Postseason heats up in prep girls basketball

The 4A Region 1 and 3A District 1 girls basketball tournaments begin tonight at North Idaho College.

In 4A, No. 3 seed Lakeland faces No. 2 Moscow in a loser-out game at 8. The winner plays No. 1 Sandpoint on Wednesday at 8 at NIC for the regional title and a berth at state Feb. 18-20 at Timberline High in Boise. The second-place team moves on to a state play-in game Saturday at Grangeville.

In 3A, No. 2 seed Priest River faces No. 3 Bonners Ferry at 4:30, followed by No. 1 Timberlake vs. No. 4 Kellogg at 6:15.

Tonight’s winners play Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. at NIC for the district title and a berth at state Feb. 18-20 at Middleton High. Tonight’s losers play Wednesday at 4:30 in a loser-out game. The two remaining teams play Thursday for second place, and a berth in a state play-in game Saturday at Highland High in Craigmont.

Also tonight, St. Maries faces Grangeville at 7:30 at Genesee High in the semifinals of the 2A District 1-2 girls basketball tournament. The winner advances to Thursday’s championship game at Genesee. Tonight at 6, Coeur d’Alene Charter and Orofino meet in a loser-out game, with the winner advancing to another loser-out game Wednesday. Only the district champ advances to state, set for Feb. 18-20 at Kuna High.

On Tuesday, the 5A Region 1 girls champion will be decided, when Lake City plays host to Post Falls at 7. The winner advances to state Feb. 18-20 at the Ford Idaho Center.

Coeur d’Alene travels to Lewiston on Tuesday at 7 in a loser-out game. The two remaining teams meet Thursday for second place and a berth in a state play-in game Saturday at Grangeville.

Also Tuesday, the 1A Division II District 1 tournament begins, with No. 5 seed Kootenai at No. 4 Mullan at 6 in a loser-out game.

The tourney resumes Thursday at Kellogg High, with top-seeded Lakeside playing the Kootenai-Mullan winner at 6, and No. 2 seed Genesis Prep facing No. 3 Clark Fork at 7:30.

Those winners square off Friday at 6 at Kellogg for the district title and a berth to state Feb. 18-20 at Nampa High.

In boys basketball, only one game remains in the 5A Inland Empire League, but it’s a biggie — league-leading Post Falls at third-place Lewiston on Friday. Post Falls can wrap up the league title with a victory; Lewiston can create a three-way tie for the league title with a win.

North Idaho College’s men’s and women’s basketball teams hit the road for the final time as members of the Scenic West Athletic Conference this week, visiting Colorado Northwestern on Thursday and Utah State-Eastern on Saturday.

NIC’s wrestling team travels to Des Moines, Wash., for the West District tournament on Saturday, looking to qualify all 10 wrestlers for the NJCAA tournament in two weeks in Council Bluffs, Iowa.