries, Lany Dowell of Sandpoint and Eva Unruh of CdA.

Hoop jamboree

Boys basketball teams began practicing Monday and area fans can get a sneak preview of Kootenai County’s three Inland Empire League teams Tuesday.

Lake City and Post Falls will combine with Coeur d’Alene at Viking Gym, beginning at 6 p.m. Each team will square off in “mini” games consisting of two quarters.

Classroom champions

The IHSAA has announced its Academic State Champions in each classification of volleyball and football.

The awards are sponsored by the United Dairymen of Idaho and are presented to varsity teams that have the highest combined cumulative grade-point averages.

Volleyball: A-1 - Madison, 3.80; A-2 - American Falls, 3.74; A-3 - Glenns Ferry, 3.93; A-4 - Hagerman, 3.74.

Football: A-1 Division I - Centennial, 3.06; Division II - Hillcrest, 3.15; A-2 - American Falls, 2.90; A-3 - American Falls; A-4 11 man - Murtaugh, 3.22; A-4 eight-man - Valley Christian, 3.01.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Girls basketball polls Here are the Idaho high school girls basketball polls as voted by the state’s sportswriters. Records are through Monday. First-place votes are in parentheses. A-1 Record Pts 1. Lake City (6) 2-0 67 2. Borah 1-1 56 3. Blackfoot 1-0 43 4. Highland 1-0 30 5. Centennial 1-1 25 Also receiving votes: Bonneville (1), Lewiston, Boise, Capital.

A-2 Record Pts 1. Preston (5) 0-0 58 2. Shelley (1) 1-0 53 3. Bishop Kelly 1-0 45 4. Jerome 0-0 31 5. Moscow 0-0 28 Also receiving votes: Middleton (1), Sugar-Salem, Bonners Ferry, Buhl, Emmett.

A-3 Record Pts 1. Grangeville (6) 0-0 68 2. Glenns Ferry 0-0 47 3. West Side 0-0 45 4. Challis 0-0 34 5. Butte Co. (1) 0-0 25 Also receiving votes: Wendell, Valley, Clearwater Valley, Homedale.

A-4 Record Pts 1. Troy (7) 0-0 70 2. N. Christian 0-0 59 3. Carey 0-0 45 4. Lakeside 0-0 37 5. Dietrich 0-1 26 Also receiving votes: Cambridge, Murtaugh, Leadore.