THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, January 28, 2016

Last March, after their third-place finish at the state 2A high school boys basketball tournament in Boise, the St. Maries Lumberjacks made a brief stop in Nampa on the way home.

“Our principal gave us the green light to go and watch the state championships,” Lumberjacks coach Bryan Chase said. “And I think when the kids saw the atmosphere and crowd there (at the Ford Idaho Center) they got really excited. I heard a couple of comments as we sat down that we are playing in here next year.”

This year’s potential bus ride to the Idaho Center is a little more than a month away, but at least so far, St. Maries is headed in the right direction. The Lumberjacks, despite several key losses from last year’s team to graduation, are off to a 15-1 start, lead the Central Idaho League at 4-0, and are ranked No. 1 in the state 2A media poll. St. Maries has won 12 straight games since its lone loss, to a 5A Coeur d’Alene High squad that was recently ranked in the state media poll.

“This group of boys seem hungry for some state trophies,” Chase said. “They have been knocking on the door in football and baseball. Last year’s third-place trophy was extremely exciting.”

ST. MARIES lost six seniors off last year’s 18-5 squad, four of which have gone on to play in college — Matt Smith (baseball in Puerto Rico), AJ Becktel (basketball at NCAA Division III Greenville College in Greenville, Ill.), David Burnett (golf at Division III York College in Pennsylvania) and Logan Feasline (track and field at Air Force Academy).

But Chase knew he had a core of six returning players that played significant roles last year.

“I knew we would be competitive and have a good year,” he said. “I wouldn’t have bet that we would be (15-1) and No. 1 in the state at this point. The team has really jelled and played well together. They are quicker than last year’s team and a couple of our post players have really given us the depth that we needed to play at a fast pace and match up with other teams’ bigs.”

Chase said his point guards who alternated playing time last year — juniors Dakota Wilson and Jake Sieler — are excelling at both ends of the floor this year as starters.

“Dakota Wilson has been pretty consistent with 5 assists and 5 steals a game, Jake Sieler is consistently scoring and making steals at crucial points in the game,” said Chase, in his second season as Lumberjack boys coach. “Kiefer Gibson (a junior post) has been our workhorse by leading the team in rebounds, points, and the intangibles that don’t show up — diving for a loose ball, taking a charge and sprinting back on defense. Bryant Asbury (a junior post) has played well since the new year and has sparked us with his defensive hustle and has been an offensive threat.”

Key newcomers have been junior post Brady Martin (St. Maries’ starting post on the junior varsity team last year) and junior post Nate Masterson (who played for Chase as an eighth- and ninth-grader before winning a state championship in wrestling last year).

WHATEVER HAPPENS the rest of this season, the Lumberjacks are relatively young — the squad consists of eight juniors, a freshman and three seniors.

Chase said the Lumberjacks are using their No. 1 ranking as motivation — and are also drawing from the St. Maries girls also being ranked in the media poll.

There’s a little less margin for error this year for the St. Maries boys. Only one team from the 2A District 1-2 tournament in late February in Troy advances to the state tournament March 3-5 at Capital High in Boise — last year, St. Maries won the district title, and Grangeville got in through the play-in route. This year, only the district champion advances.

In two meetings this season, St. Maries defeated Grangeville, in second place in the CIL, by 10 points on the road, and by 15 at home.

“We know that if we don’t play hard every night that any team can beat us,” Chase said. “We know that we are going to get teams’ best shot at us night in and night out. Beating Gar/Pal (St. Maries beat Garfield/Palouse 49-47 at home Jan. 12), who has the leading scorer in Washington and is a great team, really helped getting us to a new level. Our defensive pressure and ability to shut down a team’s leading scorer with Dakota Wilson has paid big dividends. Dakota is a lockdown defender.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.