Panhandle picks with greg lee

The Scribe and the guest tied. With the regular-season victory over the guests wrapped up, I’ll commence with my acceptance speech and get to the matter at hand as quickly as possible.

Yours truly and Coeur d’Alene boys basketball coach Kent Leiss each picked eight games correct last week. The scoreboard reads: Lee 59-20 (.747), the Guests 55-24 (.697).

I’ll make my welcome to my annual season-ending guest, co-worker Jim Meehan, brief. (By the way, Meehan is 2-4 in his weekly Seattle Seahawks picks.)

Lake City at Coeur d’Alene: If I’ve changed my mind once on this game, I’ve changed it a dozen times. I was leaning heavily one way before last Friday. Then I watched the first half between Lewiston and CdA and I was convinced which way to go.

Then I watched in amazement as CdA not only rallied, but buried Lewiston. Then LC traveled to Hellgate and promptly laid an egg. More teetering. The one matter that has me befuddled is the game each had against Sandpoint. LC played closest to its potential in a 21-9 win over Sandpoint, while CdA fell short of its potential in a 17-0 loss. I’ll go with tradition. LC 41, CdA 40.

Guest: I saw LC coach Van Troxel and a couple of his assistants at the golf course in July, which would have dispelled the rumor that he never takes a day off, except he was probably drawing plays up on the back of his scorecard.

I’m fully aware of LC’s 11-game winning streak over the Vikings and I would have picked the T-Wolves if the game had been played a week ago. But streaks are made to be broken (see UI-BSU football circa 1994, see Red Sox-Yankees last week, see Red Sox-Curse). CdA 38, LC 31.

Post Falls at Sandpoint: The Trojans have had an adversity-free season. We’ll see how they fare when they face a boatload of it at Sandpoint. Sandpoint 28, PF 17.

Guest: I know a follicly challenged sportswriter with a foot wedge worthy of the Golf Hall of Fame who uses shady tactics in choosing guest pickers. Hypothetically, if team A (USC) is facing team B (Paris Hilton Fashion Academy), said sportswriter will “randomly” select the A.D. from Team B as the picker.

Those shameful tactics won’t work on me. I live in Post Falls and my kids are in the PF school system. I would get truckloads of flak if I picked Sandpoint, but I can take PF with a clean conscience. The Trojans are in the midst of a magical season – but they’d better be at their best against the capable Bulldogs. PF 27, Sandpoint 24.