Greg Lee

Post Falls' Travis Bohn has an offensive rebound and shoots for two points as CdA's David Wood defends. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Earlier in the season, the Post Falls High girls basketball team defeated Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, Wash., in overtime. Lakeside upset Inland Empire League favorite Lake City on Friday. So the IEL opener Saturday between Post Falls and Lake City figured to at least be competitive, right? Wrong. LC's Timberwolves thoroughly dominated the Trojans, 73-24, at LC.

Matt Anderson's contribution off the bench helps LC pull away from Shane Meinhold and Colville. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Coeur d'Alene Andrea Wilkey meets a pack of Colville defenders during action at the Coeur d'Alene/Lake City Classic. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Instead of complaining about coming from behind to win, Coeur d'Alene boys basketball coach Larry Bieber is trying to put a positive spin on the Vikings' winning style. The bottom line is Coeur d'Alene is, well, winning. And it could prove beneficial when Inland Empire League play begins following the holiday break.

Austin Lee, the hottest recruited high school football player in Idaho, gave Stanford an oral commitment Thursday. The Post Falls High standout selected Stanford after completing his fifth recruiting trip last weekend. His final visit was to Colorado after previous trips to Ohio State, USC and UCLA.

1. Sandpoint's Jared Lawrence gets his point across to Almira/Coulee-Hartline's Jason Ogle in the 119-pound semifinals. Lawrence later won the title with a 16-0 decision. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review 2. Zach Vaughan of Sandpoint stop CV's Shane Cunanan at 125 pounds. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Central Valley and Sandpoint raced in front after two rounds Friday in the 25th edition of the Tri-State high school wrestling tournament. But then the two early favorites fell back to the field after evening quarterfinals in wall-to-wall action at North Idaho College's Christianson Gym. Central Valley, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA in the Washington coaches poll, pushed just one of nine wrestlers into today's semifinals while Sandpoint advanced three of six.

Central Valley and Sandpoint lead the field entering the final day of the Tri-State high school wrestling tournament. After Friday's quarterfinals at North Idaho College's Christianson Gym, CV has just one wrestler in today's semifinals, but 10 others in the consolation bracket while Sandpoint advanced three to the semifinals.

Tri-State Tournament director Bill Pecha wanted to do something special in honor of the 25th anniversary of the prestigious high school wrestling tournament. So on a day that was already loaded with last-minute preparations for the two-day tourney, Pecha rolled out of bed Thursday at 4 a.m. and picked an all-time tournament team.

Family mat-ters. The Tri-State Tournament in Coeur d'Alene is both a meeting of great wrestlers and a family reunion for the Owens. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review<

Lukas O'Dowd has a great outside shooting touch to go with his inside game. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

The Tri-State high school wrestling tournament turns 25 years old this weekend, and it appears to be getting better with age. The tourney continues to draw a state-tournament quality field. And if this year's tournament is like last year's, the battle for the team championship won't be decided until well into the finals. In the tightest finish, La Grande, Ore., captured its second Tri-State title in three years, finishing 1-1/2 points ahead of Polson, Mont. Just 11 points separated the top four teams.

The State A-1 boys basketball tournament will be held March 6-8 at Nampa, and it's a safe bet that the Eagle Mustangs will be there. It's probably a good bet, that Eagle will be playing for a trophy on the final day. Displaying a balanced perimeter and inside attack, the Mustangs had way too much giddyup for the Coeur d'Alene Vikings in a 79-65 non-league decision Saturday afternoon at North Idaho College.

Jim Winger knows his short Lake City High boys basketball team will be outrebounded many games this season. And there will be cold shooting nights, too. The Timberwolves suffered both Friday night against highly regarded Eagle, but the margin of defeat for LC, 67-56, in the non-league game didn't add up.

Returning state champion Nathan Pascoe is part of a Lakeland team that is favored to win the Intermountain League championship. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Three of the five Inland Empire League boys basketball teams - Post Falls, Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene - figure to contend for the conference championship this season. Nothing more than symbolic in years past, winning the league crown will carry significance this year. The champion will play host to the state-qualifying regional tournament.

1. All-North Idaho offense: From left to right, front row - Brad Rice (Lewiston), Mike Menegas (Lewiston), Caleb Bowman (Sandpoint), Matt Lindgren (Sandpoint). Middle row - Mickey Hewitt (Lewiston), Tyrel Hendrix (Kellogg), Josh Mort (Post Falls), J.D. McElroy (Sandpoint), Erik Boone (Sandpoint), Levi Frary (Lewiston). Back row - Ben David (Coeur d'Alene), Jarad Vasquez (Sandpoint), Austin Lee (Post Falls), Kurt Sigler (Coeur d'Alene), Jeremy Thielbahr (Sandpoint), Carson Jeffres (Sandpoint.) Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. All-North Idaho defense: From left to right, front row - Nick Rook (Coeur d'Alene), Laki Ah Hi (Lewiston), coach Nick Menegas (Lewiston), Rick McCrery (Lewiston), Gerrad Campbell (Sandpoint), Justin Boeck (Sandpoint), Josh Dolan (Post Falls). Back row - Ben Ziegler (Coeur d'Alene), Levi Frazier (Lewiston), Grant Wright (Lewiston), Austin Lee (Post Falls), Ryan Knowles (Sandpoint), Adam Morgan (Sandpoint), Mike Heston (Post Falls). Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Lake City and Borah swapped places in this week's A-1 girls basketball poll. By virtue of a 52-46 overtime win over Borah last weekend, Lake City moved atop the rankings. Borah, rated No. 1 by the state's sportswriters in the preseason poll, dropped a notch.

Her team had just lost by 30 points to Borah, the top-ranked team in the A-1 preseason girls basketball poll, and Sheila Sharp was all smiles. She had good reason. The Coeur d'Alene High coach got a glimpse in the season opener at the future - and it is nothing short of bright.

Lindsay Herbert will help give Lake City a shot at a state title. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Prep football The Bonners Ferry High School football team ran out of miracle finishes Saturday afternoon. Middleton took advantage of several Bonners Ferry mistakes as the visiting Vikings held off the Badgers 34-17 in a State A-2 playoff opener at Ken Mendenhall Stadium at Bonners Ferry.

Before we pass out our annual season-ending honors, there's some unfinished business. Actually, we're jumping ahead a year, but it is related to this fall.

As it turned out, it was just the Post Falls Trojans' pride, not their football playoff hopes, that was bruised six weeks ago. Post Falls figured to defend its Inland Empire League championship when it took on the Lewiston Bengals the fourth week of the season.