Lc Girls Don’t Press For Success

First-year Lake City High School girls basketball coach Dave Stockwell admits he has strayed from the traditional formula used by former coach Dave Fealko.

Fealko’s teams - four of which won state championships, including a title at LC last year were known for full-court pressure from opening tip to the final horn.

Most seasons, opponents had difficulty getting the ball past midcourt. Fealko’s Coeur d’Alene and Lake City teams feasted on mistakes, quickly turning steals into easy baskets.

After Lake City fell to Sandpoint 53-46 in the first Inland Empire League game between the teams in December, Stockwell, a seven-year varsity assistant under Fealko, called off the full-court press.

Except for one or two instances in the league rematch against Sandpoint - which the Bulldogs won 60-58 - the Timberwolves retreated into a 2-3 zone.

In LC’s 52-48 victory over Sandpoint in the Region I championship game Monday, Stockwell unveiled a half-court trap that, at times, gave Sandpoint fits.

“After we played Sandpoint the last time I felt there were two areas in which we had to improve to beat them,” Stockwell said. “One was our inside play and the other was to have some sort of (press), which is funny to say because all we’ve ever done for years is press. But we weren’t pressing well so we needed a better press against them.”

Are the T-Wolves peaking?

“Dave Fealko used to always say that if you’re going to peak, you better peak at state time,” Stockwell said. “I don’t think we’ve quite peaked yet, but we’re getting closer.”

Two weeks ago, in their final regular-season game at Lewiston, the Timberwolves were as far from peaking as possible in a humiliating 60-36 loss.

Two victories later, they are headed to Twin Falls, site of the state tourney Feb. 8-10. That stretch perhaps best summarizes Stockwell’s first season in charge. His young but talented team has had its ups and downs, on and off the court.

“There are a lot of doubting Thomases,” Stockwell said. “There are a lot of people that think they’re too young to do anything. Then Dave Fealko retires and they look at me and (say) ‘Gee, can he do the job?’ I hope this answers a lot of questions.”

Quotebook

Sandpoint girls coach Duane Ward, following the regional title game: “We’ve had two, three, maybe four bad halves all year and tonight we really had a poor first half (LC led 30-17 at halftime). You have to give Lake City credit for that, too. They came out and executed really well and they were beating us to the ball - the loose balls and the rebounds. We weren’t attacking; we were in a defensive mode even though we were on offense. We had trouble when they extended their defense to half court. Congratulate Lake City.”

LC wing Laura Tolzmann, who hit the winning free throws to send the T-Wolves to state: “We knew they (the Bulldogs) were beatable and we just put our minds to it.”

Top scorer returns

The much-anticipated return of Lake City standout Jon Chatfield will occur tonight when the Timberwolves play their final regular-season game at home. The Inland Empire League-leading T-Wolves (13-4 overall, 5-0 in league) meet improving Sandpoint (6-10, 1-3).

Chatfield, out since Jan. 12 with a stress fracture in his right foot, was cleared to practice lightly Monday. Coach Jim Winger held Chatfield out of a non-league game Tuesday at Cheney.

The 6-foot-3 wing was averaging 24.3 points per game prior to the injury.

LC has played well without Chatfield, going 4-1 and, most importantly, winning three league games.

The T-Wolves, winners of 12 straight at home since last season, are 7-0 at home in league since the school opened last year.

LC can clinch at least a tie for the league championship by beating Sandpoint. At worst, the T-Wolves could lose two of their final three league games and finish in a tie but earn the top seed to the regional tournament based on head-to-head records.

The T-Wolves have played particularly well on defense in their last two league victories over Post Falls (57-32) and Lewiston (54-39). LC is allowing just 44 points per league game while averaging 60.6 ppg.

In another IEL game tonight, Coeur d’Alene (7-9, 1-4) visits Post Falls (8-7, 3-2). An LC win tonight, coupled with a CdA victory, gives the T-Wolves the league title outright.

Also tonight, fourth-ranked and league-leading Moscow (11-2, 4-0) visits third-ranked Kellogg (11-2, 4-1) in a key Intermountain League game.

The LC-CdA rematch is Saturday at Viking Gym.

In the first game, LC handled CdA 67-53 before a standing-room-only crowd. It was the T-Wolves’ first game without Chatfield.

Wrestling polls

Two-time defending state champion Sandpoint is ranked No. 1 in the first A-1 poll of the season. Last year’s state runner-up, Capital, is second.

In the A-2 poll, Sugar-Salem is rated No. 1. Bonners Ferry is ranked fourth.

Eight North Idaho A-1 wrestlers, six from Sandpoint, were accorded top ranking in their respective weights. They are: Jared Lawrence (112 pounds), Zach Vaughan (119), Brett Lawrence (125), Shawn Garner (130), Trevor Walkington (135) and Pat Larson (152) of Sandpoint; Al Mack (103) of Post Falls; and Paul Weseman (140) of Coeur d’Alene.

Dennis Liermann (140) and Justin Pluid (171), both of Bonners Ferry, are ranked No. 1 in A-2. In the A-3 rankings, Mike LaBau of Wallace is ranked No. 1 at 160.

A listing of where other area wrestlers are ranked can be found in the Stat Sheet.

, DataTimes