District I All-Star Games Friday

The 11th annual District I All-Star basketball games, featuring the top senior boys and girls in North Idaho, will be held Friday at the Mullan Athletic Pavilion.

For most of the players it marks the final games of their careers. Just a handful of the players will go on and play in college.

U.S. Highway 95 is used as the general dividing line to determine how the players are split up on the teams.

The girls will tip off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys contest at about 8.

Three-point shooting contests will be held for the boys and girls and the boys will have a slam-dunk contest. Those activities will be held during halftime of the games.

A $100 scholarship will be awarded to a player in each game.

To balance the teams, the three girls selected from Lake City - Kristi Jacobson, Natalie Telford and Laura Tolzmann - will play on the East team. Here are the rosters for the teams.

Boys

East: Josh Davis and Jesse Hoorelbeke, Coeur d’Alene; David Reed, Mullan; Matt Lamburth, Clark Fork; Jeremy Behm, Tim Kohal and Casey Fisher, Kellogg; Paul Dionne, Kootenai; Ryan Nipp, Wallace; Steve Raebel, St. Maries. Coaches: Tony Kerfoot, Kellogg; William Nietmann, Clark Fork.

West: Davis Score and Darin Bradbury, Priest River; Brett Hollenbeck, Post Falls; Jon Chatfield and Scott Hoover, Lake City; Dan Montague and Lyle Meshell, Lakeside; Jared Horton, Falls Christian; Brett DeBoer, Lakeland; Kevin Carey, Bonners Ferry. Coaches: Jim Winger, Lake City; Scott Moore, Post Falls; Greg Stutzman, Lakeside.

Girls

East: Jacobson, Telford, Tolzmann, Lake City; Robin Reed, Kellogg; Jamie Flint, Kootenai; Shasta Renteria, Mullan; Joy Sperry, Wallace; Hailey Scofield, Clark Fork; Cory Hansen, Coeur d’Alene; Amanda Tams, St. Maries. Coaches: Dave Stockwell, Lake City; Mark Stevens, Clark Fork.

West: Sarah Peterson, Falls Christian; Alli Nieman, Becky Timblin and Tanya Allmaras, Sandpoint; Sara Suchocki and Abbie Stensland, Priest River; Heidi Umthun and Tarra Thomson, Post Falls; Kelly Dengel, Lakeland; Sarah Knott, Bonners Ferry. Coaches: Steve Seymour, Lakeland; Ron Hopkins, Priest River.

Coach resigns

The District I all-star contest will be the final contest as a coach for Clark Fork’s William “Bird” Nietmann.

Nietmann has resigned after nine seasons. His record was 109-83.

Going into this season, Clark Fork had won the State A-4 consolation title and placed third the past two years.

“I just don’t have the energy, I’m just tired,” Nietmann, 45, said. “It’s time for somebody with more time, energy and passion to coach. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll get the passion back.”

Nietmann is proud of the fact that his Clark Fork teams in recent years helped make a name for the North Star League at state.

In the just-completed season, Lakeside picked up where Clark Fork had left off by advancing to the state title game.

, DataTimes