THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: A lot to like in that Lakeside lineup

You can count on a lot of things at a state basketball tournament.

Not everyone is going to agree with the calls on the floor.

At some point, somebody is going to get upset.

And maybe someone makes a bit of a name for themselves.

ANOTHER THING you can usually count on is that the folks from Lakeside High in Plummer are going to travel to see their team play, whenever and wherever it might be.

And why not?

The Knights have something special brewing.

Earlier this year, both Kyleigh Wolfe and Tyson Charley – both juniors – eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring mark.

“It’s super special to me,” said Wolfe, the daughter of the late Tim Wolfe, the former Lakeside High star. “We’re the only ones, and I’m the only girl in our school to do it. For Tyson to do it as a junior, it’s super cool too.”

Kyleigh was just 1 year old when Tim was shot and killed outside Mic-and-Mac’s Bar in Coeur d'Alene on May 9, 2009. Tim, who played basketball at Salish Kootenai College in Pueblo, Mont., was only 21.

“I really don’t have a memory of him,” Kyleigh Wolfe said. “I have people that come up to me after every game and ask if I’m related to Tim and go up to my family members and ask if I’m related to him.”

Like her dad, Kyleigh is relentless on the basketball court, both offensively and defensively.

“I just play with him in my heart,” Kyleigh Wolfe said. “That’s all I can really do. Having my family, that’s the best it’s going to get for me.”

Wolfe scored a season-high 39 points against Bonners Ferry on Jan. 30, a 78-75 loss to the Badgers. She scored 38 points against Wallace in the 2A District 1 title game to move over 1,000 points.

“That game against Bonners Ferry was probably the best game I’ve played in a long time,” Kyleigh Wolfe said. “They’re a big school, so to almost score 40 was really big for me. Playing teams like Bonners Ferry and Timberlake is more of a challenge. When we play a lot of the teams in our league, it’s not as much of a challenge. But when we play those bigger schools, it’s really tough.”

On Thursday, Lakeside lost in the opening round of the state 2A tournament to Valley of Hazelton, which beat Lakeside in a state 1A Division I play-in game last year. 

“It’s definitely a learning experience,” Wolfe said. “We’ve got to come out a lot stronger next year and be more prepared for the level of play at state next year every game we play.”

Freshman Laila Charley, Tyson’s sister, added that watching both her brother and Kyleigh achieve 1,000 career points gave her something to aim for.

“I’m going to try to beat him by my junior year,” Laila Charley said. “I don’t know how many points I need, but it’s something I’m going to strive for.”

AFTER NORTH Idaho College’s decision was made starting with the 2016-17 season to move from the NJCAA to the regional-friendly Northwest Athletic Conference, current Borah girls basketball coach Ebony Norman opted to move on from the program.

“It was all right,” said Norman, who spent the 2015-16 on the Cardinal roster as a freshman before transferring to Salt Lake Community College following the season. “When they were going through that, I transferred as soon as I could. We had a decent year, but I was on a full-ride scholarship and wasn’t going to stay where I wasn’t going to get my money's worth.”

On Thursday, Norman’s Lions took on Coeur d’Alene, whose assistant coach, Nina Carlson, is the daughter of Chris and Carey Carlson, the former NIC women's coaches who recruited Norman to Coeur d’Alene.

“I really liked Chris and Carey and it was good to see Nina,” Norman said. “I wish her parents the best of luck.”

NIC is in its second year back in the NJCAA’s Scenic West Athletic Conference, and first in all sports this school year.

“When I left, I have better memories of Salt Lake,” Norman said. “So I’ve got better memories of that conference there.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1206, or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on ‘X,’ formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.