TOP LOCAL SPORTS STORIES OF 2015

Top local sports

stories of 2015

When Post Falls High teams return to town after capturing state championships on the road, they celebrate with a caravan through the city, followed by a pep rally at the high school.

Last winter, it started to look like a weekly habit.

On Feb. 28, Post Falls won its first state wrestling title in dominating fashion in Pocatello.

One week later, the Trojan boys basketball team captured its second state title in six years in Nampa.

1 Post Falls

wrestling first at last

Post Falls sent seven to the championship finals and finished with five individual champions to run away with the state 5A wrestling championship at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

The Trojans won with 256 points — 66 points more than runner-up Bonneville of Idaho Falls, which had 190.

“I can’t really describe it,” sixth-year Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “It hasn’t sunk in, but I’m really happy for our guys. The good thing for them was that we had a big lead before the finals, so the pressure was off of them. We were able to tell them, there’s no pressure or anything to perform for the team and just go out and compete and do their thing.”

Until last season, Post Falls only had one three-time state wrestling champion in James Ost, who won titles in 2010, ’11 and ’12. He’s now joined by senior Drake Foster (126 pounds), who also won in ’12 and ’13 before finishing second last year. Junior Alius De La Rosa (138) won his third state title in three tries.

“It was an amazing feeling, but better because it was a team title,” said Foster, who signed to wrestle at Wyoming. “Everyone worked so hard. We’re really glad this year.”

De La Rosa has won at three different weight classes ­—106, 120 and 138.

“I’m very excited,” De La Rosa said. “I had great practice partners in the room. Having multiple state champions there helped us win a state title. It wasn’t about me this year, it was about the team. I’ve always had the goal to be a four-time state champion, and I wrestled for the team, not just me.”

Junior Tyler (TJ) Wolf won is first state title at 132 and senior Seth McLeod finished with his second title, also winning in 2013 and finishing runner-up in ’12 and ’14.

“I felt pretty strong, and ready for him,” said Wolf, who beat Taite Martin of Bonneville 6-3 in the title match. “I went out there and gave it my all. It means a ton for me. I feel most of it because our team won.”

McLeod signed to wrestle at Boise State.

“It’s huge,” said McLeod of the team title. “I’m super excited for our team. We’ve been fighting hard, we’ve fallen short a little bit and we used it as motivation to work harder and we won it this time. And it feels great.”

Post Falls finished third last year, and second the previous two years.

Senior Justin Farnsworth won his first state title at 285 by beating Bonneville’s Stephen Boone 2-1.

“Those bonus points and getting pins really helped us win that (team) title,” Farnsworth said. “I think it was even better because I lost in the finals last year. All season, I grinded, but I didn’t know what it was like to finish it. That was my last wrestling match ever, so it was nice to go out with a bang.”

Reardon was named state 5A coach of the year following the tournament.

1a Post Falls’ depth wears down Highland’s stars

Post Falls’ five beat Highland’s two.

Or, more accurately, Post Falls, which uses at least 10 players each game, was too much for Highland’s two stars.

The Highland Rams came in with the Division I recruit, another college-bound player after next season, and a whole lot of hype.

The Post Falls Trojans just had a bunch of kids that played hard, kept up the intensity and didn’t care about any of that hype.

And that was plenty enough on this night in early March.

“We knew two guys weren’t going to beat us,” said Post Falls junior guard Max McCullough, who scored 19 points as the Trojans outlasted Highland of Pocatello 67-62 in overtime in the championship game of the state 5A boys basketball tournament at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

Dalton Thompson added 16 points and eight rebounds, Luke Anderson had 13 points and Jack Millsap chipped in 12 points and 10 boards as the Trojans (25-1) won their second state title in the past six years, and fourth in program history.

Highland 6-foot senior guard Stefan Gonzalez, now playing as a freshman at Saint Mary’s of the West Coast Conference, scored 31 points on 12-of-28 shooting. Junior wing Connor Harding (6-5), who went on to sign with BYU, added 27 points for the Rams (22-3). But Highland got only four other points from the rest of the team.

“You can’t stop those two guys,” said eighth-year Post Falls coach Mike McLean, who won his second state title at his alma mater. “They are who they are. Guys like that, you contain. After Gonzalez hit tough shot after tough shot, I thought it might not be our night. But we were going to try to wear those guys down and maybe down the stretch, those shots would be a little bit shorter than they were earlier in the game.”

