Lumberjacks Make It 20
Prep volleyball
Lakeland High volleyball coach Claudia Ebel believed all season her team could beat perennial state qualifier St. Maries.
St. Maries topped Lakeland for a third time as the Lumberjacks captured the A-2 District I championship 15-9, 15-10 in a competitive final at North Idaho College’s Christianson Gym.
But Ebel’s team won’t get another shot at the Lumberjacks. Bonners Ferry upset the Hawks 15-6, 15-12 to secure the district’s second state berth.
It was St. Maries’ 20th consecutive district title. The Lumberjacks (26-2) will meet Buhl in their state opener Friday at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls.
Bonners Ferry (15-7) will take on defending state champ Bear Lake.
Lakeland, which finished runner-up in the Intermountain League to St. Maries, ends its season at 19-8.
In loser-out openers in the all-day tourney, Kellogg (12-11) topped Timberlake (2-20) 15-6, 15-3, and Bonners Ferry handled Priest River (2-19) 15-1, 15-7. In the semifinals, Lakeland edged Kellogg 16-14, 17-15, and St. Maries downed Bonners Ferry 15-9, 15-3. In the loser-out semifinal, Bonners Ferry held off Kellogg 15-12, 15-9.
St. Maries d. Lakeland: The Hawks started fast in the first game, building a 6-1 lead.
The Lumberjacks used a 5-0 run to knot the score at 7-all and followed with a 6-0 spurt for a 14-7 lead.
Lakeland pulled within 14-9, but St. Maries outside hitter Jessica Yearout had a powerful kill for game point.
In the second game, St. Maries opened a 6-1 lead. After falling behind 9-3, Lakeland fought back to take a brief lead at 10-9.
A kill by middle hitter Shena Charles, a stuff block by setter Kim Sines, a kill by outside hitter Holly Eberlin and two hitting errors by Lakeland allowed St. Maries to move ahead at 14-10. Five sideouts later, the Lumberjacks scored their state-qualifying point.
“I thought Lakeland came out fired up and never let up all the way to the end,” St. Maries coach Mitch Santos said.
St. Maries’ passing early in the match was off-target. When it picked up so did the Lumberjacks’ hitting.
“With our (lack of) size we have to hit or we’re toast,” Santos said. “I thought we did a good job keeping our composure.”
Yearout and Charles led with seven kills each. Yearout and Allison Bender had 17 and 16 digs respectively and Charles had eight stuff blocks.
Kara Kiefer led Lakeland with five kills and two stuff blocks.
Santos is taking essentially the same team to state that finished runner-up last year. “We’re better than we were last year,” he said.
Bonners Ferry d. Lakeland: The Badgers looked like the team that finished second in league, not the Hawks. They certainly played much looser than Lakeland.
Bonners Ferry’s consistent serving and height at the net kept Lakeland from ever establishing any offensive flow.
The Badgers were dominating in the first game, using an 11-0 run to close out the game. With sophomore Sarah Copeland serving, Bonners Ferry got key kills from Taylor Cady and Julie Bateman. And Copeland had two aces.
The second game went back and forth until the Badgers used three aces, two by setter Meghan Mellett, to open a 10-7 lead.
Lakeland looked as if it would right itself when it ran off three straight points to take a 12-11 lead. But an ace by Jasmine Robertson, a kill by Cady and a stuff block by Bateman ended the Hawks’ hopes of a second straight trip to state.
The Badgers are going to state for the first time since 1994 when they took fourth.
Badgers coach Janis Tucker thought the key was blocking. It was something she stressed in practice last week.
“They’re peaking,” Tucker said of her team. “We’re not going down (to state) to have fun. We’re going to do something.”
Even in Lakeland’s win during the morning, Ebel didn’t recognize her team Saturday.
“We played scared rather than aggressively,” Ebel said. “In the match against Bonners, we didn’t hit the ball the way we normally hit the ball. That’s what got us where we were - 8-2 in league - was because we could hit the ball.”
Cady led with six kills and four blocks. Bateman added three kills and two blocks.
Coaches announced their all-IML team: Angie Turner of Priest River; Kacie Martello and Katy Melun of Kellogg; Meghan Mellett and Julie Bateman of Bonners Ferry; Kara Kiefer, Desirae Crocker, Ashley Jamison and Sarah Hansen of Lakeland; and Shena Charles, Ariene Wilcott and Jessica Yearout of St. Maries.
Yearout was most valuable player.
A-4 District I tourney
Powerhouse Clark Fork breezed to the district title.
The Wampus Cats (27-1) topped Kootenai 15-12, 15-3 in the title match at Kootenai in Harrison.
Both teams advance to state, which begins Thursday at two sites in Idaho Falls. The 16-team field is divided into four pools and the top two teams from each pool advance to the doubleelimination portion of the tourney on Friday and Saturday.
Clark Fork coach Cindy Derr praised setter Courtenay Kiebert and hitters Charlotte Scofield, Ashley Ruen and Shana Worcester for their steady play.
In earlier matches, the Wampus Cats defeated Falls Christian 15-2, 15-7 and Mullan 15-5, 15-2.
Kootenai (14-15) fought back after opening with a 9-15, 15-11, 15-3 loss to Mullan. The Warriors bounced back to beat FCA 15-3, 15-3 and eliminated Mullan 15-10, 15-6 in the match that secured a state berth.
The North Star League coaches also named their all-league team: Scofield, Ruen, Worcester, Courtenay and Amber Kiebert and Sarah Baugh of Clark Fork; Janelle Scheffelmaier and Monica Kraack of Kootenai; Jackie Poole of FCA; and Adina Winstead of Mullan.
Scofield was most valuable player.
A-1 playoffs
Coeur d’Alene and Moscow earned state berths in cross-district playoffs at Grangeville. CdA (9-19) defeated Timberline of Boise in a Division I playoff while Moscow knocked off Bishop Kelly 15-9, 15-12 in Division II.
State seedings also were set. In Division I, Lake City (12-12) will meet District III runner-up Centennial and CdA will take on District VI champ Idaho Falls.
In Division II, Sandpoint (20-3) will meet Burley, which won a playoff Saturday, and Moscow (16-5) will take on District III champ Skyview.