The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Dec. 22, 2012

Chances are, you'll never see another high school girls basketball game like the one that unfolded on Thursday night between the Coeur d'Alene Vikings and Highland Rams.

And that had nothing to do with the Vikings winning 42-38.

THE DAY started for the Vikings much like any other day before a game - starting with a 2 1/2 hour practice to prepare for the game.

By 4 p.m., some members of the boys basketball team had made their way into the gym to let the other members of the team know that not only school had been canceled on Friday, but the matchup featuring the second-ranked Rams of Pocatello and the third-ranked Vikings wasn't going to happen either.

Meanwhile, the Vikings continued practicing.

Once they'd finished practice at 6 p.m., they started to eat dinner as a team and through a few phone calls, the decision was made to move the game up a day.

"They (Highland) wanted to play at 8," said Coeur d'Alene coach Dale Poffenroth, who coached the game in blue jeans and a T-shirt. "I said we couldn't play at 8 because the girls hadn't eaten yet. After the decision was made, I just looked at the girls and said 'You need to eat because we're playing at 8:30' and all of a sudden, social media started flying."

The crowd, which continued to trickle in as the game went on, was treated to one of the better high school games that you'll see all year long.

Neither team led by more than seven points and the atmosphere was a lot like a few of the games I've seen between the two in the state 5A tournament at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

ADDING TO the chaos that was Thursday's game was the setting in which it was played.

Normally, you'd see fans packing in the bleachers and paying at least $5 to sit back and watch a game featuring two of the top three teams in the state.

With nobody to man the gates, the game was free of charge for anyone that had received word through Facebook, Twitter or a quick phone call to get down to the gym.

The game was also delayed after some knucklehead decided to throw a snowball through one of the side doors, leaving parents and officials to wipe up the snow and get the court dried off.

With only one scoreboard operational on Thursday, the Coeur d’Alene student section was able to change the momentum of the game late in the first quarter, counting down the game clock — “five, four, three ... ” and an unknowing Highland player forced up a shot from mid-court, allowing the Vikings time to rebound and run down the court to take the lead.

“We wanted to come up here and see what they (Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls) had,” Highland coach Tony Green said. “They are two of the best programs in the state consistently. We wanted to come play the best and we got that tonight.”

Today at 2 p.m., Highland plays at Post Falls, the top-ranked 5A team in the state, in another game that should be well worth the price of admission.

But — hopefully — without the chaos to make it happen.

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