At the beginning of the game, it was McCullough who stole the show. The quick 5-9 guard scored 13 points in the first quarter on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, as Post Falls jumped out to leads of 10-0, 14-2 and 19-5 in the first quarter.

“It just felt like everything was falling,” McCullough said. “I just felt like nobody could guard me. Everything was going down. I just wanted to keep it going, and give our team the biggest lead possible.”

But Highland opened the second quarter with a 14-0 run. Gonzalez had 11 of those points, including a couple of deep 3s from somewhere near Middleton, as Highland took a 23-20 lead with 4:48 left in the half.

After that exchange of haymakers by the two teams, it was game on.

Post Falls closed the half on a 9-0 run, with Anderson sinking two 3-pointers, Thompson one, and the Trojans led 33-28 at the break.

The Trojans led by seven in the third quarter, but Highland tied it at 39 early in the fourth, and it was never more than a three-point game the rest of the quarter.

Gonzalez hit a 3 with just under 3 minutes to play to put Highland up 52-51. It would turn out to be his last points of the game. Thompson, who played AAU ball with Gonzalez a couple of summers ago and guarded him in the title game, answered with a 3 over his former AAU teammate. Harding’s runner with 1:53 left tied it at 54.

Highland had the last shot in regulation and posted up Gonzalez, but his fallaway in the paint in the waning seconds was short off the front of the rim.

“Dalton battled him,” McLean said. “I asked Dalton just to ‘hand up,’ and if he makes a good shot, just congratulate him.”

In overtime, McCullough drove and fed Anderson for a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3:12 left, putting the Trojans up 57-54. As it turned out, Post Falls was never headed after that. McCullough, who had scored just two points since that first-quarter outburst, hit a pair of big baskets in overtime.

With Post Falls up 65-62, McCullough missed two free throws, but Thompson knifed in and rebounded the second miss. McLean called it the “play of the game.” Thompson was fouled and drilled two free throws with 9.5 seconds left to seal the win.

“I think we’re a lot deeper than they are,” Thompson said. “Their guys were tired at the end, and we were still pumping.”

Millsap and Jake Blakney (7 points, 5 rebounds) were beasts on the boards for Post Falls, which out-rebounded Highland 42-25.

“We’re a firm believer that, one or two guys are not going to beat our program,” McLean said. “We may not have two guys that can score and do what they do, but we believe as a program, you’re not going to beat us with just two. We believe our program is strong enough to withstand two guys, and just battle for everything else we can get.”

“It (winning a state title) feels unreal,” said Anderson, who hit 3 of 4 3-pointers. “We’re 11 deep; we’ve believed in that since Day 1. We were not going to let two guys beat us. They are great players, but we used our bench to help us out.”

“We knew they couldn’t guard all of us,” McCullough added. “If they stop one of us, we have 10 more guys that can do the same thing.”

2 ‘Bieb’ calls

it a career

To refer to Larry Bieber only as the longtime softball coach at Coeur d’Alene High would be grossly incomplete.

“Bieb,” as he is known by many, spent some time in the military, briefly considered a career in law enforcement, was once a driver’s ed teacher, likes to drive and work on classic cars, dabbles in music, and is a budding author.

“I’ve known him for 10 years and I learn something new about him every day,” said Jenna (DeLong) Fore, who played for Bieber from 2004-07, is an assistant coach for him this season, and the heir apparent to succeed him when he retires following the season. “It’s not just boring stuff; it’s super interesting. ... he blows my mind.”

Bieber, the son of an Air Force lifer, bounced around the country before the family settled for good at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane. Bieber attended West Valley High and Eastern Washington State College, before serving in the Army as a military police lieutenant from 1969-72.

He started his teaching career in Washougal, Wash., in ’72, taught one year at Lakeland Junior High and three years at Lakes Junior High before coming to Coeur d’Alene High in 1980.

Since 1974, he’s been an assistant coach in football, basketball, baseball, track and softball.

For nine seasons (1994-2003), he was the Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball coach, guiding the Vikings to a state title in 1998.

In 1993 he became freshman softball coach at Coeur d’Alene, as the Vikings were making the transition from slowpitch to fastpitch. He became head coach in ’94, guiding the Vikings to the last of their 13 straight state slowpitch titles before softball went fastpitch in Idaho in ’95.

