St. Maries Top Area Contender

State volleyball tournament

It’s no surprise which North Idaho high school volleyball team has the best chance of playing for a state championship in a Coeur d’Alene gym Saturday night.

Yes the school’s name starts with an “S”, but it’s not Sandpoint.

It’s the other traditional state power - St. Maries. But by St. Maries’ standards, the perennial state title contender has had a drought.

That could end this weekend. For the first time since 1980, St. Maries didn’t earn a trophy at state last year. It’s been two years since a Lumberjacks team has played in a state final and St. Maries hasn’t captured gold since 1993.

Senior outside hitter Kim Reid is determined her team will hang a 13th state title banner in their gym.

“We’ve worked hard all year for this. We want to be the team that gets St. Maries back on top,” Reid said.

St. Maries has had teams of similar talent capture state titles. But as the Lumberjacks have discovered, a handful of teams have caught up with them in recent years.

Talking to coaches and other media around the state more than a week ago, St. Maries wasn’t considered a serious contender. The names of defending champ Emmett, Preston and Bear Lake were mentioned before St. Maries.

One of those teams, though, won’t be at Coeur d’Alene High when the A-2 tourney opens (the A-1 field will be three miles away at Lake City).

Preston was upset by Snake River in a loser-out qualifier last week.

Separate sites

Just a month ago, state officials decided to hold the A-1 and A-2 tournaments in different gyms.

In 1994, the tournaments were held together at Lake City. Having courts side by side took away seating on the floor and made it crowded on the upper level.

And the curtain used to separate the courts made it difficult to watch both matches simultaneously.

So officials decided to feature the tournaments separately.

Showdown at Lake City

It’s a long way to travel for a state title match pitting conference rivals, but a pair of eastern Idaho coaches expect their teams to face off for the State A-1 championship.

Call the potential final BonnevilleHillcrest II. The High Country Conference teams met in the final last year as the Bees of Bonneville prevailed.

If Hillcrest advances to the state title match, it will be the Knights’ fourth straight final appearance. Sandpoint defeated Hillcrest in backto-back title matches in ‘94 and ‘95.

Is this Hillcrest’s breakthrough year?

“We thought it was going to be last year,” Hillcrest coach Jeff Craven said. “We had a rocky start, but it’s probably the best team I’ve had.”

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