THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: March 19, 2014

The 11th annual North vs. South High School All-Star basketball games at North Idaho College had a little bit of everything.

Division I players taking the floor.

Future teammates sharing the same floor for the first time before college.

And a couple of runaway wins by the South squads.

IN THE girls game, it gave Coeur d'Alene High senior Brittany Tackett a chance to share the floor with Prairie senior Kyndahl Ulmer, who will continue their playing careers at Lewis-Clark State College next year.

"It was good to get a feel for what it's going to be like next year," Tackett said. "I like her. She's a nice girl and I really like her personality."

The North girls lost 89-73 to the South.

With Tackett playing with 5A Coeur d'Alene and Ulmer with 2A Prairie, there wasn't a chance those teams could cross paths during the regular season.

"After our game at Moscow, we went down to LC State, and she just happened to be there," Tackett said. "I'm really looking forward to playing with her next year."

At Lewis-Clark State, Tackett will be reunited with Caelyn Orlandi and Brooke Litalien of Post Falls, who are freshmen on the Warriors NAIA tournament bound team.

Lewis-Clark State opens the tournament today against Wayland Baptist (Texas).

MEANWHILE DURING the boys game, soon-to-be Utah point guard Isaiah Wright capped his high school career in the South's 117-96 win against the North.

Wright, who missed the first 11 games of the season for Borah High in Boise with a broken wrist, bounced back to get his team to the title game against Capital High.

"It was definitely a hard season for me," Wright said. "But when I got back on the court, it was a great feeling to be back out there with my guys. Right when I got back, we just gelled together."

For a time, Wright served as a coach on the bench.

"You really see a lot more on the bench than the court," Wright said. "It really helped me a lot with the mental approach to things. It was a fun weekend. I got a chance to play with my five travel buddies and it was good to play with them. The North has some good players and I hope they've got a chance to play somewhere else next year."

"It was fun to guard him," said Lake City guard Justin Pratt of Wright. "He was really good at defense and just really quick. He's a nice kid and it was fun to play against someone that's going Division I like that."

SOME HAVE suggested that the game be altered, playing separate games for 5A-4A classifications and 3A-1A.

"I think when you change it like that, it takes the uniqueness out of the game," North Idaho College athletic director Al Williams said. "I like the idea of the smaller classification kids playing against the larger classification kids. That's what makes it so special. It gives the kids a chance to come in and see where they match-up against some of those bigger kids. And I think both them and the fans enjoy seeing that."

Switching from the NJCAA to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges won't change a thing.

"We do this for the kids really," Williams said. "It's special to give the kids in the state an opportunity to come out and get one last chance to play with their teammates. It's special for them, and the fans in the north because they don't get a chance to see the kids from the south as much without going to a state tournament. It gives them a chance to put some faces to the names like Isaiah Wright, who is going to Utah or Kyle Dranginis of Skyview (who went on to Gonzaga). It makes it special for the kids. It's all about bringing basketball to the state and giving it a little more exposure to the athletes in this area. A lot of them, when they come here, they're undecided on what college to go to, but it gives them a chance to see our campus. It's good to have all the student athletes come up, see our campus and Coeur d'Alene with their family."

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 jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.