THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, Oct. 26, 2014
For those who had Lake City as the No. 1 seed to the state 5A playoffs from the North, Post Falls the No. 2 and two-time defending state champion Coeur d'Alene as the wild-card team in your preseason picks, well, there's a lottery ticket with your name on it.
Had the north not successfully fought for an expanded 12-team playoffs this year, Lake City would have been the only team of the three assured of a playoff berth. Post Falls might have gotten in, depending on the year. But Coeur d'Alene would have been home, with three losses by a combined total of less than three feet.
On Friday, Coeur d'Alene (6-3) will play at Meridian (4-5), and Post Falls (5-4) will play at Eagle (8-1). Coeur d'Alene, the 12th team in, drew the No. 3 seed from the West B pod, while Post Falls, the North No. 2 seed, drew the No. 2 seed from the West B pod. Go figure.
The Post Falls-Eagle winner travels to Highland (9-0) of Pocatello in the quarterfinals, and the Coeur d'Alene-Meridian winner plays at Rocky Mountain (7-2) of Meridian.
On the other half of the bracket, Lake City (8-1) draws a bye in the first round, and will host the winner of a game this Friday between Capital (7-2) of Boise and the survivor of a Kansas tiebreaker on Monday between Madison (5-3), Skyline (5-4) and Hillcrest (6-3).
In 4A, North No. 1 seed Lakeland (7-2) has a first-round bye in the 12-team playoffs, and in two weeks will host the winner of Friday's game between Kuna (6-3) and Rigby (4-4).
Sandpoint (5-4), the North No. 2 seed will host Century (4-5) of Pocatello in the first round on Friday. Century started the season 0-5.
In 3A first-round games this coming weekend, Intermountain League champ Timberlake (7-1) hosts Payette (2-6), the No. 4 seed from the Snake River Valley Conference, and IML runner-up Kellogg (2-6) hosts Homedale (5-3), the No. 3 team from the SRV.
In 2A first-round games this weekend, St. Maries (5-3), the No. 3 seed from the Central Idaho League travels to Western Idaho Conference champion New Plymouth (7-1) on Saturday, CIL champ Orofino (7-1) hosts Melba, and CIL runner-up Grangeville (5-3) visits Nampa Christian (6-2).
In a 1A Division I first-round game this weekend, independent Wallace (6-2), which was slotted in as the No. 5 seed in District 1-2, plays at District 1-2 top seed Prairie (8-0).
* Little did I know that one week ago, on a warm mid-October afternoon, I would be watching the "pre-quel" to Saturday's state 3A girls soccer championship game in Twin Falls between Coeur d'Alene Charter and Timberlake.
Last week, Timberlake made an early goal stand up in a 1-0 victory over the Panthers in the District 1-2 title game.
On Saturday, Coeur d'Alene Charter returned the favor with a 1-0 victory for a state title in only its third season with a girls soccer program.
Other than Bonners Ferry, the North in general hasn't made a whole lot of noise at state in the 3A division. Bonners' boys, in 2007, were the only North Idaho team to win a state 3A soccer title since the Idaho High School Activities Association began sponsoring state soccer tournaments in 2000.
"We don't get a whole lot of love from the southern teams," Timberlake coach Steve Michael said on Friday, after the Tiger girls beat three-time defending champion McCall-Donnelly in penalty kicks in the semifinals. "But we both (Timberlake and Cd'A Charter) have a chance to bring home a state title."
Timberlake and Coeur d'Alene Charter played their semifinals at the same time. After Charter finished its 2-0 victory over Shelley, the Panther players came over to Timberlake's field and rooted for their Intermountain League (in soccer, anyway) brethren in overtime and the shootout.
"When we were done, they came out to congratulate us, which was huge," Michael said.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.