Licking their chops

Lakeside High boys basketball coach Stacey Sonder likens his team’s fourth-place finish at the State 1A tournament last year as an hors d’oeuvre.

This week, North Star League and District I champ Lakeside will be seeking something much more filling.

“We’re going to go for the whole enchilada,” Sonder said.

In other words, Sonder’s Knights want nothing less than the state championship.

Lakeside (21-1) begins its title quest Wednesday when it takes on the Camas County Musher Dogs (15-6), the District IV fourth-place team, at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. Tipoff is at 5:15 p.m. PST.

NSL and District I runner-up Post Falls Christian is making its first trip to state since 2000, but the Eagles (16-7) believe they can sample some success, too. They will meet District V-VI runner-up Rockland (13-10) at Caldwell High, the second of two sites for the 16-team tourney. Tipoff is at 2.

“We’ve set some new goals,” said PFC coach Tim Mitchell, whose team met its first two goals of finishing second in league and district. “Now the biggest goal is to win.”

Four starters return off Lakeside’s trophy-winning team from a year ago. They are point guard Tim Wolfe, guard Mike Sifford, post Arthur Elwell and wing Andrew Sonder, all seniors.

The seniors have been coached by Sonder since 1996-97 when they were in fourth grade. Not coincidentally, Lakeside captured a state title that season.

“It’s been their goal to win another state title for Lakeside,” Sonder said. “(State) tournament experience is very valuable and all those kids have it. We’re a lot more seasoned.”

Lakeside opened the season with nine consecutive wins before a 34-30 non-league loss at Logos, a private school in Moscow.

The loss has served a purpose, Sonder said.

“We did everything bad in that game,” Sonder said. “It refocused us. It showed us that any team can be beaten if you don’t come with your ‘A’ game.”

Lakeside has won 12 straight since, and Sonder believes the Knights are playing better now than they did a year ago at this time.

“The kids are hungry. They want to get to the Idaho Center,” Sonder said of the Nampa arena where all the state title games are held Saturday.

“We took a step back a couple of weeks ago. We sort of planed out. But we’ve been playing as well as we have all season the last two weeks. They’re taking it up another level.”

Sonder believes the NSL will be well represented at state. PFC pushed Lakeside in two of four games this season, including the 64-54 decision in the district final.

”(PFC) played us tough a couple of times,” Sonder said. “They have speed and they play good defense.”

Said Mitchell of the Knights: “They have great interior defense. With the guards they have they can beat anybody.”

Mitchell believes the Eagles must overcome the usual first-game state jitters with what has carried them all season – defense.

“Our goal all year has been to hold teams under 50 points,” Mitchell said. “Defense has been the key. We’re going to come out and play hard and press a lot.

“We’re not afraid of anybody.”

The Eagles’ deep bench gives Mitchell the flexibility to play tall or small and quick.

“I think we can throw some teams some curves,” Mitchell said.

“Our big guys carried us through the (district) tournament with rebounds and defense. But if we go with our five-guard lineup we have speed all over the court.”