The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Feb. 19, 2011

The state tournament.

Where the best of the best prove it on the basketball court.

Or at least that's what you'd like to believe.

WHILE IT has not been determined yet what teams are going to walk onto the floor at the state girls basketball tournament at the Idaho Center in Nampa today for the six championship games, it was fairly obvious who wasn't on Thursday afternoon.

After some first-quarter jitters, the Timberlake Tigers outscored the Fruitland Grizzlies 44-18 in the final three quarters to earn a convincing 53-27 victory.

Following the game, Fruitland coach Beth Holt was disappointed with the team's effort in the loss, explaining that the team didn't play with any intensity.

Strange as it is - considering Fruitland's cheering section was the loudest of the opening day that I witnessed - the players on the court lacked that same motivation.

Maybe it was the odd configuration at Skyview High in Nampa, where they have the fans and band in the top deck of seating, but it didn't seem to affect the Timberlake players much.

THE SAME couldn't be said for games at the Idaho Center in the 5A tournament.

A quarterfinal game featuring Highland of Pocatello and Mountain View of Meridian nearly left me speechless. Highland, which earned the right to face Coeur d'Alene late Friday night, won the game 40-27.

The halftime score was Highland 18-8, and the only quarter that Mountain View scored in double figures was the fourth quarter, where the Mavericks were within six points of tying the game.

While I understand there are tons of teams in the southern part of the state and that bids are hard to come by, are you kidding me?

The top two teams from the 5A Inland Empire League (Lewiston and Coeur d'Alene) won on the opening night, and the third-place team (Lake City) could have ran either of these teams out of the arena.

But that’s not the case as the Timberwolves have to sit home and watch.

COEUR d’ALENE was dubbed wounded animals by a local paper coming into the weekend.

Anyone watching Thursday’s game knows better by now.

Wounded, maybe at the start of the season.

Animals hungry for another state title — absolutely.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer with the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by phone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via e-mail at [email protected].