Bieber, 67, retired in May after his 22nd season as head softball coach — the last 21 in fastpitch. In fastpitch, he coached the Vikings to five state titles — most recently in 2012 — and eight state runner-up finishes. In his final season, Coeur d’Alene finished second to Eagle at state at Post Falls High. Months after the Vikings won state in basketball in ’98, they won their first state fastpitch title, also under Bieber.

His final Viking team finished 28-3. Bieber had a career record of 466-153 in 21 fastpitch seasons, and 485-160 in 22 seasons overall as a head softball coach. The Vikings qualified for state 19 times in 21 fastpitch seasons.

Bieber retired from teaching at Coeur d’Alene High in 2003.

“I’ve got no regrets on anything we did this weekend,” Bieber said after the title game in May. “It was a great way for me to ride off into the sunset.”

3 Rook, who guided Coeur d’Alene baseball to state six times in seven seasons, out as Viking coach

As Coeur d’Alene High baseball coach Nick Rook boarded the bus along with the rest of the Vikings to travel to the 5A Region 1 tournament championship game at Lewiston in early May, he was blindsided.

Then, devastated a few days later.

Rook, who coached the Vikings to state tournament appearances in each of his first six seasons (2009-14) — including a state runner-up finish in 2013 — was told he will not return for an eighth season next spring after not having his contract renewed.

“I’m pretty heartbroken right now,” Rook said weeks later, in his first public comments since his dismissal. “Coaching baseball at Coeur d’Alene High was my dream job. I didn’t desire any other position in baseball. It’s devastating and heartbreaking. But with that said, I’m proud of the program we created.”

Rook was informed of the Coeur d’Alene School District’s decision just as he was boarding the bus to Lewiston for the title game. An appeal to fight the decision was not heard, as Rook is a non-teacher.

A day after the regional title win, Coeur d’Alene had to forfeit the win after a rules violation. It was discovered a Coeur d’Alene pitcher threw 10 pitches in the final inning in its regional opener, then for seven innings the next day against Lewiston.

Idaho High School Activities Association rules state, in this instance, a player cannot pitch more than seven innings in two games on two consecutive days.

“The last 72 hours of the season, it was total devastation,” Rook said. “Finding out that I wasn’t going to be back and with the kids and how that played out, it was really heartbreaking for them.”

Rook, a 1997 Coeur d’Alene High grad, went 148-44 in his time as Vikings coach, winning at least 20 games in all but one season (2015). He was unable to appeal the decision not to renew his contract, as he is not a district employee.

Coeur d’Alene School District officials declined comment, noting the situation is a personnel matter.

“How this was handled and lack of professionalism is embarrassing,” Rook said. “My wife and I plan on staying in the area. This is not how you treat people.

“There’s a major leadership vacuum occurring at Coeur d’Alene High. Unfortunately, it’s not a positive thing.”

4 Lakeland boys

have banner year

in basketball,

wrestling, golf

Tyrel Derrick held the ball near mid-court as the seconds ticked down and the horn sounded, which was only fitting for someone who had been around a program for so long, without making it to state.

Derrick scored the game’s first two baskets, Lakeland scored the game’s first 10 points, and the Hawks went on to beat the Sandpoint Bulldogs 38-29 in the championship game of the 4A Region 1 boys basketball tournament in late February at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court.

The win qualified Lakeland for the state tournament for the first time since 2004 — the Hawks’ last year in 3A.

“This has been 17 years in the making,” said Derrick, a senior point guard and son of longtime Lakeland boys coach and now athletic director Trent Derrick. “For the past 12 years I’ve just been waiting for it to happen. It’s a weight off my shoulders; I can’t explain it.”

That Lakeland, which finished 16-8, went two and out at state the following weekend in Boise did little to dampen the accomplishment.

In wrestling, Lakeland freshman Larry Johnson (113) and seniors Killian Estes (195) and Conor Shepherd (220) won state titles as the Hawks finished fourth at the state 4A meet in Pocatello in late February. It was Lakeland’s first trophy at state since 2007.

“It was a great tournament for us,” Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute said. “We kind of stumbled (Friday) and had some kids that wrestled flat. The kids came out and had an amazing day and had to make up for some lost time, but I was impressed with each one of them.”

Estes finished second last year at state. This time around, he faced Sandpoint’s Jacob Williams — who he’d faced three other times this season — in the final.

“I was pretty disappointed with last year’s result,” Estes said. “I worked hard all year and ended up wrestling a kid that I’ve faced four times this year. It was my last match in high school, so I thought, ‘why not go all out’ and that’s what I did.”

