Only three teams from District 1 qualified for the state high school boys basketball tournaments this past weekend in the Treasure Valley - Lake City and Post Falls in 5A, Kellogg in 3A.

Lake City was the most impressive, bringing home the third-place trophy in 5A. Post Falls went two and out, and Kellogg lost in the 3A third-place game and finished fifth.

But still, the District 1 teams showed much better at state than last year, when Lake City, Post Falls, Timberlake and Kootenai combined to go 0-8.

One thing's for sure - Lake City's performance this year erased, at least in part, last year's two-and-out debacle.

"To be quite honest with you, we didn't show up last year," Lake City coach Jim Winger said. "We actually walked out of here embarrassed, because we thought we had a pretty good team ... "

Winger said Lake City headed to state this year with "something to prove."

Lake City indeed proved it this year, beating Skyline of Idaho Falls, nearly knocking off unbeaten Capital of Boise in the semifinals, then bouncing back to throttle Rocky Mountain of Meridian in the third-place game.

If not for a 7 1/2-minute stretch Friday night where Lake City was outscored 16-1 by Capital, the Timberwolves may very well have been playing for their first state title Saturday night.

"I just can't say enough about how we played down here," Winger said after his team routed Rocky. "From the second half of the Skyline game on, we really played great. We came down and played basketball at the highest level we can play, for basically 2 1/2 games, and that's tough to do. The kids made it a goal after last year, that's what they were going to do, and they did it. Third place, and a close loss to the No. 1 team, we certainly showed people what kind of basketball we can play."

Post Falls, state titleists in 2010 and state finalists in 2012, qualified for state for a sixth straight season.

"I'm very proud of our guys," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "The seniors have passed the torch to the underclassmen we've got with us, saying 'this is what the expectation is at Post Falls - to get here, and to do well."

After his team's first-round victory over Parma on Thursday, Kellogg coach Jeff Lambert spoke of the importance of experience at state. And despite not bringing home a trophy, that experience gained should pay off next year.

"It was huge," Lambert said. "We were here two years ago, but we never won a game. But this team was picked to finish third in our league. So they won a district championship. They won their first game at state. These guys, they accomplished so much more than anybody thought they could. We've been through lost players during the year, lost people close to us ... "

AS FOR next year ...

Lake City loses eight seniors, including all five starters and two key reserves.

"Yeah, but we're going to be pretty good next year," Winger said. "We have a solid JV team, a solid freshman team. We'll reload with a bunch of seniors again next year, which I like."

Winger, whose son, JJ, was one of those eight seniors on this year's squad, said he plans to return as coach next year, "as long as my bosses want me back," said Winger, who is also the school's athletic director. "I've really enjoyed it; it's been fun."

Winger started the Lake City program in 1994, after coaching at alma mater Coeur d'Alene for two seasons. He coached Lake City for nine seasons before resigning to concentrate on his AD duties. He returned to the sidelines in 2008, and has guided the Timberwolves the last six seasons.

"I've actually enjoyed it more after the five-year break than I did the original time," he said. "It's what I like to do. I really had no real drive to come back (the second time), but I've had such good groups of kids, that's made it a lot of fun. And as a staff, we really get along great."

Post Falls loses nine seniors, including three starters.

"We're going into our eighth season, and everything's the same," McLean said. "We're trying to fill holes. Everybody's got to step up, and we'll be a little bit different - just like every team's a little bit different (every year)."

The staples of McLean's program - being a defensive-first team, creating easy scoring opportunities - remain the same.

"Are we going to be any bigger next year? No," McLean said. "But we're not a team, you won't hear us say, 'Oh, poor us. We're small. It is what it is; we're just going to go deal with it.

As far as next year, Coeur d'Alene's going to be really good, Lake City will be good, Lewiston will be improved. Our goal is to be 5A IEL champions."

Kellogg graduates two senior starters, but also started three juniors this year.

"The future looks good," said Lambert, who said he plans to "give it a month" before deciding whether he'll return as coach. His son, guard Jesse Lambert, is one of those senior starters. "I'm just so proud of this group. It's not a big group, but good kids. These are the kids you want to coach."

"We got a taste of (state) this year," Kellogg junior point guard Gus Colburn said. "We've always come down and watched it, and this year we got to play in it. We'll be ready next year.

"It's a lot louder down here," Colburn added. "So many more fans. Also, the style of play - the style up north is a lot different than it is down here. Down here they get after you on defense. They're rough, and they're physical."

IN THE 4A tournament, Moscow junior Jack Akey scored a classification record 37 points Friday in the Bears' 70-57 loss to Bishop Kelly in a loser-out game at Borah High in Boise. Akey was 11 of 20 from the field, 5 of 10 from 3-point range, and 10 of 13 from the foul line.

You may have heard of the previous record holder - Scott Stockwell of Post Falls, who scored 36 for the Trojans in 2005, in a 61-48 victory over Bonneville in the consolation title game.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.