Greg Lee

The first showdown a year ago between the crosstown rivals had a similar beginning. The Coeur d'Alene girls basketball team, in fact, took both Inland Empire League games from Lake City. But in the end, the Timberwolves won the game that mattered most when they upset the Vikings in the State 5A championship game.

MOSCOW – Another rally. Another tantalizingly close encounter with victory. And in the end Saturday, another difficult loss for the Idaho Vandals. Utah State played a turnover-free game as the Aggies held off the Vandals 24-19 in a Western Athletic Conference season-ending football game before a holiday-light crowd of 8,102 at the Kibbie Dome.

Fearing its athletes are overexposed to 5A teams, Lakeland High School officials announced Monday it is withdrawing from the 5A/4A combined Inland Empire League beginning next fall. At a league meeting in September, 4A Lakeland asked IEL schools to alter the conference schedule in boys and girls basketball, volleyball and boys and girls soccer. Lakeland proposed that instead of 4A schools playing 5A schools twice, the schools would play each other once while continuing to play league schools in the same classification twice. The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected 12-2 on a vote of principals and athletic directors.

Burlington-Edison might as well have been another name for an asphalt paving company Saturday night. Clinging to a 7-6 lead through three quarters, Burlington-Edison decided to abandon finesse for a straight-ahead attack as the Tigers scored three touchdowns to flatten the Pullman Greyhounds 28-6 in a State 2A quarterfinal football game at Joe Albi Stadium.

Nothing has been finalized, but University of Idaho athletics director Rob Spear said Wednesday that he's close to securing a replacement opponent for a 2008 home game against Oregon State. Bob De Carolis, OSU's A.D., told the Associated Press on Tuesday the Beavers are juggling their 2008 schedule to include a "big-time opportunity on the road." The opponent is reportedly going to be Penn State.

FRUITLAND, Idaho – The way Fruitland High football coach Bruce Schlaich saw things Saturday afternoon, his undefeated defending State 3A champion Grizzlies were fortunate to fend off Timberlake. This from a coach whose team has won 20 straight games and will be heavily favored to repeat next week.

BOISE – It was a case of too much Capital and too many turnovers for the Lake City Timberwolves. And, perhaps, too many injuries.

LEWISTON – Funny what a sense of urgency will do to a high school football team. Forced to make a road trip to Lewiston for the second time in two weeks, the Lake City Timberwolves bounced back from arguably their worst outing of the season to extend their season one more week.

The Lakeland High football team's offense has played a game akin to musical running backs this season. Except in the Hawks' version there's no fighting over who plays or how many carries each receives.

The road to a repeat state championship became much longer for the Sandpoint High volleyball team Friday. Rigby upset Sandpoint 25-19, 27-25, 19-25, 22-25, 15-3 in a marathon two-hour match as the State 4A tournament got under way at Lake City High School.

The Coeur d'Alene High boys soccer team was pleased to capture a trophy Saturday. Vikings coach Eric Louis summed up why his team wasn't completely content, though.

SANDPOINT – A few breaks finally went the way of the Lakeland High football team. Lakeland scored a touchdown and John Novak kicked two field goals as the Hawks rallied from a 26-14 deficit to upset Sandpoint 27-26 in a 4A Inland Empire League game Friday before a crowd estimated at 1,600 at Barlow Stadium.

Mountain View goalie Brian Sturm and his defenders erected an impenetrable wall in front of the goal Friday afternoon. Try and try as Coeur d'Alene did, the Vikings couldn't crack through as defending state champ Mountain View prevailed 2-0 in a State 5A boys soccer tournament match at Lake City High School.

Now that's the level of volleyball that can do something at state. With junior setter Natalie Stewart involving as many as five teammates, Coeur d'Alene had too many weapons for Lake City to defend as the Vikings captured a second consecutive 5A Region I championship with a telling 25-15, 25-10, 25-17 win Thursday at Elmer Jordan Court.

Jordon Eborall was so infuriated after a scoreless first half – both for himself and the Coeur d'Alene High boys soccer team – that he held his tongue during the 5-minute intermission. "I didn't talk to anybody because I needed to score," said Eborall, a sophomore forward who leads the Vikings in scoring. "I get mad when I don't do something good."

Corner kicks and headers were crucial in the 5A Region I boys and girls soccer tournament title matches Saturday afternoon. The Sandpoint girls avenged two regular-season losses to Coeur d'Alene, knocking off defending the state champ 1-0, while the Coeur d'Alene boys remained unbeaten with a 2-1 win over Lake City in finals under sun-kissed skies at CdA.