Estes pinned Williams in all four matchups, the final one coming in 1:24.

“There’s a lot of pressure in the finals, but I’d already pinned him three times,” Estes said. “I had it in my head I was going to pin him, but just didn’t think it would be that fast.”

For Shepherd, it was his first state title.

“It really means a lot because of all the work I’ve put in,” Shepherd said. “My goal since Day 1 has been to make all the days in the wrestling room worth it.”

For Johnson, it was the influence of Estes and Shepherd that gave him the push he needed.

“In the practice room, everyone on the team started taking after them as role models,” said Johnson of Estes and Shepherd. “I started doing it, and it went from there. They kept telling me to think of it was any other tournament. I had nothing to lose, and just went out and did my thing. I’ve been wrestling for a long time. I worked really hard and it paid off. I’ve got one. Now I’ve got to win three more.”

Bryan Edelblute (fifth at 113), Tyler Siegford (sixth at 120), Tuekota Tate-Vandever (sixth at 152), Jared Walker (third at 170) and Chris Washburn (third at 182) also placed for Lakeland.

In the spring, at The Links in Post Falls, Lakeland senior Preston Roth finished fourth in the 4A boys medalist competition for his first medal in two trips to state.

And the Lakeland boys finished fourth in a playoff, bringing home a trophy for the first time in school history.

“I didn’t think I would place in the top 10 for sure,” said Roth, who held a one-shot lead after a 1-under-par 72 in the first round, then shot 75 on a rainy second day to finish four strokes behind the winner. “I didn’t make it to state last year, so coming to state was definitely an honor and a privilege to play with these guys out here. Taking fourth was something special, yeah.”

“I think Preston did a great job out there,” Lakeland coach Mario Maddy said. “He’s playing a kid (Bishop Kelly junior Hunter Ostrom) that has colleges looking at him. And Preston right now didn’t have many people looking at him. The kid’s a gamer; he gets out and he competes hard, and he just came up a little bit short today.”

Roth later signed with Community Colleges of Spokane.

Lakeland shot 306 on the first day and led by three shots over Twin Falls. But the Bruins shot 302 on Day 2 for a 611, while the Hawks shot 311 for a 617. Bishop Kelly shot 295 on the second day — a one-day improvement of 23 shots — to finish just two shots behind Twin Falls.

“The kids played in tough conditions, but you’ve got to give it to Twin Falls and those other teams — they made some good shots when they needed to make good shots,” Maddy said. “Those kids were making nice-looking putts to save pars, and we just didn’t make the shots when we needed to make the shots. But for going out there and competing, I’m real proud of the kids. From first to fourth was six strokes — that’s pretty dang close.”

Lakeland and Skyview of Nampa each shot 617, but Skyview won on the second hole of a playoff for third place.

In the fall, Lakeland’s bid for its first state 4A boys soccer title in school history came up just short in a 3-1 loss to Century of Pocatello in the state title game at Middleton High.

“Them getting that goal in the first minute was a shock to our system,” fourth-year Lakeland coach Andrew Craig said. “We were still playing well throught the first half. In the second, we came out and played well and the chances started to come. Century just came to play tonight and figured it out. It didn’t matter what we did, they were ready for it. It felt like they had a couple of lucky chances, but they’re a solid team and our boys played well.”

Lakeland, which finished 14-3-2, had won 12 straight matches dating back to a 2-2 draw with Sandpoint on Sept. 8 in Rathdrum. The Hawks’ last loss was against Coeur d’Alene on Sept. 2 in Coeur d’Alene. During the season, Lakeland beat Lake City, a state 5A qualifier.

“For a first time in a championship game, I’m proud of the season we had,” said Craig, who was coached Lakeland in two of three state appearances in school history. “It’s just an unfortunate loss.”

Lakeland has been a player at state in recent years, finishing third in 2013 and winning the consolation championship in 2011.

5 Timberlake girls runner-up for fourth time in five years at 3A state basketball tourney

In its fourth appearance in the state title game in the last five years, and bidding for its first state title, the Timberlake High girls basketball team settled for second again.

The second-ranked Sugar-Salem Diggers edged past the top-ranked Timberlake Tigers 40-33 in the state 3A championship game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

Sugar-Salem limited Timberlake to 11-for-58 shooting in the game, holding off a late rally to secure its fifth state title in program history.

