Greg Lee

After wading through several scenarios regarding state football playoff berths in recent weeks, North Idaho teams enter the final week of regular-season play. And guess what? Much is still undecided. The battle for state berths and seedings in the Inland Empire League still involves four of the five teams although defending state and league champ Lewiston and Lake City each have a spot locked up.

Kim Reid, right, wants to put St. Maries back on top at state tournament. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Fullback Leah Beckman, right, is one of the mainstays in the Coeur d'Alene defense. File/The Spokesman-Review

Prep volleyball As far as St. Maries High volleyball coach Mitch Santos is concerned, his team's most difficult match of the season is behind it. "I don't care what anybody says, the (district title) match is the most important match of the year," said Santos after the Lumberjacks captured a 17th straight A-2 District I-II championship with a 15-8, 15-8 win over Priest River at St. Maries' gym Saturday. St. Maries (20-2 overall) will be joined at state by Moscow (12-10), which finished second in the Intermountain League but found the same placing much more difficult at district.

It was overtime before any noteworthy defense was played. When it counted most, Lewiston stopped Sandpoint in double-overtime as the defending state champion Bengals knocked off the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, 41-34, in a wild Inland Empire League game at Barlow Stadium. Although most of the estimated crowd of 1,500 went home disappointed, the shootout was nothing short of entertaining.

Sandpoint's Nicole Maloney had little trouble defending her title in the A-1 Region 1 cross country championships. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The thought of being a playing host in the State A-1 volleyball tournament was more than a dream to Lake City High coach Kent Scanlon a month ago. In many ways it was a nightmare - from the standpoint of believing his team was more than capable of qualifying for state. Scanlon's team was sandwiching spurts of brilliance between match-long streaks of inconsistency.

On your mark. Get set. Bang. No, it's not time for the state track meet. But it could be the next-best thing. There will be 22 football players on the field Friday when Lewiston visits Sandpoint in a game that could decide the Inland Empire League championship. The outcome could be decided by just lining up two of the fastest athletes in the state at one end of Barlow Stadium and letting them sprint 100 yards.

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1. Coach Van Troxel directs traffic at practice, where the Timberwolves continue their climb from doormats to dominators. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Troxel

Rebounding in a variety of ways, Lake City overcame a first-game collapse to upend Post Falls 9-15, 15-1, 15-11 in an A-1 Region I Tournament volleyball opener Tuesday. In the other opener, Inland Empire League champ and top-seeded Sandpoint breezed past visiting Lewiston 15-5, 15-1.

Prep football When was the last time a Lakeland High School football team attempted 30 passes? Lakeland coach Terry Kiefer suspected never - at least not while he's been around the past two decades. Kiefer's Hawks needed every attempt, too, as they fell behind used a three-touchdown third quarter to pull away from St. Maries, 43-22, in an Intermountain League game Friday.

This is not a broken record. This is a new story. The Lake City High football team continues to keep itself in the headlines. For some obvious and not so obvious reasons, LC coach Van Troxel allowed his team to savor its victory Friday a little longer than its previous four wins.

Bayley

Down for the count Krista Nelson and Mead fall short in a Greater Spokane League match with Ferris, as the Saxons pull away with a 15-4, 15-12, 15-3 win Tuesday night. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho high school soccer The Sandpoint High girls soccer team had everything to gain Saturday in its return match with Coeur d'Alene. And as it may turn out, Sandpoint had everything to lose in suffering its first North Idaho League defeat. Coeur d'Alene knocked the Bulldogs out of first place with a 1-0 decision at the Viking Field complex.

Lewiston wide receiver Mickey Hewitt loses his grip as LC's Aaron Cohen (19) and Jack Reiswig, rear, defend. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

1. Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Dave Scates directs traffic as an assistant coach at CdA High School. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Burton 3. Rev. Larry Cudmore enforces football commandments. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Injuries, injuries, injuries. Everywhere a high school football coach looks there's injuries. We're not just talking about a handful of dings, bangs and bruises, either. Broken bones and loose ligaments seem to be most popular, especially in the past week.

With four weeks left in the regular season, the battle for the Inland Empire League's three state football playoff berths heats up in a hurry. After single openers in each of the past two weeks, the IEL schedule features two games Friday. Defending State A-1 Division I champion Lewiston (4-0-1 overall, 1-0 in league) visits Lake City (4-1, 0-1) and Sandpoint (3-2, 1-0) is at Coeur d'Alene (1-4), which is making its league debut under coach Shawn Amos. Both games, like all night contests in the Panhandle, begin at 7.

The Sandpoint High volleyball team's serving wasn't tenacious, but it was more than adequate as the Bulldogs inched closer to a league title Tuesday. Perhaps more than anything, Sandpoint's serving isolated Post Falls' ace hitter, Janelle Ruen, in the back row during critical stretches as the Bulldogs topped the Trojans 15-11, 15-10 in an Inland Empire League match at Bulldog Gym.

Sandpoint tailback Kurt Berkley avoids Lake City's Andy Moore for a few of his 125 yards rushing on 28 carries. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Prep volleyball The location will probably change, but the teams should be the same when the Inland Empire League crowns a regional volleyball champion in three weeks. The Sandpoint-Post Falls showdown Thursday served as an entertaining prelude to what could be an equally intense state-qualifying regional tourney.

A 4-0 start has caused Lake City High football coach Van Troxel to upgrade the outlook of his team going into Inland Empire League play. It's gone from small hopes to big hopes as the Timberwolves prepare to meet Sandpoint (2-2) Friday. Kickoff at Barlow Stadium, as with all other night games, is at 7. "The difference from the start of the season is I thought we'd have a chance against Sandpoint if things went well," Troxel said. "Now we've improved enough to where we have more than a chance to win."