Emerging from the weeds

In a way, Lake City boys basketball coach Jim Winger didn't mind that Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene were mentioned by most as the teams to beat in the 5A Inland Empire League.

"We used that as motivation," he said. "I call it laying in the weeds."

He said the Timberwolf players read that, and wondered why the Trojans and Vikings got most of the ink.

"So I asked them, 'are you going to do something about it?'" Winger said. "To change that, you're going to have to step up and beat them, and prove that you belong."

Lake City proved it at the Region 1 tournament, beating Coeur d'Alene in the first round and winning at Post Falls in the championship game to earn a trip to state for the first time in eight seasons. The Timberwolves (13-9) play Borah (14-11) of Boise in their state opener Thursday at 7 p.m. PST at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

"I think last year it affected us, the ones being hunted," Winger said. "Going into this season, we were the ones lying in the weeds, and they were the ones basking in the sun. I said don't get offended, but use it as motivation."

Lake City junior point guard Chris Wheelock averages 12.1 points, 4.7 assists and 2.9 steals per game; junior swingman Mark Smyly averages 12.4 points, 5.2 boards, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals; senior guard J.J. Stoddard averages 9.2 points and senior post Wes Beusan averages 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds.

After Stoddard scored nine of his 11 points off the bench in the second half of a 53-43 loss at Coeur d'Alene in the Fight for the Fish, Winger decided to put him in the starting lineup.

Four days later, Stoddard poured in 24 points as Lake City upended Post Falls 68-57 at home. He's been in the starting lineup ever since.

"I thought we were bigger and stronger defensively (with Brady Smith or Clint Hartz, both junior wing/posts, starting)," Winger said. "This made us smaller, and it affected our matchups. But he (Stoddard) went nuts against Post Falls and he's started ever since, and it's a big reason for the change in our direction.

"It made us smaller, and in a lot of ways it didn't make total sense, but it all meshed."

Still, defense is Lake City's calling card. Winger said last year - when he returned to coaching for the first time since the 2002-03 season - the Timberwolves did not play good defense. He knew, watching his team play last summer, that they would be improved on the defensive end this year.

"I knew we had a shot because we could play defense, and if we could muster any type of scoring, we would be in all of our games," Winger said.

This year, the Timberwolves are averaging 54.8 points per game and allowing 54.0. They have held 10 teams under 50 points in a game, and six more under 60.

That's why he's not as concerned as you might think with taking a team into the spacious Idaho Center that has never played under the bright lights of the big arena before.

" One thing that wins at state is the team that plays good half-court defense, and especially on that first day," Winger said. "And that certainly something we've done all year."