The Front Row with MARK NELKE Feb. 21, 2013

The fact I have seen all four of Post Falls High’s state girls basketball championship teams play in person can only mean one thing:

Yes, I’m old.

(Now, if someone has seen all three of Post Falls’ state champion boys basketball teams, they would be really old, since the first two came in 1963 and ’64. The last one came in 2010.)

Anyway, I don’t remember much about the 1983 Trojan girls squad, other than the foofy hair most people (not just athletes) had at the time. That was my first school year as a sports writer in North Idaho.

Jocelyn Pfeifer, Teresa Conrad, Sarma Vitolins, Sheila Krahn, Karen Brooks, Tammy White, etc., helped Post Falls, coached by Ron Worley, to a 21-4 record, capped by a 56-54 victory over Bonners Ferry in the A-2 championship game. Back then, A-2 was the second-largest of four classifications in Idaho.

The next year, Post Falls also finished 21-4, losing to Madison of Rexburg in the state A-2 title game at Coeur d’Alene. (That was the game played just prior to the A-1 title game where Coeur d’Alene beat Sandpoint in overtime before an overflow crowd).

BUT LET’S look at the two more recent Post Falls state title teams — the Trojan squad that won the 2002 and ’03 titles, and the team which won the state 5A title last weekend in Nampa.

The core of the 2002 and ’03, coached by Chris Johnson, was pretty much the same. Four juniors started on the ’02 team — Aubree Johnson, Katy Ridenour, Megan Kane and Tasha Larsen — and all were good enough to play in college. Johnson, of course, wound up at Arizona State, Ridenour at Gonzaga, Kane at College of Southern Idaho, then Carroll College, and Larsen signed with North Idaho College.

The other starter in ’02 was Callie Stockwell, a senior and effective role player as a wing. Laura Adamchak, a senior post, moved into the starting lineup in ’03.

This year’s Post Falls team has three players who will continue their playing careers in college — Dani Failor (West Point), Brooke Litalien (Lewis-Clark State) and Hallie Gennett (Sacramento State) — and a fourth (Katie King) who could play in college if she wants to.

This year’s other starter was junior Lexi Smith — and she and senior reserve guard Whitney Gonzales both made big plays for the Trojans at state.

Both teams picked up a key transfer that helped them win state titles — Larsen, a guard, transferred from Utah after her sophomore season. Gennett, a forward, came over from University High in Spokane for her senior season.

In 2003, Johnson dribbled up the court, pulled up and stuck a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Jerome 32-29 in the title game.

Ten years after that, Failor stole the ball, dribbled up the court, got fouled while shooting and hit two free throws with 5 seconds left in overtime to beat Coeur d’Alene 46-44 in the title game last Saturday.

And though Post Falls was in 4A back then, not 5A as the Trojans are now, they still dominated the bigger-school competition around here. Post Falls went 17-1 in the Border League in 2001-02, the only loss coming to Lake City — a team the Trojans split with in league. Lake City finished third at the state 5A tournament that year.

In 2002-03, Post Falls finished 9-1 in the Inland Empire League — again splitting with Lake City, which was the state 5A runner-up that season.

The Trojans of a decade before got a little better each season — 16-8, then 20-5 prior to their back-to-back state titles.

The current group was 13-9 in 2010, slipped to 8-14 the following year, then improved to 12-10 last year before breaking through this season.

UNLESS I’M missing something, Post Falls’ 24-1 record this year under second-year coach Marc Allert was the best in school history — 24 also being the most wins in a season, 1 also being the fewest losses.

The 1990 team that finished second at state to Madison in the state A-1 tourney under coach Mike Curtis finished 22-3. Post Falls went 23-2 and 22-3 in its back-to-back state 4A title runs in 2002 and ’03.

Max Preps ranks this year’s Post Falls team as the 21st best in the country, which is impressive. However, the website also lists Chris Johnson, who resigned two years ago, as coach, so take that for what it’s worth.

So, was one team better than the other? Both teams produced two Division I players, though Johnson is one of the best players to ever come out of North Idaho. But we’ll probably never know, unless ...

... Alumni game, anyone?

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.