THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, February 21, 2015

Of all the players taking the court this weekend in the state girls basketball tournaments, there's probably not one more excited to do so than Timberlake High sophomore Keelie Lawler.

Sidelined with injuries for most of the season, she's back now when the Tigers need her more than ever.

SIDELINED EARLY in the season with a leg injury, Lawler also missed the final four games of the regular season after suffering a concussion in the Battle for the Buck spirit game against Priest River on Jan. 18.

"I can't tell you how good it feels to be back," said Lawler after Thursday's 47-43 win against Fruitland in the state 3A tournament. "This season has been really tough on me with missing half of the season. Being with these girls, I just love playing the game."

In her absence, Timberlake has had some players - not originally in the plans for the varsity program - turn into key contributors.

Case in point - with Timberlake in a back and forth game with Fruitland, freshman Shelby Starr hit a pair of 3-pointers to help the Tigers extend the lead.

"I feel like I've got more confidence going into the next game," Starr said. "It's not cockiness or anything like that, but we as a team feel we'll do better in the next game."

And as the Fruitland game continued to remain close, who else was there to help put the game away but Lawler.

"We're a special team," Lawler said. "Even last year, when we finished second, we thought we were a special team. There's just something about us. Like we've got good team chemistry and we all like each other. There's not one person that I wouldn't trust with the ball on the court. We all trust each other to do a job, and we feel like we're going to do it to get a win."

THERE'S BEEN one constant about the girls state tournament, so much so, that there's no record of it happening on the Idaho High School Activities Association website.

Since the 1986-87 season, at least one team from Kootenai County has advanced to the state tournament in the highest classification. As a league, someone has brought back the state title in the last eight years, with hope for a ninth falling on the hands of the Lewiston Bengals this year.

Post Falls had the best chance to qualify, but couldn't finish off Lewiston (in the 5A Region 1 tournament championship game) or Rocky Mountain, which beat the Trojans in a state play-in game, then advanced to a state semifinal game.

Next season starts for most teams at the end of this year's championship games.

With another year of experience for each of them, it's not unrealistic that both Post Falls and Lake City, or even Coeur d'Alene, can't come south next year.

While their absence was noticeable on an early morning flight on Thursday, don't expect it to last.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8716, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.