THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, March 10, 2016
OK, so the winter high school sports season ended with somewhat of a thud.
Only a handful of area teams qualified for the state basketball tournaments, and just one brought home a trophy.
That would be the new kids on the block, the Genesis Prep Academy Jaguars of Post Falls, who finished third at the state 1A Division II tournament in their first year as an Idaho High School Activities Association-sanctioned program.
One of the Genesis Prep’s key players was an actual kid on the block — senior post Caleb Symons — who will be big shoes to fill if the Jaguars hope to make these March trips south a habit.
Other than that, St. Maries lost in the state 2A third-place game after getting blown out by eventual champion Firth in the semifinals, and Lakeland (4A) and Kellogg (3A) each went two and out. Lewiston, the lone 5A rep from Region 1, went 1-2 and finished sixth.
Post Falls’ boys not making it back to state after seven straight trips denied the rest of the state one final chance to watch entertaining guard Max McCullough. The Player of the Year in the 5A Inland Empire League, McCullough showed he could score and distribute this season — and do both efficiently. He was a big reason the Trojans won the state 5A title last season.
You hope an area team looks past the height (5-11) and gives him a chance to play in college — kinda like another, former, Post Falls standout guard who was ONLY 5-11, Marcus Colbert, who just wrapped up a nice career at Montana State.
Colbert averaged 16.9 points and 5.1 assists this season for the Bobcats, and was a second-team All-Big Sky Conference selection. For his career in Bozeman, Colbert scored 1,372 points, 11th all-time at Montana State, and his 453 career assists rank second in school history.
ONE WEEK earlier, the Post Falls High wrestling team made its second straight victory parade/caravan through the streets of Post Falls, after romping to its second straight state 5A title in Pocatello.
Given the youth, talent and depth in the Trojans’ program, this could go on for a while.
Kudos to Post Falls 145-pounder Alius De La Rosa, who became the first four-time state champion in Trojans history — and only the seventh four-time champ all time in 5A.
Two Post Falls wrestlers have won three straight state titles — James Ost (2010-12) and Al Mack (1996-98).
Starting with Coeur d’Alene’s back-to-back titles in 2010 and ‘11, North Idaho has now won five of the last seven state 5A team titles.
And, up Highway 41 a few miles, a young Lakeland team came home following a second-place finish at state in 4A. The Hawks figure to contend next year for a state title — Lakeland last won state in 1988 and ‘89, under coach Jim Whiteman.
WHAT A treat it was to watch wave after wave of Timberlake girls basketball players apply full-court pressure — unless, of course, you were the one trying to bring the ball upcourt against said pressure.
How nice it was to see the Tigers, after four runner-up finishes at state in the previous five seasons, break on through and romp to the state 3A title this season. And with nearly everybody back, Timberlake will be favored to repeat next season.
It would be neat if one of the local 5A teams — perhaps Lake City, which finished fourth at state in 5A, and figures to contend for a state title next year — found room on their schedule for a matchup with Timberlake. The Tigers’ lone loss was a two-pointer at 5A Lewiston in the season opener. Other than that, two of Timberlake’s most competitive games were with Lapwai, which went on to win the state 1A Division I title.
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.