THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Landmarks, and a detour on the way

You hit a lot of landmarks on the way to a state tournament.

Whether it’s a passing glance, or something you savor each moment, it’s still best to keep your eyes on the road ahead.

JUST BEFORE halftime in Thursday’s state 5A opener, Lake City senior Avery Waddington went over the 1,000-point mark in career scoring.

Waddington entered the tournament needing 10 points. She had 12 in the first half and 20 for the game to move to 1,010 for her four-year varsity career.

When teammate Sophia Zufelt went over 1,000 in the Fight for the Fish game on Jan. 12, Waddington was in the low 800s according to first-year Lake City coach David Pratt.

“I didn’t even realize it until two games ago,” said Waddington, the 6-foot-3 guard. “I had a lot of points to score to get here. It’s a really cool achievement, but I pass the ball so much that I wasn’t expecting to do it. But I did it.”

Pratt congratulated Waddington as the team walked back to the court from the tunnel at the Ford Idaho Center, but Waddington was on to other important things by then. 

“He told me literally in the third quarter, so I said ‘Oh, cool. Let’s finish this game and then celebrate,” Waddington said. “I could have cared less about that moment.”

Waddington had a career-high 33 points for the Timberwolves in a 87-29 win over Post Falls on senior night Jan. 30.

“It’s been really fun to watch her in the last few weeks,” Pratt said. “I told her congratulations as we were walking back out of halftime, and she was like, ‘I just want to win.’ And that’s her thing, she just wants to win. She’s not concerned about the 1,000 points. All these kids want to win. In fact, they don’t want to hear about it.”

The mark was kept so quiet, not even Waddington’s teammates knew.

“She really didn’t talk about it at all,” Zufelt said. “Her parents knew, but Avery didn’t share that with us at all. On the bench, (Lake City assistant coach) Whitney (Teuteu, nee Meier, the former T-Wolf) just went, ‘she just scored 1,000 points. It was just so casual that nobody really knew what was going on until it happened.”

AT SOME point, Timberlake coach Matt Miller might lay claim that his favorite gym to play in could have very well been the one at Middleton High.

And why not?

Timberlake has been really good in those friendly confines.

In 2012, Timberlake advanced to a second straight title game with a double overtime win over Snake River. 

In 2016, when the Tigers won a first state title in program history, they beat Homedale by 40 points in the first round. The following year, Timberlake posted a 67-16 win over Teton, beat Parma 79-24, then saved its best for last, beating Sugar-Salem 60-57 at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on a 3-pointer by Allison Kirby to win the program’s second straight title.

“We’ve had some really good moments in this gym, for a lot of years now,” said Miller after Thursday’s 36-30 win over Filer in the opening round. “Tonight was one, where we might have had some Middleton magic, or whatever it was.”

In 2020, Timberlake had a little more double-OT magic, beating Sugar-Salem 45-40 in an opening round game thanks to a 3-pointer by Taylor Suko to force extra time in regulation. 

In 2021, back at Middleton, Timberlake went unbeaten en route to capturing a fourth state title after beating Sugar-Salem 65-49 in the title game.

Sure, all those title dreams eventually lead to the Idaho Center.

But the Tigers of Spirit Lake sure haven’t minded the brief detour on the way.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.