Three local high school girls basketball teams - Coeur d'Alene, Lakeland and Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy - tip off their seasons this weekend.

Coeur d'Alene Charter opens tonight, facing Kellogg at 6 p.m. in the opener of the Silver Valley Tournament in Wallace. Mullan plays Wallace in the second game at 7:30.

On Saturday, Coeur d'Alene travels to Lakeland at 6 p.m. in the season opener for both.

Brief looks at the three local teams to open this weekend follow.

The other six local teams open their seasons next week - Lake City, Post Falls, St. Maries, Kootenai and Lakeside on Tuesday, and Timberlake on Thursday. Brief looks at those teams are scheduled for Tuesday.

All high school and North Idaho College basketball and wrestling teams will be highlighted in the upcoming Press winter sports special section.

Coeur d'Alene: The Vikings return three senior starters - guards Sydni Parker and Madison Sumner, and forward Sydney Williams - from last year's 21-6 squad that lost in the title game to Post Falls at the state 5A tournament. Sumner and Williams were all-5A Inland Empire League team last year.

see GIRLS, B4

The other projected starters, senior guard Sara Chalich and senior forward Brittany Tackett, were key reserves last year.

"They've played together since they were seventh graders," said Dale Poffenroth, beginning his 10th season as Coeur d'Alene coach. "They're experienced, and they play hard. And I think we've got some outside shooters."

Junior forward Bella Hermesch, a transfer from Shoreline Christian in Shoreline, Wash., and senior forward Kayli Matheson give the Vikings an abundance of size inside.

But injuries to sophomore guard Emily Callahan (legs) and sophomore forward Maddie Scholwinski (back) have cut into Coeur d'Alene's depth.

So has the loss of post Tabitha Wellsandt, an emerging reserve last year whose family moved to the Tri-Cities. Her sister Mason, a freshman, likely would have been on the varsity, Poffenroth said. Both attend Kamiakin High in Kennewick.

Lakeland: Senior post Kelly Ramus and sophomore point guard Emily Vanderhoof are returning starters for the Hawks, who went 3-18 last season.

Other projected starters include seniors Kayla Fahlenkamp and Madison Seymour, and junior Haley Rotchford.

Junior Kaiden Kelsey, who suffered a concussion during track season last spring, and missed volleyball season, has yet to be cleared to play basketball. Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said he did not know when or if Kelsey, a projected starter, would be cleared to play.

Sophomore Savannah Pruitt suffered a knee injury during summer league ball, and is out for the season.

Of their three wins, the 4A Hawks beat 3A Timberlake twice and 2A St. Maries once.

"We didn't have a lot of success last year," said Seymour, beginning his 19th season as Lakeland coach. "I'm hoping a good group of kids wants to compete. I think we have enough talent to win more games than last year - we have the talent to be there in the 4A district championship game - we just need to put the effort forth."

Coeur d'Alene Charter: Lexi Turkenburg, the Panthers' all-everything at point guard the last four years, has graduated from last year's Charter team that went 17-6 and nearly made it to state, losing by just seven points to Melba in a state 2A play-in game.

However, the Panthers return three starters in junior guard Anna Verhaeghe, junior post Sarah Haman and sophomore post Jacklyn Jensen. Verhaeghe and Jensen were all-Central Idaho League selections last year.

Other returnees in the mix include sophomore guards Johanna Ramb and Abby Bartlett, and guard Mae Alexander - one of six freshmen on the team.

Without Turkenburg, Charter coach Doug Grant said the Panthers will be a point guard by committee this year.

"We've got to take care of the ball," said Grant, beginning his second season as Charter coach. "We're not going to drop off much on scoring; we have girls that can pick up the scoring. It's ball control I'm concerned about, because all our guards are freshmen and sophomores."