STATE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: Lakeside looks to stay competitive in return to state tourney

By JASON ELLIOTT 

Sports writer 

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With only one senior on its roster this season, you won’t find Lakeside looking forward to next year. 

But with nearly everyone back next year, the Knights are going to be playing with no expectations according to Chris Dohrman, in his 12th season as girls coach. 

“We’re a young team with one senior,” said Dohrman, who is also the mayor of Plummer. “It will be a good learning experience for us.” 

Led by junior Kyleigh Wolfe, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark with 38 points in the Knights’ district championship win over Wallace on Feb. 11 at North Idaho College, sixth-seeded Lakeside (13-7) opens at state against third-seed Valley (19-5) High of Hazelton, the District 4 runner-up, today at 11 a.m. PST at Columbia High in Nampa.

“I think we’ll need to stay out of foul trouble to make sure we’re competitive,” Dohrman said. “Hopefully we’ll play well on defense because most of the other teams have some size on us. Anyone at state, they’re a good team. Right now, we really don’t have anything to lose, so we’ll go down and see where we come out.”

Valley, like Lakeside, likes to play fast, averaging 61 points per game. 

“We’re going to go down and see what we can do,” Dohrman said. “Next year, there’s no guarantee that we won’t have to go through a play-in game. We’re going to take this chance and do the best we can with it.” 

Lakeside is at state for the sixth time in 10 seasons.

Grace, winners of the 1A Division I title in 2024, did not qualify for state this season ... Fifth-seeded Lapwai (20-4), which beat Lakeside 69-34 on Jan. 11, opens with fourth-seeded Butte County (17-7). 

Top-seeded Oakley (21-1) opens with Wilder (18-3), which is making its first trip to state since the inaugural tournament in 1976. 

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Fifth-seeded Coeur d’Alene (16-7), winner of the last two state titles, opens against fourth-seeded Borah (19-5) of Boise tonight at 7 PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. The Lions are allowing 38.2 points per game and are coached by Ebony Norman, who played at North Idaho College during the 2015-16 season. The top three seeds — Owyhee (No. 1), Boise (No. 2) and Eagle (No. 3) — each beat the Vikings earlier this season.  

Coeur d’Alene enters state on a 10-game win streak. The Vikings claimed their 11th state title in program history with a 57-49 win over Lake City in the championship game last year.

Boise, which has lost to Coeur d’Alene in the semifinals the past two years, opens against Rigby seeking its first title since 2005. 

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Sandpoint is back after state after winning the state 4A title in 2023 ... The Bulldogs, who swept Lakeland in the District 1-2 best-of-3 championship series, have qualified for state in eight of the past 10 seasons.  

Shelley, last year’s champion, failed to qualify for state. 

Middleton (23-1), which fell to Lake City in the opening round of the then-5A tournament, will face the Bulldogs in the opener today at Mountain View High. The Vikings are on a 19-game win streak — their only loss was to Owyhee — and seeking the program’s first title since 2017. 

Sandpoint has won seven straight games. 

Columbia commit Shay Shippen is averaging 24.2 points per game for Skyline High of Idaho Falls, which is the fifth seed after advancing to last year’s title game.  

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Neither Snake River, last year’s champion, nor runner-up Teton qualified for state this year, but top-seeded Sugar-Salem (23-0) is back after missing the 2024 tournament. 

With wins today, Sugar-Salem and Timberlake will meet in Friday’s semifinal round at Middleton High. 

The teams last met at state in the 2021 title game, with Timberlake winning 65-49. In 2020, Timberlake outlasted Sugar-Salem in double overtime 45-40 in the first round, also at Middleton. 

Timberlake coach Matt Miller, in his 20th season as coach, has led the Tigers to championships in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. The Tigers have also been runner-up in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2023. 

Kimberly (16-7), which opens against Timberlake, is the District 4 champion. The Bulldogs won their lone state title in 1984. 

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District 1-2 champion Grangeville (17-6), seeded fourth, opens at state today against fifth-seeded Ririe (15-9), the District 6 champions. 

The Bulldogs are at state for the seventh straight year and beat Ririe 55-45 on Nov. 23.  

Last year’s champion, Bear Lake, moved up to 4A in this year’s classification cycle and is seeded second in that tournament. 

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Kendrick, last year’s 1A Division II champion, failed to qualify for state. 

Genesee (20-1) is this year’s top seed and will face eighth-seeded Nezperce (11-10), which advanced via a 55-17 win over Kootenai in a play-in game last Saturday at Post Falls High.