Greg Lee

Jerry Lee has bigger feet than Jeff Hinz. But the new Post Falls High head football coach is looking forward to following in his mentor's footsteps. Hinz will replace Lee pending school board approval, Post Falls principal John Billetz said Wednesday.

Coeur d'Alene High two-sport standout Jenna Griffitts has finally decided which sport to play in college. Griffitts, who wavered back and forth between basketball and volleyball the past year, has chosen basketball. The 5-foot-10 wing gave an oral commitment to Weber State on Monday after visiting the Ogden, Utah, school during the weekend.

YAKIMA – Sarra Arras has had a knack for stepping up in critical situations this season for the Riverside girls basketball team. Arras came through again when Riverside needed a lift Saturday afternoon.

YAKIMA – Andy Davis had just one word to describe the Medical Lake boys basketball team's implausible comeback late Saturday night: faith. "You've got to have faith that things are going to happen," Davis said after Medical Lake rallied from a 16-point deficit to pull out a 44-41 victory in the State 2A championship game at the Yakima SunDome.

YAKIMA – Chewelah girls basketball coach Kevin Mulligan figured his team would capture its first state trophy in school history this week. Not in his or his players' wildest imaginations, however, did they think it could be the biggest trophy.

CALDWELL, Idaho – After winning its first two games at the State 1A tournament, the Lakeside High boys basketball team believed a state title was within its grasp. At worst, the Knights needed just one win in their final two games to take home a trophy for a second straight year.

CALDWELL, Idaho – When all the missed shots and turnovers are taken away, the bottom line is the Mackay High boys basketball team made the most of its opportunities when it counted the most. Mackay held off Lakeside 54-48 in a hard-fought State 1A tournament semifinal Friday at Caldwell High School.

CALDWELL, Idaho – A tipin by Post Falls' Kyle Turpin before the horn sounded was disallowed by the referees after they conferred for about 45 seconds at the scorer's table, allowing defending state champ Century to prevail 63-62 in overtime in the State 4A basketball tournament opener Thursday afternoon. The officials made no signal after the buzzer sounded. They immediately met with the timekeeper and scorekeeper, saying they saw zeros on the clock but never heard the horn sound. After talking with the courtside officials, the referee who was closest to halfcourt during the controversial ending backed away from the scorer's table, blew his whistle and signaled the basket was no good. The referees then ran off the court amidst bedlam.

For two weeks, high school boys basketball has been non-stop talk at grocery stores and gas stations in Sandpoint. When Sandpoint defeated Post Falls 71-63 in a wild Region I championship game 13 days ago, the Bulldogs wiped away nearly three decades of frustration by earning their first trip to state since 1977-78.

It's a tried but true fact: Intermountain League boys basketball teams historically haven't fared well at state. So the records Bonners Ferry (11-11) and Kellogg (13-10) take to the State 3A tournament this week aren't likely to strike fear in the field.

Lakeside High boys basketball coach Stacey Sonder likens his team's fourth-place finish at the State 1A tournament last year as an hors d'oeuvre. This week, North Star League and District I champ Lakeside will be seeking something much more filling.

The Inland Empire League will be well-represented at the state boys basketball tournaments this week in the Nampa area. For one of the IEL teams it will be a new experience, however.

NAMPA, Idaho – If Bonners Ferry High wrestling coach Conrad Garner had been competing at the time, he would have been called for stalling. Garner allowed more than a pregnant pause when contemplating how he would answer the question about how his Badgers fared in the first round. It wasn't so much that Garner was indecisive. As usual, he's being cautiously optimistic.

NAMPA, Idaho – Certainly Coeur d'Alene High wrestling coach Jeff Moffat would have accepted first-round victories by all 25 of his state qualifiers Thursday afternoon. Realistically, however, Moffat had no qualms with 12 wins. He hoped the majority of the baker's dozen that came back in the first round of consolation in the evening earned a second day.

St. Maries High wrestling coach Chad Ripke is trying to rebuild the Lumberjacks' program. The cornerstone to his project has been one of his lightweights – 119-pound senior Kyle Payne.

Dave Stockwell will take four players scoring in double figures and combining for 59 points over a single player going off for a career-high 45 any night. Even if the player having the career night is his son.