If media rankings mean anything, several area teams should contend for trophies - if not titles - when the state high school boys basketball tournaments begin today in the Boise area.

Post Falls (22-1) is ranked No. 1 in 5A, Lakeland (16-6) is ranked No. 2 in 4A, Kellogg (19-3) is ranked No. 1 in 3A, and St. Maries (16-4) is ranked tied for fourth in 2A.

Lakeside (13-8), in 1A Division II, is the other local team headed to state.

Post Falls opens at 5:15 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa vs. Nampa (13-12), the fourth-place finisher in the District 3 tournament.

Nampa moved up to 5A this year after winning the consolation title last year in 4A. The Bulldogs last played in 5A in 2004-05. Nampa is led by senior guard J.D. Schutt (15.6 ppg) and senior guard Blaine Roberts (13 ppg, 3.6 blocks).

It could be an interesting pace-of-play battle between Post Falls, which averages more than 70 points per game, and Nampa, which averages 50.5 points and allows 49.

Post Falls will play either defending champion Capital (17-6) of Boise, or Skyline (19-4) of Idaho Falls, on Friday.

Post Falls, at state for the seventh straight year, boasts more offense than in recent trips - and the Trojans regularly get contributions from up to 11 players.

"Some teams try to zone us and slow us down, and when we work on our spacing and fine-tuning things like we do this time of year, we can find open shooters," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "But if they want to go man, a lot of teams have a hard time guarding us off the dribble. And with our bigs scoring, I think we get a lot of mileage out of our bigs."

Notes: The other half of the bracket could be interesting. Rocky Mountain (19-5) of Meridian, the District 3 champion, opens with Borah (19-6) of Boise, which tied for the 5A Southern Idaho Conference title, then dropped to a fifth-place finish in the district tourney, then beat Coeur d'Alene last Saturday in Grangeville in a state play-in game. Rocky, which lost to Lake City in last year's third-place game at state, won the Lake City Invitational in December.

The other first-rounder in that half pits Highland (20-2) and 6-foot guard Stefan Gonzalez, who has signed with Saint Mary's, against Timberline (20-4) of Boise, which tied Borah for the conference title. Gonzalez' teammate, junior swingman Connor Harding, is the state's No. 1 recruit in the class of 2016, according to ESPN. He already has interest from Arizona State, BYU and Utah State.

Lakeland faces a tall order - literally - in its opener vs. Mountain Home (17-7), the District 3 runnerup, at 5:15 p.m. PST at Borah High in Boise. The Tigers boast 6-10 senior post Jarek Schetzle (12.9 ppg, 8.3 rebounds), who is 5 inches taller than any of Lakeland's players.

Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said the Hawks' strategy will be to "try to get him tired quick, and that way we can play against kids our own size."

Stockwell said Mountain Home has a couple of guards "that are as quick as a hiccup."

Mountain Home is at state for the first time since 2009, the second time since 1994 and the third time in 35 years. The Tigers last won a game at state in 1980, when they won the consolation title.

Lakeland will play either Rigby (13-9) or Burley (14-10) on Friday. Rigby won the state title in 2012 and '13.

Lakeland is at state for the first time since 2004. Stockwell has taken other teams to state before, but not for a while.

Stockwell last took a team to state in 2005, when he led Post Falls to the 4A tourney for the third time in four seasons.

"I haven't been there for a long time either ... I think Truman was president then," Stockwell joked. "Actually I think they'll go down and be pretty relaxed. I'm not overly concerned about that (nerves). A guy I coached with years ago told me in order to win state, there's one thing important that you've got to do - you've got to be there. So, if we put some stuff together, and luck is on our side, who knows?

"But obviously, to get there, for this program, is huge - just to get down there."

Defending champion:

Notes: Malek Harwell (27 ppg, 10 rebounds, 5 assists), a 6-4 guard from Century of Pocatello, has signed with Boise State. Century opens vs. defending champion Twin Falls (15-8). Harwell was injured early in the season, and the Diamondbacks started 4-10. With him back in the lineup, Century has won 10 of its last 11.

