Panhandle Picks with Greg Lee

You can’t squabble with the August weather so far.

I love those mid-70-degree days and crisp evenings that allow you to sleep like a baby. What all of this tells me is it must be time for prep football.

Which, of course, brings us to the 14th season of Panhandle Picks.

I won’t dwell much on last year. It wasn’t good.

I lost the season battle with the Guests and didn’t fare much better against ol’ Red.

I may have to bring in our new Vandals beat writer, Dave Trimmer, to supplant Jim Meehan as my season-ending guest now that Meehan has been assigned to be our new Gonzaga basketball reporter.

I digress. My first guest is new Post Falls High boys basketball coach Mike McLean, a Trojans alum. McLean will do well in time, but he might be best served if he has a good stash of Gerbers around. His first team will be young.

Coeur d’Alene at University: The Vikings spanked the Titans a year ago. But both of these teams are starkly different. CdA is young and U-Hi is stacked with experience. The Titans desperately want a win over a quality program before they launch into league play. So I’m going with the home team here: U-Hi 21, CdA 14.

Guest: The multiple sets that CHS uses will give U-Hi trouble. (CdA) coach Shawn Amos and his staff put in as much time preparing for a game as any team in the state. I’m sure CHS has worked out the kinks from its first game and will be ready to roll. I expect another IEL team to handle a GSL school. CdA 35, U-Hi 14.

Sandpoint at Post Falls: I’m going to call this the Trojans’ coming-out party under coach Jeff Hinz. Sure, this is Hinz’s third season, but the Trojans want to make a statement right out of the gate that they’re legit this year. PF 21, Sandpoint 13.

Guest: Sandpoint has the advantage of playing its second game and PF is playing its first game. I saw the PF players working hard all summer in the weight room and Coach Hinz has told me that it was their best summer as far as numbers and productivity. I expect the Trojans to overcome the first-game mistakes. PF 27, Sandpoint 20.

Lake City at Kennewick: The T-Wolves will make it 14 straight wins – easily. LC 38, Kennewick 13.

Guest: The LC program is a machine right now. They are a team that I would watch every night because of the intensity they bring to the field. In high school sports, a team’s intensity is a direct result of the coaching they receive, and Coach Troxel brings it every Friday night. LC will leave the Kennewick players wondering what just hit them. I have heard time and time again about the Big Nine powers, but LC is not a GSL school, and this Big Nine team will see that. LC 49, Kennewick 14.