“I thought besides making shots, we played extremely well,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “We forced 27 turnovers and we got a lot of good looks at the hoop. I thought we executed well on the defensive side, and the offensive side, with the exception of finishing. But we shot 19 percent, and you can’t win a state championship like that.”

Sophomore guard Allison Kirby had a game-high 21 points and five steals for Timberlake (21-4), which advanced to the title game for the fourth time in as many state appearances (2011, ’12, ’14, ’15).

“It happens,” Kirby said. “God has a plan for everyone and it didn’t go our way.”

Sugar-Salem also won the 2011 championship with a 48-44 win over Timberlake, the Tigers’ first appearance in the title game.

With nearly everyone back this season, Timberlake is eyeing another deep postseason run.

6 Kornoely wins NJCAA title; Reece

second for NIC

wrestling team

On his final night as a Cardinal, Taylor Kornoely got to feel that same feeling that 53 other wrestlers in NIC school history have felt — an individual national championship.

Kornoely outlasted Richard Black of Neosho 3-1 in overtime of the 285-pound championship match in February in Des Moines, Iowa.

“It’s a new experience for me,” Kornoely said. “I’ve never won a state title, not even a national tournament as a kid. This is the first legit tournament I’ve won. I’ve always came in second. This is a great feeling.”

Black beat Kornoely in an earlier matchup in the Apodaca Duals on Jan. 31 in Powell, Wyo., 11-2.

“I knew he had a gas tank from facing him before,” Kornoely said. “I was confident that toward the end he’d wear out eventually.”

NIC freshman Dajour Reece finished second at 165 after losing to Bryce Carr of Darton 9-5.

“I was pretty fired up for the match,” Reece said. “But it just didn’t go my way. I wrestled well the entire tournament, but just couldn’t get any of my shots in that final match and couldn’t score any points.”

NIC, which jumped to third before the finals, finished fourth with 109 points.

Iowa Central Community College, located in Fort Dodge, won the team title with 158.5 points.

Michael Nguyen (125) and Johnathen Dennis (197) finished fourth, Jordan Cooks was fifth at 174, Tyler McLean sixth at 157 and Bryce Weatherston eighth at 141 for NIC.

7 Lake City, Cd’A Charter girls second at state soccer

After a competitive, back-and-forth contest Lake City’s top player, senior Camryn Wendlandt, had a chance to win the 5A girls state soccer championship in October with a successful kick in a shootout after two overtimes.

But Wendlandt’s kick was blocked by Centennial goalkeeper Asha Tullock.

So, Lake City’s storybook ending wasn’t to be.

Centennial’s sixth kicker in the shootout, Alyse Erickson, was successful on her ensuing kick. And when Timberwolves senior forward Monique Queen’s shot was blocked, Centennial had defended its state title with a 2-1 victory at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian.

“Those kids live for those moments,” Lake City coach Ruchti said. “I would have put the same group out there again and I’d pick the exact same five (kickers in the shootout). … Sometimes you win games and sometimes you don’t. It doesn’t always go your way, and tonight was one of those nights.”

Lake City finished 14-1-2.

Earlier that day, the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy Panthers looked to repeat as state 3A girls soccer champions.

But eventually, the one player that nobody has been able to stop, finally got going for the Weiser Wolverines.

Lauren Bouvia recorded a hat trick, all in the second half — and finished the season with a national record of 127 goals this season — helping the Wolverines beat Coeur d’Alene Charter 4-1 in the championship game at Middleton High.

“What we learned today is that not only is Lauren Bouvia an extremely talented player, but she is surrounded by a great team,” Coeur d’Alene Charter coach David Baxter said. “We were able to contain Lauren for the first 50 minutes, and we had several good scoring opportunities.”

Weiser finished 19-1-0. Coeur d’Alene Charter wound up 15-6-1 in its third straight appearance at state in the four-year history of the program.

“We have tried to make sure that players understand the strengths of the teams we play and the possible opportunities that might present themselves,” said Baxter of the state tournament success. “We have also tried to have a good off-the-field plan, so that the players are rested and in the right state of mind when they take the field.”

8 Bayley has a year to remember on the Northwest golf links

Former Lakeland High star Derek Bayley, as a freshman on the Washington State men’s golf team, led the Cougars, finishing tied for 15th at the Pac-12 Championships on April 29 at Palouse Ridge Golf Course.

The finish is the best by a WSU freshman at the conference championships in school history. As a team, the Cougars finished 10th in a field that featured eight teams in the national Top 25 rankings, concluding the tournament with a 377 in the fourth round, and 1,453 overall.

