Lumberjacks stand tall

The St. Maries High volleyball team breezed through the 3A District I tournament Saturday afternoon like it did in league.

The only glitch – albeit minor – was when the Lumberjacks lost the first game in the district final, but they bounced back to down Priest River 23-25, 25-15, 25-4, 25-23 at The Arena at Post Falls High School.

In their first match, the Lumberjacks (23-5) hardly perspired in handling Bonners Ferry 25-8, 25-8, 25-12.

Priest River, which lost to Kellogg earlier in the day, dropped the first two games to Kellogg in the match to decide a second state berth before rebounding for a 20-25, 23-25, 25-9, 27-25, 15-12 victory.

St. Maries and Priest River (10-10) open state Friday at Coeur d’Alene High School. The Spartans, who are making a second straight trip to state, face District III champ Fruitland (14-0) at 8:30 a.m. and the Lumberjacks go against District III runner-up Weiser (10-6) at 11:30.

In other matches Saturday, Bonners Ferry defeated Timberlake 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23 and Kellogg topped Bonners Ferry 25-12, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16.

In the title match, PR did what it did once during Intermountain League play – and no other conference team could – by taking a game from the Lumberjacks.

They caught St. Maries’ attention. The Lumberjacks enjoyed a 10-point cushion in the second half of the second game, and that momentum carried over to the third when they opened an 8-0 lead. The run was followed by another 8-0 spurt that pushed the lead to 20-2. Lumberjacks senior outside hitter Shawna Heath had five of her match-high 24 kills in the third game. She also had 13 digs and six blocks.

Heath added eight more kills in the fourth game. It was something the Lumberjacks needed because they reverted back to the roller-coaster play of the first game.

“Priest River came out strong,” St. Maries coach Jamie Sloper said. “I don’t know if my girls were expecting them to push so hard at first. They’re a team that’s been improving all year long. The next two games they pretty much got down to business and the last game I thought my girls let up a bit.”

Katie Felix, who complements Heath on the left side, had 11 kills and 11 digs. Junior setter Michelle Guidry had 41 assists.

Heath, who had to sit out state last year after committing an athletic code violation, said the Lumberjacks are better this season than the team that won district last year.

“We’ve really come together as a team. We’ve elevated so much,” Heath said.

Sophomore Taylor Stewart and senior Alicia Schanilec led PR with five kills each.

With senior Lacy Hopkins working the ball well, the Spartans rallied in the final match of the day.

“My team showed real heart to come back and fight,” first-year Spartans coach Katie Bodecker said. “That’s what we were working on this whole season is our mental toughness. It’s been a rough season, kind of up and down. They proved they deserved that win.”

In the third game, PR opened a 10-2 lead and extended it to 15-4. The Wildcats couldn’t recover. The fourth and fifth games were as tight as the first two. PR got a kill from junior middle hitter Melissa Kruse for match point.

Kellogg coach Dick Schreiber thought the match could have gone either way.

“The last two games were back and forth and back and forth, and we had some really good rallies,” Schreiber said. “We attacked the ball well, but they just dug it up and got it over. They earned the win.”

The IML coaches presented their all-league team.

Named to the team were: Hopkins, who was named the MVP, Stewart and Schanilec; Heath, Guidry, Kim Sather and Paula Robinson-Blumel of St. Maries; Kristina Turpin and Hannah Cady of Bonners Ferry; and Marisa Bush, Stephanie Squires and Katie Dumont of Kellogg. Sloper was named coach of the year.

“In a 5A Region I loser-out match, Lake City (12-11) earned a state berth with a 16-25, 33-31, 25-15, 25-22 win over visiting Lewiston.

The Timberwolves join Region I champ Coeur d’Alene (18-6) at state, which begins Friday at Post Falls High School. CdA will take on District III fourth-place team Boise (24-8) at 10 a.m. and LC will face District III runner-up Capital (9-10) at 1 p.m.

Against Lewiston, Madie Daigh led LC with 16 kills and Rachel Stiles had 14 digs. Carle Ax led Lewiston with 15 kills.

“Sandpoint had to go five games before stopping Moscow 25-12, 23-25, 15-25, 25-12, 15-10 in the 4A Region I championship match at Sandpoint.

Earlier in the tourney, Sandpoint swept Moscow 25-21, 25-22, 25-21. In an earlier loser-out match, Moscow beat Lakeland.

Defending state champ Sandpoint (22-2) advances to state, which begins Friday at Lake City High School. The Bulldogs will face Rigby at 10 a.m.

The five-game title match marked the third time this year the teams went the distance. Piper Wahlin led the Bulldogs with 25 kills and Abby Helander had 34 digs. In the first match, Wahlin had 15 kills and Helander had 30 digs.

“Behind solid serving, Wallace topped Kootenai 25-17, 13-25, 25-12, 25-13 in the 1A District I tournament championship match at Mullan.

Kootenai came back to earn a state berth with a 27-25, 25-20, 22-25, 16-25, 15-7 win over Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy.

Wallace (11-4) and Kootenai (14-5) advance to state, which begins Thursday at Lewis-Clark State College and Booth Hall at Lewiston High. Wallace is in Pool A at LCSC and will play defending state champ Garden Valley, Shoshone and Deary. Kootenai is in Pool B, also at LCSC, and will face Genesee, Horseshoe Bend and Dietrich.

The top two teams in the four pools advance to double-elimination play on Friday.