Panhandle Picks with Greg Lee

And the answer is: What is “The collar is tightening?”

Yes, that “Jeopardy”-like question aptly describes the state of the Scribe after last week. I’ve managed to turn a comfortable margin into a hang-on-by-your-toenails lead with just two weeks left in the regular season.

Standout volleyball and softball official Lisa Paull knocked off yours truly, pulling the guests within one. Paull picked eight of nine games correctly while I tripped in at six out of nine. That makes the scoreboard read: Lee 55-21 (.723), guests 54-22 (.711).

My guest this week is Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball coach Dale Poffenroth, whose Vikings should challenge for a state trophy for a second consecutive year. It’s hard to believe that practice starts a week from Monday.

Lewiston at Coeur d’Alene: I must say the obvious – this is a no-brainer. But I must admit that I didn’t anticipate the Bengals would give Lake City all it could handle last week.

The Bengals have the offense to stay on the field with the Vikings, no doubt. Lewiston’s problem is it won’t keep standout Vikings running back Kevin Ah-Hi off the field enough.

CdA believes its defense is the most improved aspect of its team this year. So this will be a good test. The Vikings will pass it comfortably. CdA 36, Lewiston 20.

Guest: The Vikings use the “Ground Chuck” attack and run up 350-plus yards on the ground while preparing for the state finals. CdA 28, Lewiston 7.

Post Falls at Moscow: Even without much of a passing threat, the Trojans should have more than enough defense to stop the Bears, who were brought back to reality by Sandpoint last week.

The Bears must stop the Fly offense. That will be a tall task after they allowed 257 yards to just one running back last week. Post Falls 20, Moscow 6.

Guest: The new and improved Bears escape from the Trojans at home in a donnybrook. Moscow 21, Post Falls 20.

Lakeland at Sandpoint: The Hawks catch the Bulldogs at the worst time on the schedule.

Sandpoint will look to fine tune its offense and defense for a winner-take-all showdown with Post Falls next week for the region’s lone 4A state playoff berth. The Hawks are in the way. This could be ugly. But I’m counting on a little Lakeland pride to make it respectable. Sandpoint 36, Lakeland 13.

Guest: Sandpoint is always too much to handle on its home turf as the Hawks are shot down. Sandpoint 28, Lakeland 14.