Lumberjack girls' long wait is over

It didn’t happen right away for the St. Maries High girls basketball team.

But coach Jay Sines could sense it coming.

And while the Lumberjacks are happy to be there, they don’t want to settle for just showing up.

SINES, IN his seventh season as St. Maries coach, helped the Lumberjacks win a district title, something that hadn’t been done since 1990.

After its last state appearance in 2002, St. Maries’ highest finish in the 3A Intermountain League was third out of five teams in 2007-08. Sines took over the program in 2010-11. St. Maries dropped to the 2A classification in 2012.

“When I first started coaching, I think we only had 14 players between the JV and varsity team,” Sines said. “Our numbers have grown a little bit. Last year, we had 32 turn out and this year, we’ve got 24, so our numbers and quality of players have grown as well. Being a little more consistent as a program has also helped with our numbers.”

Sines, who works at the Potlatch Corp. sawmill, coached some of his current players in youth basketball in the St. Maries area.

“I’ve known most of them, especially in the junior class since they were really small,” said Sines, whose daughter, Paige, is a junior guard. “I saw the talent we had at the start of the season in the senior, junior and sophomore class, and thought we had a good chance to get to state. I thought they had a shot last year, and the last two years. We broke the ice this year.”

St. Maries’ biggest obstacle was Grangeville, which beat them twice in last year’s District 1-2 tournament. The Lumberjacks then fell to Marsing in a state play-in game. This year, it was St. Maries’ that claimed the district title, and Grangeville fell in a play-in game on Saturday.

“We got a game from them (Grangeville) last year and played them tough,” Sines said. “We just didn’t play very well at districts and didn’t get the job done.”

This year, St. Maries beat Grangeville by at least 10 points in each game, winning 61-42 to advance to the state 2A tournament starting Thursday at Bishop Kelly High in Boise.

“The girls are getting more confident as the year goes on,” Sines said. “The seniors, they know it’s going to be their last couple of games of basketball. We have a few that would like to go on and play at the next level. It’s time for them.”

BUT AS far as lacking state experience, most have been to state in one sport or another.

“Whether it’s volleyball, softball, track and field or golf, most of them have been to state,” Sines said. “So we do have the experience, just not in basketball.”

Last fall, St. Maries’ finished third in the state 2A volleyball tournament at Idaho Falls High.

“Most of our girls play three different sports,” Sines said. “We don’t do a lot of summer work because you still want them to be kids and not feel like they’re getting pulled in three different directions.”

After a few years of trying to climb the mountain, it appears the Lumberjacks have found their way to the top.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.