THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: A new format, just like the old days

It was a different vibe last Saturday afternoon in the Lake City High gym, as Lake City and Post Falls played in Game 1 of a best-of-3 series for the 6A District 1 boys basketball title. 

Usually, Saturday afternoon games (this one tipped off at 1 p.m.) are played before friends and family. But, because of the importance of this one, there was a pretty good crowd – enough to pull out the upstairs bleachers on one side. 

And it wasn’t a winner-to-state game, like this one usually is. As Lake City closed out the 12-point victory, the Timberwolves’ feeling was, we’re in good shape, but the job’s not done yet. And the Trojans figured well, we have a chance to regroup at home in a couple days, and we’ll see what happens in the decisive Game 3. 

As it turned out, Lake City scratched out a three-point victory on Tuesday at Post Falls, so we’ll never know what the tension would have been like for a Game 3 tonight. 

Also, the loser was guaranteed a berth in a state play-in game on Saturday, so the series wasn’t as do-or-die as it could have been. 

STILL, IT was different. 

“I like it; it’s a little bit of a challenge,” second-year Lake City boys coach James Anderson said. “You look at their coaching staff, they have so many guys with a lot of experience; I’m sure they’re going to give us different looks (in future games of the series), and we’re going to try to do the same. And it just makes it super interesting to prep for, and it takes away the feel of previous postseasons ... it’s a little bit more like a war. It’s kinda fun to be in it for the first time.” 

On the other sideline, Mike McLean is wrapping up his 17th and final season as coach of the Post Falls boys. 

“I don’t know, I’ve never done it before,” McLean said after Saturday’s game. “We’ve never had a best-of-3. I like it; I think Lake City’s a pretty special team. I think we play hard, I think it’s great for our community. I think that’s a pretty high-level game, and if you were here tonight watching, you saw some tough shots on both sides, and some real athleticism ... I think it’s good for the community. But I don’t know if I like it yet or not; I’ve never done it.” 

WHAT’S FUNNY is ... 

My first year the Daily Bee in Sandpoint – the 1982-83 school year – the Inland Empire League used a best-of-3 format to determine its regional champion. 

Back then, just like this year, there were only three teams in the league – then, it was Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint and Lewiston. Lake City was still a decade away from being built, and Post Falls was still in the Intermountain League with the smaller schools. 

On the girls side, as former Coeur d’Alene High coach Dave Fealko will remember, those Coeur d’Alene-Sandpoint best-of-3 series were wars, with games sometimes played in the 20s – and in 1984, the Vikings and Bulldogs also met in the state title game. 

Since then, as the size of the leagues changed, the formats changed to either a true or modified double-elimination – but no more best-of-3, at least for the largest-school league in North Idaho. 

Other leagues in North Idaho have gone to the best-of-3 in recent years to determine their automatic state berth. 

Some rotate the games – Game 1 at the higher seed, Game 2 at the lower seed and Game 3 back at the higher seed. 

Others let the higher seed host all three games. 

One year, the higher seed was scheduled to host all three games – but the lower seed could “steal” home court by winning one of the games, which would allow the lower seed to host the next game. Lakeland’s boys benefited from that once. 

In the Intermountain League, which is down to two teams in most sports, its rule is, if the one team sweeps the other in the two league games, that team can win the district title by capturing Game 1. If the other team wins Game 1, the best-of-3 series continues. Either way, the top seed hosts all three games. 

WHAT’S THE best way? 

Who knows? 

The leagues keep tinkering, trying to find the best way. 

In one format for a double-elimination tourney, the lower seed gains little by upsetting a higher seed early in the tourney – you’re better off saving your upset for the “right” game later. That has worked for the Post Falls girls a few times. 

“I don’t know my full thoughts on it vs. the older way,” Anderson said. “It’d be nice to have more teams and have a true bracket like everybody else does. But it’s fun to do it for a change, for sure.” 

In this year’s 6A boys district tournament, No. 2 seed Post Falls played No. 3 Coeur d’Alene in a loser-out game, with the winner playing No. 1 Lake City in the best-of-3 for the district title. 

Post Falls, which was in position to be the top seed to districts in the final week of the regular season, could have seen its season end after one game at districts. And Coeur d’Alene, despite its turbulence this season, was still a dangerous No. 3 seed. The Vikings won at Lewiston, the top seed to 5A regionals – something Post Falls was unable to do. 

“We were fortunate to not end up in the loser-out game,” Anderson said. “It feels a little rough to have the first playoff game be a loser-out game for the 2 and 3 when they’re both really good. If there were a place for somebody to come back in (after losing in the first round) ... that’s something we’ll talk about at our district meetings.” 

And if state basketball tournaments are eventually expanded from eight to 12 teams, or a play-in round is added to determine spots 5-8 – that could cause even more tinkering at the district/regional level.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.