The Front Row with MARK NELKE March 10, 2011

Coeur d'Alene High's third-place finish at the state 5A boys basketball tournament last weekend in Nampa meant the Viking teams took home hardware from each of the three state tournaments in the winter.

The previous weekend, Coeur d'Alene won the state wrestling title for the second straight year. And the week before that, the three-time defending state champion Viking girls basketball team placed second at state.

The winter season has been a continuance of strong performances from Coeur d'Alene High teams over the past year and a half.

The Viking football team was third at state in 2009. Last spring, Coeur d'Alene's boys were second at state in track, second at state in golf and third at state in baseball. Last fall, the Viking boys were second at state cross country.

And the Viking baseball and track teams appear to be in the hunt for trophies again this year at state.

DEON WATSON, point guard?

It could happen next year, Coeur d'Alene coach Kent Leiss said. He could bring the ball up, pass it off and still go post up, where the 6-foot-4 junior spent more and more time as this season progressed.

At state, Watson averaged 17.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in three games.

"Deon Watson really showed he's one of the best two or three players in the state," Leiss said.

Leiss said Coeur d'Alene will miss its two senior starters, guards Jake Matheson and Andrew Baracco. But with 6-5 juniors Devon Loy and Ty Higbie both starting off and on at forward, the Vikings essentially will return four starters, with Watson and junior post Chad Chalich the other starters.

Watson was a wide receiver on Coeur d'Alene's football state title team last fall, and he noted the parallels between the two teams.

“The football team took third (in 2009) and won the state title the next year,” he said. “The sky’s the limit for us.”

TWO DAYS later, Post Falls coach Mike McLean was still scratching his head over the loss to Borah of Boise in the first round. The Lions tied the game at the end of regulation on a length-of-the-court drive in the final 6.7 seconds for a layin, then won in overtime.

It turned out to be the only game Borah won in the tournament. The Lions lost in the semifinals the following night to eventual state champion Mountain View of Meridian (admit it — who had the Mavericks, the third seed out of District 3, in their pre-tourney office pool?), then were handled by Coeur d’Alene in the third-place game.

“Borah has four kids that have BEYOND career nights — the best they’ve shot their entire lifetime,” McLean said Saturday after the Trojans beat Eagle for the consolation title. “I’ve had coaches from three different Boise schools who see these kids all year tell me the same thing about Borah’s kids and their outside jumpers — they’ve just never done that. So what do you do? You just do your best, sometimes things happen and you move on.”

With its consolation trophy on Saturday, Post Falls now has finishes of fifth, first and fourth the last three years at the state 5A boys basketball tournament — a pretty good start in McLean’s four years coaching his alma mater.

The Trojans will lose four seniors, including two starters in guard Connor Hill and post Matt Lickfold. Hill, second on Post Falls’ career scoring list, finished with 1,192 points.

Junior Marcus Colbert, a three-year starter at point guard, will return, and junior guards Michael Hillman and Luke Thoreson moved into the starting lineup this year.

“It’s going to be a little harder next year; everybody’s going to have to work harder in the offseason,” Colbert said. “I’m going to miss the seniors a ton.”

“We’ll have people who (step up and) fill roles, just like last year,” Hill said.

McLean said the Trojan express will chug along, just as it has after losing key players the previous years.

“Last year we lost seven seniors; we lost the player of the year in our league, and we’re going to be doing the same thing again this year (with Hill),” McLean said. “Part of it is, the tradition that we’re building here the last four years, with these seniors and the guys that came before them, the guys realize they’ve got to step up. Our seniors last year who graduated held these guys accountable. Even though they’re gone, they still talk. These seniors will do the same thing; they’re going to hold kids accountable, they’re going to find time in the summer to come back. We still have our battles with guys from two years ago, from last year ... so we’re truly a tight, close-knit family. It’s kinda what we say — once you wear the stars, you always wear the stars.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.