Panhandle Picks with Greg Lee

I’ve had some satisfying victories wearing my Panhandle Picks hat, but this ranks near the top.

I closed out the regular season by beating my boss, Joe Palmquist. I’m still grinning as I write this. The Scribe picked five of six games correctly, the deciding game being Post Falls’ 24-12 win over Coeur d’Alene. The boss and I missed on Lewiston’s 26-14 upset over Lake City.

That makes the final season scoreboard: Lee 60-18 (.770), Guests 53-25 (.680).

I not only pick the winners in first-round state playoff games involving area teams this week, but I also will look deep into the crystal ball and pick which teams will win state titles. This region won’t have a state champ this year.

Lake City at Lewiston: As rematches go, I don’t know who will be more angry – LC’s players or LC’s coaches. Knowing how odd this team is – the players seem to have a carefree spirit – I’ll suspect the coaches’ pride was more hurt than the players’ last week.

Lewiston has played its best ball the last two weeks and there’s no reason not to expect the Bengals to put their best paws forward. LC had a number of breakdowns last week. If the T-Wolves don’t shore up some sloppy special-teams play and shoddy tackling and blocking, they will be packing away their gear earlier than usual.

LC will fix enough things to continue its season. LC 27, Lewiston 20.

Kuna at Lakeland: This game reminds me of the golden days when these teams used to meet in the A-2 state playoffs. If this game were in the Boise area, I’d pick Kuna.

Lakeland will do what it does best – control the ball and run time off the clock. LL 21, Kuna 14.

Weiser at Timberlake: This will be a difficult game for the home boys. Both teams want to run the ball and run the ball often.

The Wolverines’ best player is senior middle linebacker Jacob Scharborough, a two-time state wrestling champion. He didn’t play in Weiser’s 48-26 win over Kellogg last week because of an athletic code violation. He frustrates offenses and is a chore to bring down at fullback. The Tigers will counter with speed. Timberlake will prevail in a scoring-fest. TL 36, Weiser 34.

Troy at Wallace: The Miners finished third in the North Star League but advanced to the State 1A Division I playoffs by virtue of beating Lakeside. The Miners will have their hands full with Troy. Troy 42, Wallace 28.

Clark Fork at Kootenai: The Warriors got caught looking past their first-round game a year ago and that won’t happen this time. The Warriors are the better team and the better team usually wins. Kootenai 24, CF 14.