Necessary split in the North Star

The North Star League has been kind of a funky deal in recent years.

All of the schools but one — Wallace — have been 1A Division II schools.

But since Wallace was once in the same division as all the other 1A teams in the area, and since the other Division I schools in North Idaho are way down in District 2, the Miners didn’t want to play in that league because of all the travel.

So the North Star League kept Wallace as a league member, and when the postseason rolled around, the Miners playoff off against the District 2 schools in a Division I district tourney, and the other schools would square off in a Division II district tourney.

Kinda different, but at least this way, Wallace could play for a league title, and its athletes could earn all-league recognition.

NEXT YEAR, however, thanks to reclassification, three schools in District 1 will be Division I schools, and the other three will be in Division II.

Lakeside and Genesis Prep are moving up to 1A Division I for the next two-year cycle beginning in fall 2020, joining Wallace.

That leaves Kootenai, Mullan and Clark Fork as the only 1A Division II schools in District 1.

The league met, and rather than have one big ol’ North Star League with six teams — three in one division, three in another — Lakeside, Wallace and Genesis Prep opted to leave the league and form their own league.

“The league decided it might just be easier to have two separate leagues,” Genesis Prep AD Conrad Underdahl said. “I am sure most of the schools will still schedule and play each other, they just will not be league games. We have not heard what the state representation will be but our hope is that each of us (1A Division II and 1A Division I) will each get one berth to state.”

Name of league: TBA.

“First, we kept looking at the representation at state and honestly we were worried about it,” Lakeside athletic director Jerel Hight said. “The state generally has a policy that 33% of a district gets represented at state. With three teams, that should all but guarantee that. The problem is, in the past we have had that assumption and ended up with a half-berth. So creating a new league in our own division would help pass the ‘eye-test’ at the state level for automatic inclusion in state tournaments. We don’t think the IHSAA would ever deny a district with at least three teams, but to be on a level playing field with the rest of the state, creating a new league would help that transition go smoother.”

One year, there were five teams in the North Star League, but because some were Division I and some were Division II teams, both district champs had to go through play-in games. Both lost, meaning no North Star teams advanced to state.

Plus, the three Division II schools in the North Star decided they didn’t want to play Genesis Prep this year. If that continued in future years, Lakeside and Wallace would have had to figure out where to fit Genesis Prep into their district tournament — this year, Genesis Prep is an automatic No. 3 seed to districts in volleyball and basketball.

Now they can just play it off, as Lakeside and Wallace continued to schedule Genesis Prep this year.

This move only affects volleyball and basketball. In the other sports, there is no D-I/D-II split, or all 1A schools compete with the 2A schools.

Football is still to be decided, at least in 1A Division I. Genesis Prep does not play football, leaving just Lakeside and Wallace to vie for playoff spots.

Hight said 1A Division I voted to go to a 12-team playoff next year (it was eight teams this year), but what that means for Lakeside and/or Wallace is still to be determined.

EITHER WAY ...

“It’s going to be a change, for sure,” Hight said. “We’ve been a part of the North Star League for at least two decades and Mullan, Kootenai, and Clark Fork have been amazing partners to work with. We will still work together when it comes to scheduling and other aspects — for example, we are talking about sharing district tournament sites and nights to maximize attendance. But this new league will hopefully allow us, Wallace, and Genesis Prep to build a new tradition in North Idaho. It’s going to take a lot of work, but in the end, we hope to have a league that will be a welcome addition to the North Idaho athletic landscape.”

Now if the league only had a name.

The schools are taking suggestions.

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.