Greg Lee

NAMPA, Idaho – The Coeur d'Alene High girls basketball team played its own version of the old rock-paper-scissors game Thursday. The Vikings wanted to prove that speed tops size. While the taller Boise Braves had their moments, the smaller and more athletic Vikings had more flashes of brilliance as Coeur d'Alene upset the defending state champions 69-53 in State 5A tournament openers at the Idaho Center.

The odds are a Boise-area team will capture the State 5A girls basketball championship Saturday. The odds are that two Boise-area teams will end up squaring off for the state title. After all, half the field is from the Southern Idaho Conference.

Seniors Kayla Stiegemeier and Brigitte Boucher didn't pull any punches. The lone starters back off the Lakeland High girls basketball team that qualified for the State 4A tournament last year in the school's first year in the classification thought the Hawks should have played in the title game.

NAMPA, Idaho – The Wallace High girls basketball team is on track to make another deep run in the State 1A tournament. Kootenai, meanwhile, is on pace to make another early exit.

Just as fans were about to be lulled asleep by the snail-like pace Friday, a game broke out between the Post Falls and Lake City boys basketball teams. Post Falls, winless in five previous games against Inland Empire League 5A teams, finally broke through on the final night of regular-season play as the Trojans broke down Lake City's defense late for a 52-46 victory in overtime at The Arena.

Wallace High girls basketball coach Kirby Krulitz gave his pregame speech and walked confidently out of the locker room Thursday. Krulitz had just heard three words from his players that set him at ease. "They said 'We are ready'," the coach said.

Adam Hall wrote out a list of 13 goals for his senior wrestling season at Bonners Ferry High and posted them on his bedroom wall so he would see them each time he walked out of his room. None is more important than dominating his opponents. It's not cockiness. It's an assuredness in his abilities.

This is what Coeur d'Alene High girls basketball coach Dale Poffenroth envisioned at the start of the year when he welcomed back three starters and placed three freshmen on his roster. The Vikings' veterans and rookies combined to play their best game to date Tuesday as Coeur d'Alene galloped past Lake City 70-43 to capture a second straight 5A Region I championship before an estimated crowd of 800 at Elmer Jordan Court.

Lakeland did something it couldn't do against Moscow during the regular season. The Hawks' girls basketball team smothered the Bears with full-court pressure. The result was a 16-0 start that Moscow was never able to recover from as Lakeland captured its second straight 4A Region I championship and seventh consecutive regional/district title overall with a statement-making 60-45 win Saturday at Lake City High School.

Post Falls High boys basketball coach Dave Stockwell keeps telling himself that the final stretch of the regular season against the Inland Empire League's 5A teams will make his team better. If Stockwell doesn't see the fruit until postseason, that's fine with him.

Jim Thacker recalls several memorable victories among the 493 his boys basketball teams accumulated at three different stops prior to his arrival at Lake City High School this year. His 500th win, however, will be one he may never forget. And it's not because it was necessarily a milestone victory.

So what did the Coeur d'Alene High boys basketball team do for an encore, two nights removed from scoring 97 points? The Vikings scored less than half and seemed to have less than half the energy, too. But Coeur d'Alene found a way to hold off Sandpoint 48-40 in an Inland Empire League game Saturday at Elmer Jordan Court.

When Coeur d'Alene High boys basketball coach Kent Leiss was contemplating his starting lineup prior to the start of the season, he had senior Cody Smith in his top five. Leiss had little evidence to support that decision, though. After all, Smith never completed his junior season. That ended halfway through when he broke a bone in his right leg just under his kneecap falling to the floor after making a left-handed tipin.

The Lake City High boys basketball team opened with its best half of the season Thursday. Then the Timberwolves concluded with arguably their worst half. The second-ranked Lewiston Bengals had something to say about the final 16 minutes, though.

John Billetz was doing his fatherly duties – buying groceries for his son, a freshman at Boise State University – when his cell phone rang with the good news Tuesday evening. The Idaho High School Activities Association made it official Wednesday when it announced that the 11-year Post Falls High School principal will become the executive director this summer.

Brandon Palaniuk is closing in on Lakeland High School's career record for victories in wrestling. He most likely will win a fourth state medal. He most likely will advance to the state finals for a third consecutive year. He hopes to win a second state championship and his first in the 4A ranks. And he captured a title in the prestigious Tri-State tournament last month. It ranks as his best feat. In other words, Brandon Palaniuk has built quite the high school resume. But wrestling is a distant second to his first love. In fact, he's counting down the days until he can return to it.