THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Two old Vikings in the old gym one more time

As coaches still do sometimes — even during a global pandemic — Jim Winger of Lake City and Jon Adams of Coeur d'Alene met near midcourt before their boys basketball game at Coeur d'Alene High's Jordan Court recently and shot the breeze.

Except this time, it had a little more of a sentimental feeling.

"We had that moment before the game where we were standing there and I said, the last time we were here I was in a jersey, and he was coaching. It was kind of surreal and nostalgic to be back in the old gym."

The rescheduled game was played in the "old gym" because the "new gym," Viking Court, was being used for a wrestling tournament.

Adams and Winger, both Viking alums, played in the "old gym," Winger graduating from Coeur d'Alene High in 1984, Adams in 1991.

After graduating from Gonzaga, Winger returned to Coeur d'Alene High as an assistant coach, then was head coach at his alma mater for two seasons before starting the program at Lake City High in fall 1994.

"Brings back a lot of good memories," Winger said after Lake City defeated Coeur d'Alene 54-37. "It was good to be back in there; I’ve spent a little time in there."

WINGER WAS a Viking assistant when Adams played on the varsity for legendary coach Don Haynes.

"I was the sophomore coach back then — back then, Donnie put more emphasis on sophomores," Winger recalled. "I was on the bench when Jon Jon played. He was a super kid, top notch, just good kid, good player. Good family."

After graduation, Adams left the area for nearly three decades, returning this year to take over a Viking program that hasn't been to state since 2012.

"Jimmy’s a competitor; he’s tough; his teams are always going to play hard," Adams said after the game. "He’s going to get the best out of his guys.

"And he’s still doing it; I tried to convince him to retire," Adams said with a laugh.

These days, the Vikings practice on Viking Court — or the "other gym," as Adams called it. Though, when they learned their rescheduled game would be played in the "old gym," the Viks practiced three days on Jordan Court.

Still, "it was almost a neutral court," he said.

However, that didn't keep some memories from coming back — especially since the game was one of the first since Gov. Brad Little relaxed restrictions on attendance at high school sporting events, allowing up to 40% of gym capacity.

So it almost looked like a normal game — though the upstairs bleachers have since been removed from when the Vikings played regularly in Jordan Court — replaced by classrooms sometimes also used as team rooms.

"I thought it was going to be an incredible atmosphere," Adams said afterward. "You’ve got the fans back, you’ve got people here that I went to high school with. I’m coaching against Jimmy Winger when we were both here. From a nostalgia standpoint it was really cool. It was good to see all the spirit from the fans, and both teams, that was a real fun part of it … I just wished we could have played better."

NO ONE benefited more from the midseason, COVID-induced, demise of the Inland Empire League in boys basketball this season than the Lewiston Bengals.

When league administrators opted to revert to separate 5A IEL and 4A IEL leagues, because Moscow was no longer unable to play the other six league teams twice each due to COVID issues within the Bears' programs, that meant games against 4A teams suddenly became nonleague games for 5A schools — and vice versa.

So Lewiston's IEL losses to 4A schools Moscow and Sandpoint suddenly came off the books, as far as qualifying for the regional tournament goes (if everybody plays each other twice, all league games between the seven IEL teams — the four 5A schools, and three 4A schools — would count toward seeding for their respective 5A and 4A regional tournaments).

Now that only the 5A vs. 5A games count toward seeding to the 5A Region 1 tournament, Lewiston (9-5, 3-2 5A IEL) is suddenly tied with Lake City (12-6, 3-2) and Post Falls (11-5, 3-2) for first place.

Lake City, Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene did not lose a league game to a 4A school — when they were league games.

And if the Bengals win at Post Falls on Friday (and Coeur d'Alene wins at Lake City that same night), Lewiston would be the top seed to the regional tournament which begin next Friday, and would play at home throughout regionals.

That's a huge advantage, even in a new gym.

If Lake City wins Friday, the Timberwolves would be the top seed to regionals, no matter who wins the Lewiston-Post Falls game. That's because Lake City has the tiebreaker over both of those teams via point differential in their head-to-head meetings, after splitting with both of them during league play.

No matter what happens Friday, Coeur d'Alene will be the No. 4 seed, but figure to be a tough out regardless — especially after beating Post Falls last Saturday for the first time in five seasons.

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.