Against the odds
The odds are a Boise-area team will capture the State 5A girls basketball championship Saturday.
The odds are that two Boise-area teams will end up squaring off for the state title. After all, half the field is from the Southern Idaho Conference.
But don’t tell that to Coeur d’Alene.
Two years ago, Coeur d’Alene finished 2-19. Dale Poffenroth, who built Central Valley into a Greater Spokane League power, took over last season and the Vikings made an immediate turnaround, finishing 21-5 and capturing the fourth-place trophy.
Not long after the season, Jenna DeLong recalled Poffenroth looking ahead to this year.
“He told us to have the expectation of winning a state championship,” said DeLong, a 5-foot-10 junior wing and three-year starter who has gone from experiencing the lowest of lows to embracing the idea of the highest of highs. “I get this little grin on my face every time he says it. He’s got us believing that we’re as good as any team in the state. We may not be the best, but we’re as good as any team.”
The Inland Empire League and Region I champs will be out to bring home a state-title banner when the Vikings (17-5) open tonight against defending state champ Boise (19-4) at 7 (PST) at the Idaho Center in Nampa.
Lake City (12-12), which earned a berth in a play-in game last Saturday, will go against District IV-V-VI champ Highland (19-4) in an afternoon game at 2.
DeLong recalled one of the first meetings with Poffenroth after he was hired.
“He said we were going to get to state and get a trophy,” DeLong said. “I’m thinking, ‘We were 2-19 last year and you expect us to get to state and get a trophy?’ We just wanted to win some games.”
So after the Vikings proved Poffenroth a prophet, it’s understandable how DeLong and her teammates could believe just about anything is possible. CdA defended its league and regional titles despite losing its top player (Jenna Griffitts) to graduation and another starter, Ali Johnson, to a knee injury that required surgery. To fill the voids, Poffenroth put three freshmen on varsity and started one – Griffitts’ youngest sister, Kama.
It took the Vikings some time to find their stride. Along the way, Lake City swept CdA in league.
But CdA swept the final three games from LC, including going 2-0 in the regional series. Those two games – by counts of 60-44 and 70-43 – were arguably the Vikings’ best games to d0ate.
In Boise, CdA draws its total opposite. The Vikings, who start just one player taller than 6-foot, will face a team that frequently will put three players 6-2 or taller on the court. They are 6-5 junior post Kelsie Clegg, 6-3 senior guard/post Maggie Burkett and 6-2 senior post Kristin Henning.
So the Vikings will have to do what they’ve done since Poffenroth arrived – run, run and keep running.
“That’s all we’ve got,” DeLong said. “We’ve got to run – we have no other chance. That’s just the facts of life.”
Poffenroth said the odds of his team playing in the Idaho Center come Saturday improved greatly with a second straight trip to state.
“Every time you go you get a better chance because you’ve got kids that have been there, know what to do, know when to sleep, when to wake up, what to eat, what not to eat, how it’s going to work,” he said. “So every time you go – the more you go – the more chance you’ve got to winning.”
From that standpoint, LC coach Darren Taylor is overjoyed to get his team back to Nampa. The Timberwolves’ streak of four consecutive trips to state was snapped last year.
Like CdA, the T-Wolves take a young team to state. LC has no seniors in its lineup. But what has Taylor optimistic is the fact that his team has beaten CdA twice and another state qualifier, Eagle.
“Our original goal was to get to state so these girls could see what it’s all about,” Taylor said. “But once you get there it’s anybody’s game.”
Taylor also likes where his team sits in the bracket.
“We couldn’t have gotten a better draw,” Taylor said. “The season has been a roller coaster ride, but we’ve got the athletes to play with anybody.”
Don’t be surprised if CdA or LC bucks the odds.