St. Maries stands in hunt for title

Mariah Gladden tallied a match-high 18 kills and Marlee Masterson added 16 as St. Maries earned a decisive 25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-10 victory over Bear Lake in the first round of the Idaho State 3A tournament at Wendell. The Lumberjacks play Fruitland at 1 p.m. today in the semifinals.

“This was a good test for us and I think it opened their eyes,” St. Maries coach Missy Asbury said. “Sometimes we struggle to come out and play strong, but we did better today.”

In other State 3A action, Timberlake (20-9) was swept by Snake River 25-17, 25-14, 25-16 in the first round but rallied to a 3-2 win against Parma, taking the fifth and final set 15-9 to advance to the consolation finals today against Bear Lake at 9 a.m.

• Idaho State 5A: Ashley Jibby finished with eight kills and three aces and after losing 3-1 to Boise (16-15) in the first round, Post Falls (29-7) swept Eagle to stay alive in the consolation bracket in Twin Falls. … Lewiston (26-8) fell 3-2 in a five-set marathon against Centennial. The Bengals held a 2-1 lead but lost the fourth set 25-13 before dropping the final set 15-12.

The Bengals advanced to today’s consolation final with a 3-1 win over Capital. They will play PF at 9 a.m. today.

• Idaho State 4A: Sandpoint (15-7) was swept 25-13, 25-22, 25-20 by Rigby (35-7) in the first round and then was eliminated with a 3-2, five-set loss against Jerome at Kimberly High School.

• Idaho State 1A Division 1: Challis swept Lakeside (Plummer) 25-18, 25-19, 25-11 in the first round in Declo.

In their first consolation match, the Knights fought out to a 1-0 lead against Horseshoe Bend with a 25-8 win but dropped the next three sets to lose 3-1, ending their season.

• Idaho State 1A Division 2: Tri-Valley defeated Clark Fork (11-5) 3-1 in first-round action in Burley. The Wampus Cats were then eliminated by Dietrich, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23.