Bayley — a two-time state 4A medalist at Lakeland — provided consistency for the Cougars in the morning, carding par on 11 of his first 12 holes to finish the day 4-over (74). Coupled with a three-round 209 (-1), Bayley finished 3-over (283) and tied for 15th place.

A few weeks later, Bayley finished second at a local qualifier on May 22 at Settlers Bay Golf Course in Wasilla, Alaska, with a 2-under-par 68, one stroke behind the winner, Rob Nelson of Anchorage, Alaska.

A total of 12 players were competing for one spot in a U.S. Open sectional.

But Nelson declined the bid, meaning Bayley, the first alternate, advanced to the sectional qualifier at Tumble Creek in Cle Elum, Wash.

“Hat’s off to him; he played one stroke better than me,” Bayley said. “I can’t say how fortunate I am to still be going.”

Playing in the second-to-last group, Bayley thought he had a six-shot lead with just the final group, which included Nelson, left. Then Bayley’s dad, Mike, told him Nelson was 3-under with two holes left.

“I put my face in my hands and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Bayley said.

Bayley also finished second in each of his last two qualifiers in Alaska — by one stroke last year, and by three strokes in 2013.

But Nelson, 47, told Bayley after he finished that he was “98 percent sure” he wasn’t going to accept the bid to the sectional, but he would have to talk it over with his wife, and would decide for sure the next day.

Late Thursday afternoon, Bayley received an email from a USGA official confirming that Nelson had opted out, and that Bayley was moving on.

“It made me feel better, because I had played well,” Bayley said. “I hit the ball on the flag all day.”

In August, Bayley trailed by eight shots heading into the final round of the Northwest Open at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla before heating up.

So much so, he led the tournament with just six holes to play.

That was, until two-day leader Derek Barron — the professional at Tacoma Golf Center — got even hotter.

Barron carded four birdies in a row and shot a 32 on the back nine for a three-shot victory, spoiling a 6-under 66 in the final round by Bayley.

“I just knew I was eight back to start the round and knew I had to put some pressure on him,” Bayley said.

9 Longtime Timberlake softball coach Menti steps down

When Mike Menti experienced first hand that FaceTime was nice, but nowhere as good as being there, that’s when he knew it was time.

“It came down to, I can’t miss any more of my kids’ stuff,” said Menti, who resigned last spring after 16 seasons as head softball coach at Timberlake. “I missed (oldest son) Brayden’s state track meet this year, and I can’t do that anymore.”

Menti, 43, took over the Tigers softball program in its second season of existence, and guided Timberlake to state in each of those 16 seasons. He posted a career record of 292-138, his teams won or shared 10 Intermountain League titles and captured 11 district titles. Under Menti, Timberlake brought home four trophies from state, including a best finish of second place in 2007.

“It was a good time, and it was definitely time,” Menti said. “I’m giving up one family for another family, really, is what it feels like. I just love those kids, they’re great kids. I’ve had great parents. We’ve had little to no trouble at Timberlake. It’s going to be hard to leave those girls, that’s for sure, but I know it’s the right decision.”

“It is definitely a bummer to see Mike leave softball — he connects so well with kids and they love playing on his teams,” Timberlake athletic director Tim Cronnelly said.

Menti, a 1990 Post Falls High grad, continues teaching life science at Timberlake Junior High, and remains as defensive coordinator on the Timberlake varsity football team.

10 Coeur d’Alene volleyball finishes fourth as state tournament heads north

With everybody back from a team that finished second at state the year before, the Coeur d’Alene High volleyball team had visions of winning the program’s first state title since 1987 in October.

Even better — this year’s tourney was going to be held in the Vikings’ own back yard, Post Falls High.

But the Vikings’ top player — Idaho-bound setter/outside hitter Megan Ramseyer, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third match of the season. Another top player, outside hitter Missy Huddleston — missed a couple of weeks with an ankle injury.

Still, the Vikings kept battling, Huddleston returned and new stars emerged, and Coeur d’Alene won the 5A Region 1 title.

But their bid for a return to the championship match came up just a bit short, as the Vikings split their four matches and finished fourth at state.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Coeur d’Alene coach Dee Pottenger said. “I think the competition was tough. I think serving and passing (of our opponents) was key to keep us out of system and we passed the ball really well in the tournament to bring it to this offense. I think our blocking stood out as a strength of our team and our girls worked really hard.”