THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, June 9, 2016
Like a tee shot late in the round, a memory tends to fade over time.
At the risk of missing a few things, here’s some memories of the 2015-16 local sports season:
VAN TROXEL, who built the Lake City High football program from scratch, starting in 1994 when he slept in a cot in a shed at Person Field, coaching the last of his 22 seasons as Timberwolves head man. … Coeur d’Alene High’s volleyball team, which lost its top player to injury early in the season, bringing home a fourth-place trophy from the state 5A volleyball tournament. The Vikings, runners-up the year before and with everyone back, had state title hopes last fall, but that’s the way sports goes sometimes. … Coeur d’Alene’s football team losing at home to Madison of Rexburg in the quarterfinals of the state 5A playoffs. Funny how that stands out with a program that made the state playoffs seven straight years, and played in four state title games in a row (winning three). Shows how high the bar has been set of late for one of the top programs in the state.
POST FALLS, for the second straight year, capping a dominating season with a state wrestling title. Though some “studs” (their words) are graduating, others remain, so this run could continue for a while … Timberlake’s girls causing another turnover, leading to an easy basket … No District 1 boys basketball teams making it to the Idaho Center, the first time that’s happened in years. … Genesis Prep’s boys making it to state in their first season as an Idaho High School Activities Association-sanctioned program, and brought home a third-place trophy in 1A Division II — then celebrated in prayer with their fans who made the trek to Caldwell … Another tournament, another title for the Post Falls wrestling team … Another wave of players coming in off the bench for Timberlake’s girls, ready to create full-court havoc … Post Falls vs. Coeur d’Alene in boys basketball has been a pretty good rivalry in recent years, and this season was no exception.
The capper — Max McCullough scoring 36 points as Post Falls, the defending state champion, won at Coeur d’Alene in a loser-out game in the 5A Region 1 tournament. One week earlier, Bryce Bronson hit a tiebreaking basket in the closing seconds as Coeur d’Alene beat Post Falls. Couple nights of great theatre at Elmer Jordan Court … Timberlake’s relentless pressure finally resulting in a state 3A girls basketball championship … Dale Poffenroth, who turned the Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team into a state power for a decade, stepping down at the end of the season … Fans lining the walls at each end of Rolly Williams Court for the final few games of the regular season, getting a glimpse of history as the North Idaho College men’s basketball team posted the best regular season (30-0) in school history. But alas, in another example of ‘that’s the way sports goes,’ the Cardinals’ dream of a title in their first trip to nationals since 1997, in their last year in the NJCAA, ended on a buzzer beater in their first game at nationals.
LAKE CITY’s baseball team dogpiling on the infield at Memorial Stadium in Boise, after winning the program’s first state title since 2007, and second in school history … Rain creating somewhat of a mockery of the state softball (and some baseball) tournaments, with double-elimination tourneys becoming single-elimination, and losers bracket games being cancelled altogether. Lake City softball lost once on the first day, then was denied the chance to work its way back through the losers bracket, when that half of the bracket was eventually cancelled. Lakeland’s baseball team lost its state opener in 4A, then suffered the same fate when the losers bracket in its tourney was cancelled the next day as well. Coeur d’Alene got one, but not two, shots at mighty Eagle in softball. It took the second day of the tournament to be moved from Idaho Falls to Blackfoot, then to Meridian the next morning, to determine a champion in a modified single-elimination affair between the four winners bracket teams. And it took eight innings (and the international tiebreaker rule, which put a runner at second base to start the inning) for Eagle to beat Coeur d’Alene in the semifinals. Eagle then beat Rocky Mountain in the title game, and Coeur d’Alene beat Boise for third place. But what would have happened if Coeur d’Alene had been allowed to work its way back for a second shot at the Mustangs? We’ll never know. … Post Falls’ boys and girls golf teams winning tournament after tournament … did I see Timberlake’s girls just cause another turnover? Wait, that was in the winter.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.