THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Hot starts, and where they lead

Streaking.

No, not that kind of streaking.

Much too cold for that anyway.

We're talking about the winning ways of our local 5A high school girls basketball teams this season.

Coeur d'Alene, Lake City and Post Falls are a combined 23-1 so far.

Fumbling back through old schedules dating back to the 1994-95 season — Lake City's first year as a school — that's the best combined start ever for those three teams.

Coeur d'Alene is 7-0, Lake City 10-0, Post Falls 6-1 — and the Trojans were unbeaten until losing to Mead in their last outing.

So what does this all mean?

Only twice did any of those teams finish undefeated — Coeur d'Alene went 25-0 in the 2008-09 and 1993-94 seasons, the latter the final season before Lake City opened.

Other years, teams took an early loss or two or three — usually stepping up to play out-of-area competition, like Lake City and Post Falls are doing the next few days at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas — and still went on to win a state title.

Either way, it's interesting to look back at the numbers.

COEUR d'ALENE started 8-0 last season and 9-0 in 2019-20 — and ended up at state both seasons, reaching the third-place game last year.

In 2013-14, the Vikings' last state title season, they started 7-0 and 9-1, and finished with 14 straight wins.

In 2009-10, the year Coeur d'Alene three-peated, the Vikings started 12-0. The Viks were perfect the season before. In 2007 and 2008, Coeur d'Alene started 10-0 each season. In ’07, Cd'A lost to Lake City in the state title game.

In 1999-2000, Coeur d'Alene lost its second game of the season (by one point, to Capital of Boise), then rattled off 24 straight wins en route to the title.

LAKE CITY, with several players from Coeur d'Alene's state title team the year before, started 10-0 in 1994-95 before losing, then won 14 straight en route to the state title.

In 1997-98 the Timberwolves took a 23-0 record into state, lost in the first round to Centennial before winning the consolation title.

In 2002-03, Lake City started 15-0 before losing to Sandpoint. The T-Wolves wound up second at state.

POST FALLS got off to a 10-0 start in 2016-17 — its best start over the last nearly three decades — and eventually finished third at state.

The following year, the Trojans started 7-0, and eventually won its final 16 games to finish 24-2 and state champs.

In Post Falls' previous state title season, the Trojans won their first 15 games before losing to Coeur d'Alene. Post Falls didn't lose again, beating the Vikings in the state title game to wind up 23-1.

In the Trojans' other two state titles seasons during this span, Post Falls started 8-0 in 2001-02, and won its last 11 to finish 23-2.

The next season, the Trojans were a pedestrian 5-3 before winning their final 17 games to finish 22-3.

BOYS TEAMS from Lake City, Post Falls and St. Maries will match up with teams from elsewhere in the state this weekend at the Owyhee Holiday Invitational in Meridian.

Lake City and Post Falls are two of the three 5A schools in the Large School division (the other five teams are 4A), and St. Maries is in the Small- and Middle-sized school division.

Lake City (3-0) opens vs. 4A Burley (1-4) tonight at 5:30 PST at Owyhee High. Post Falls (2-2) opens with 4A Minico (3-1) at 4 p.m.

Timberline (3-2) of Boise is the only other 5A school in the field, which also includes Blackfoot (3-1), Pocatello (4-0) and Emmett (1-4).

Lake City, runners-up to Meridian at state last year, is the only team in the field that played at state last year.

St. Maries, the defending 2A state champions, opens vs. 2A Malad (0-3) today at 4 p.m. PST.

The field also includes McCall-Donnelly (3-0), second at state in 3A last year, and 3A Homedale (3-2).

Homedale opens vs. Ambrose (5-0), which lost by one point to St. Maries in the title game last year.

Also in the field are 2A West Side (2-2), which went two and out at state last year, 2A Aberdeen (2-3) and 1A Division II Castleford (4-2).

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.