THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: March 18, 2015

For some, it was the end of their basketball careers on Saturday.

Others were playing on the same court for the final time as teammates.

There was a lot of things to take away from the 12th annual state high school all-star girls and boys basketball games at North Idaho College, and that was just start of it.

LAKE CITY teammates Natalie Wheelock and Clarissa Smith - the only two seniors on the Timberwolves this year - played together for the final time in the girls game.

Wheelock has signed to play soccer at Division II Adams State College in Colorado and Smith has signed to play basketball next year at North Idaho College.

"It was really great," Wheelock said. "We've been playing together for 10 years, so it was nice to step up in a such a big game like this together."

Coeur d'Alene senior Colby Daniels felt the same way about his high school teammate Tony Naccarato.

"We've been playing together since the fifth grade," Daniels said. "He's like my brother and I'm glad we got one more chance to play together."

Daniels also got the chance to play with Post Falls senior Dalton Thompson. Both Daniels and Thompson led the North in scoring with 17 points each.

"I've been playing against Dalton forever," Daniels said. "And it was nice to finally get to play with him. He's a great player, and I know he's going to do great things in the future."

In the case of Lakeland senior Tyrel Derrick, it was a final time to be coached by his high school coach Dave Stockwell, who coached the North squad.

"Us bringing Lakeland's program to state was a big accomplishment," Derrick said. "What we did down there wasn't up to our standards, but it's OK, because us eight seniors will have those memories to last a lifetime.

"Playing in this game, you see your skills and how they've developed from a freshman to now," Derrick added. "When you get on the court, you're just having fun. At the end, it's kind of surreal. But I enjoyed every second of my time with coach Stockwell and the entire team."

THE SERIES between the North and the South hasn't been close in recent years, with the North's last win in the series in 2011, when the girls won 83-69 and the boys won 138-95.

Since then, the South has rolled, with the girls winning nine of 12 games and the boys winning their seventh on Saturday.

A few weeks ago, there was some talk of changing the format of the game in order to make things a little more competitive between the two teams, but it didn't end up happening.

And that's probably a good thing in my opinion.

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 [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.