Rivals Ready To Clash

Seeding is set for the A-1 Region I boys basketball tournament, which begins next week.

So the regular-season finale Friday between Lake City and Coeur d’Alene means nothing, right?

Wrong. And if you think football’s the only contact sport around check out the crosstown rivals in CdA. The Viks won the first game 62-54 in early January.

Border League champ CdA (13-2 league, 15-4 overall) and LC (8-7, 11-8) aren’t likely to meet in the regional tournament. Not if things go according to seed. But don’t put top seeds CdA and Lewiston (11-3, 14-4) into the championship game just yet.

In the showdown last Friday between Lewiston and CdA, the teams displayed vulnerabilities.

More than a handful of people believe one of the top two seeds could be knocked off before the Feb. 24 championship game.

It’s not out of the realm of possibilities that No. 5 seed Sandpoint (3-12, 6-13), winless at 0-7 against Inland Empire League teams, could knock off No. 4 Post Falls (7-8, 10-9) in the loser-out playoff to decide the final seed to the regional tourney.

Sandpoint had Post Falls all but beaten in both league games before furious fourth-quarter rallies. Athletic Sandpoint was picked to finish third among IEL teams, but hasn’t played to expectations.

Third-seeded LC appears to be peaking. The T-Wolves are coming off their best back-to-back games.

The A-1 elimination game - Sandpoint at Post Falls - will be played Monday at 7 p.m. as originally scheduled. There was talk about moving it to Tuesday to avoid conflict with Presidents Day.

The Post Falls-Sandpoint winner goes to CdA on Wednesday when double-elimination play begins while LC travels to Lewiston. Tipoffs are at 7 p.m.

The winners meet the following Friday at CdA, preceded by a loser-out game between the first-round losers at 6 p.m.

Defending State A-2 boys champ Moscow (7-0, 13-3) can clinch the Intermountain League championship this weekend. Also, the league-leading Bears are heavily favored to win the district championship.

But a pair of upcoming home games for the Bears could give an indication of whether they will run away with the district title or be forced to break a sweat.

St. Maries (6-1, 12-4), which gave Moscow fits for 3-1/2 quarters in the teams’ first game, visits Friday. Improving Kellogg (4-2, 9-7) stops by Saturday.

League play concludes next week.

Yet another goal

Sandpoint’s Jared Lawrence surpassed the state record of most wins set by undefeated four-time state wrestling champ Chris Owens of Idaho Falls (123-0).

Lawrence moved to 125-0 with another win Tuesday. He’s 31-0 this year.

The next number he’s after is 132. That’s the all-time school record set by Zac Taylor (132-3).

Lawrence has one more dual match and seven postseason matches left. That means he should top Taylor’s mark by one.

Mat title on line

St. Maries (3-0) can capture the Intermountain League wrestling championship tonight at Moscow.

The Lumberjacks (9-0 overall) collected league wins over Priest River and rival Lakeland last week and took a non-league dual from Sandpoint. St. Maries has won four tournaments.

St. Maries coach Ryan Wood attributes the success to “good numbers and good quality kids.” And St. Maries should be even better next year.

“We’ve got a different kind of kid here this year,” said Wood. “They’re confident and they work hard. They’re a tough type of kid.”

St. Maries, which captured the district title last year, will host the state-qualifying tournament Feb. 20-21.

, DataTimes