Vikings believe they have a chance at state

Go ahead, remind the Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team that it lost to Borah by 31 points.

Go ahead, tell the Vikings that Borah is heavily favored to capture the 5A state championship.

Go ahead, point out that Borah is in Coeur d’Alene’s half of the state bracket.

Go ahead, caution CdA that it will likely field the shortest team in the tourney.

Go ahead, mention to the Viks that they’ll probably be the youngest team.

Now stop. What do the Vikings think about all of that?

“Bring it on. We can do some damage at state, that’s for sure,” said Jenna Griffitts, the Vikings’ lone senior. “Borah? Bring them on – anyone.”

Griffitts isn’t being cocky. Confident? Without a doubt.

The Viks (19-3) know that, realistically, they’re a long shot to win the state championship when the tourney unfolds today at the Idaho Center in Nampa. But they also know that many state tourneys don’t always follow form. Usually the favorite ends up playing for a trophy other than the gold-colored one.

CdA takes on District IV-V runner-up Twin Falls (20-4) in the tourney’s opener at 12:15.

Much of the confidence that oozes from the Viks comes from their first-year coach, Dale Poffenroth, who has orchestrated a turnaround from a 2-19 finish the year before. Poffenroth presided over three state titles and two runner-up finishes in 17 years at Central Valley before collecting his Washington retirement and taking a teaching job at CdA.

Idaho’s state tourney format is new for Poffenroth. In Washington, the field is twice Idaho’s size (16 teams) and takes four days instead of three.

“With four days you’ve got to rest your kids,” Poffenroth said. “You can’t do some things that you can do with three. Under this format we should be able to go out and do our thing and see what happens.”

Doing “their” thing essentially means the Viks must compensate for their lack of size by running whenever possible. That’s why Poffenroth has put such a premium on conditioning.

“We have to play the way we played the last game against Lake City,” Poffenroth said. “If we come out and have fun and go play hard, that’s a huge key. If we get tentative like we did the first (regional) game against Lake City, then it’s a different story.”

Don’t count Poffenroth among those who would consider state just a bonus to the season.

“This is part of the season,” he reasoned. “If you don’t get to state, you’re disappointed.”

That explains why CdA hasn’t backed off of its six-days-a-week, three-hours-a-day practice routine. There the Viks were Monday, two days before leaving for Boise, doing their conditioning drills for three hours.

“Poff has totally prepared us,” sophomore post Jenna DeLong said.

This is Griffitts’ second trip to state. She started as a freshman on CdA’s last state-qualifying team. She knows her younger teammates may have some butterflies when they step on the Idaho Center court, but she thinks the nerves will wear off quickly.

“We’re going to go down and work our hardest,” Griffitts said. “We’ll see some big teams, but I don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with our quickness. If we can pressure and get into transition, I guarantee we’ll have a good chance. I believe in us.

“If we play like we did the other night against Lake City – and bring that much adrenaline and that much confidence – then we’ll have fun. I know we can come back with a state title.”