Viks Begin State Title Quest Against Centennial

State seeding

At least four North Idaho girls basketball teams will head to state this week with realistic hopes of bringing home a trophy.

They are: Coeur d’Alene, Lakeland, Lakeside and Clark Fork.

And a couple of those teams could land the biggest trophy.

Final seedings for the four state tournaments were decided Saturday.

Here’s a look at the first-round matchups at each tourney. The 16-team A-4 tourney begins Wednesday and the eight-team A-1, A-2 and A-3 tourneys tip off Thursday.

A-1

This tourney is contested at the Idaho Center in Nampa, where all four state title games will be featured on Saturday.

Coeur d’Alene (22-1) will meet 1997-98 state champ Centennial, which earned its berth Saturday with a 44-33 victory over Pocatello in a cross-district playoff. Tipoff is 2:15 MST and the game will be aired on KVNI (1080-AM).

CdA and Centennial each won three state titles in the 1990s. Centennial is coached by Emery Roy, the winningest coach in A-1 girls history. He coached Meridian to four straight state titles in the early 1980s (‘80-83).

In other openers, Skyview of Nampa (14-11) takes on Highland (14-10); Blackfoot (21-2) meets Meridian (21-3); and Boise (23-3), making its first trip to state since 1991, squares off against Madison (22-3).

Skyview earned its berth with a 58-50 win over Moscow in a cross-district playoff Saturday. Moscow ends its season at 17-8.

Borah, last year’s champ, saw its streak of 15 straight trips to state snapped.

A-2

Intermountain League champ Lakeland (19-1) figures to be one of three teams favored to contend for the championship when the tourney begins at Nampa High School.

The Hawks of Rathdrum will meet Fruitland (15-10) in the tourney’s opener at 12:45 p.m. MST. Fruitland defeated Bishop Kelly in a cross-district playoff Saturday.

A second IML team earned a berth Saturday when St. Maries (19-6) knocked off Grangeville 47-40. The Lumberjacks will meet Preston (13-10) at 5:30.

In other openers, Sugar-Salem (20-3) will take on Filer (14-10) and Weiser (21-1) meets American Falls (20-5). Preston eliminated defending champ Bear Lake at district.

A-3

Lakeside will have some history on its side when it opens at Middleton High School.

West Jefferson broke a streak of five straight state titles captured by Central Idaho League teams last year. Lakeside captured the CIL’s District I-II title last week.

Lakeside (15-8) will take on the defending champ (16-7) at 5:30 p.m. MST. The teams met in an opener last year when West Jefferson won going away 73-38.

In other openers, Nampa Christian (21-1) takes on Prairie (14-11); Firth (21-0) meets Valley (18-7); and Malad (22-1) faces off against Parma (16-8).

A-4

North Star League and District I champ Clark Fork returns essentially the same team that went 1-2 at state last year when play begins at two sites.

Clark Fork (14-8) will take on District III runner-up Midvale (18-3) at 5:30 p.m. MST at Skyview High School in Nampa.

In other openers at Skyview, Raft River (16-7) takes on Cambridge (10-6); Leadore (16-2) opens against defending champ Dietrich (17-8); and Troy (18-4) meets Greenleaf Friends (21-3). District I runner-up Kootenai (6-15) heads to state with the worst record of any tournament team. The Warriors will take on Sho-Ban (19-4) at Kuna High School.

In other games at Kuna, Highland (21-2) takes on Carey (17-5); Rimrock (21-3) meets Genesee (16-8); and Shoshone (21-5) matches up against Idaho City (18-7).