THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: March 6, 2014

Amid all the talk surrounding Lake City and Coeur d'Alene, the most successful high school boys basketball team in our area in recent years has been ... the Post Falls Trojans.

They'll be making their sixth straight trip to state, when the 5A tournament begins today at the Idaho Center in Nampa. That run has included a state title in 2010, a consolation title in 2011 and a runner-up finish in '12.

Lake City is making its third trip over that time, looking for its first trophy since 2002, and Coeur d'Alene has been to state twice, with a third-place finish in 2011.

Fellow Press sports writer Bruce Bourquin will have more on Post Falls' success in his Friday column. But kudos to the Trojans for keeping their state run going, even after the core of that 2010 title team - which would have given some small colleges fits - moved on.

It's not a given that every team "plays hard," but that phrase certainly applies to the Trojans. Post Falls certainly showed its grit the last two years, qualifying for state in 2013 as the No. 4 seed to the Region 1 tournament, and making it back this year as the No. 3 seed.

Last year, Post Falls won at Coeur d'Alene in the regional second-place game, then won a play-in game to state. This year, the Trojans won on the Vikings' home court again, this time for the region's second berth to state.

Post Falls coach Mike McLean, in his seventh season, is a no-nonsense coach. But in an era of the more practice the better, he said recently that his team probably practices less than other teams.

He believes in giving his players days off during the season, giving them time to be high school kids. He thinks that keeps them more refreshed during the four-month meat grinder of a season.

You certainly can't argue with the results.

SOME LEFTOVERS from state wrestling:

KUDOS TO Post Falls coach Pete Reardon. He has built the Trojans into a state power, with finishes of second, second and third the past three years.

The last two years, Centennial won going away. This year, the Patriots had 27 state qualifiers, Post Falls 15. That's because, with 10 teams in District 3, the top eight in each weight advance to state - and the ninth-place finisher is eligible for an at-large bid.

In Region 1, the top three advance to state - the fourth-place finisher could get an at-large bid. Problem is, three of the strongest teams in the state are in Region 1, so Post Falls, Lewiston and Coeur d'Alene often divvy up the state berths, and a team's No. 2 wrestler in each weight often gets left home - no matter how capable he is.

To his credit, Reardon never complains about the disparity in state qualifiers between the two schools - he just says Post Falls will go out and wrestle as hard as it can, and whatever happens, happens.

Whether that difference in number of state qualifiers gives a team like Centennial an unfair advantage is an argument for far more knowledgeable wrestling folks.

This year, Centennial had six state champions, two second-place finishers, four fourth-place finishers, one fifth and one sixth.

Post Falls had one state champion, four seconds, two thirds and three sixths.

COEUR d'ALENE, which won back-to-back state titles in 2010 and '11, finished fifth this year - one spot away from a trophy.

"I thought it was a pretty good year," Viking coach Jeff Moffat said. "We had to patch a lineup together (due to injuries), and were 3 1/2 points away from a trophy. We stretched that rubber band about as far as it could go."

One of the injured, Matt James, came back from a knee injury during the season to win a state title at 285. With a football scholarship already in hand from Washington, Moffat said James didn't give any thought of not coming back from his injury.

"Naw, he's got too good a character for that," Moffat said. "He wanted to finish it out."

THEN THERE's Lake City, which has shown gradual improvement under Corey Owen, in his sixth season with the Timberwolves - though with Lake City being in the same league with Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston is hard to quantify from the outside.

"There's some building blocks," said Owen, noting that Lake City's three state placers this year, and nine state qualifiers total, are the most he's had here. "The thing I'm most positive about is we bring back all three state placers and all nine state qualifiers; that's something to build on."

Then again, he noted that Post Falls will bring back all but one of its state qualifiers, and Lewiston (which was seventh at state) will have nearly everybody back as well ...

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