Kellogg returns to state for the third time in four years, missing out on the tournament in 2013. The Wildcats' last state title came in 1964 at the 5A classification.

Kellogg opens the tournament today against Weiser (14-10) at 12:15 p.m. PST at Meridian High.

"We've been waking up and going to work bright and early for this since summer league," Kellogg senior point guard Gus Colburn said. "Our dreams haven't become a reality yet. We're not done. We're ready to go."

A win today will advance Kellogg to the semifinals to play the winner of defending champion Buhl (18-5) and Parma (11-13) on Friday at 5:15.

"One of our goals was to go unbeaten in league," said fifth-year Kellogg coach Jeff Lambert. "Then, win a district championship. I'm sure they've got some goals about what is going to happen (this) week too."

Notes: Hayden Eckert, a 2014 All-Idaho guard, leads Buhl in points per game with 15 ... Fruitland had its run of 11 straight state tournament appearances snapped last year, but is back for a 12th time in 13 years, facing Buhl in the opening round ... Shelley (12-11) has lost six games to 5A teams (Skyline, Idaho Falls and Hillcrest twice each), two to 4A Rigby and defending 2A champion Firth ... Weiser won its first district title since 1995 and returns to state for the first time since 2012 ... Weiser lost five straight games to finish last in Snake River Conference, then won three straight in the district tournament to advance.

St. Maries, at state for the first time since 2012, opens vs. Declo (17-5) at 2 p.m. PST at Capital High in Boise.

Declo was the state runner-up last year. All 12 players on the Hornets' roster are listed at 5-11 or taller.

First-year St. Maries coach Bryan Chase is new to the varsity, but not new to coaching many of the Lumberjack boys. He coached the current group of seniors when they were freshmen (going 16-4), and coached the current sophomores when they were eighth-graders (14-0).

"Both groups have a solid five players from each grade," Chase said. "I never had a chance to coach the juniors but I love the enthusiasm and competitiveness that Drake Lounsbury and Chase Truscott bring to the team. I knew there was potential. The sophomores, too, bring great energy off the bench."

Chase said he knew there might be something there early in the season, when the Lumberjacks beat 3A Kellogg in a jamboree and competed against Liberty (24-2) of Spangle in a 74-64 road loss.

"It was then that I knew this group of kids had a never-give-up attitude," Chase said. "The three teams that we lost to are a combined 57-13. The key turning point was beating Orofino and Grangeville at home to start league play."

Logan Feasline, a 6-2 senior post, averages a team-high 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game for St. Maries. Senior forward AJ Becktel averages 9.5 points and 6 rebounds, senior guard Matt Smith averages 9 points and 6 rebounds, senior forward Jacob Greer averages 9 points and 3 steals, and sophomore guard Jake Sieler averages 6.5 points and 3.5 assists.

Chase said Smith and sophomore guard Dakota Wilson are the sparkplugs on the team.

"Both are great practice players and it carries over into games," Chase said. "They lead by example by giving it everything they have. Our team has put an emphasis on hitting the weight room. Dakota was a 5-4 nose guard and Matt a 5-10 linebacker. Love how these two defend."

Notes: Defending champion Firth (21-2) opens vs. Grangeville (14-9), the District 1-2 runner-up, in the other half of the bracket. Firth has won five of the past eight state 2A crowns.

1A Division I

Prairie (19-3) is the defending champion and opens the tournament against The Ambrose School (20-4) tonight at 7 at Vallivue High in Caldwell.

Genesee (20-6), which beat Wallace in a playoff game, opens with Oakley (18-4) at 12:15 p.m.

Notes: Prairie was beaten in the District 2 title game by Lapwai (18-4), which opens with Liberty Charter (20-3) ... Oakley is making its first state appearance since 2008 ... Challis (9-13) hadn't won a district title since 1990, when it was a 2A school according to coach Jerrod Farr, who played on that team .... Ambrose had losses to 4A Middleton and 5A Timberline at a holiday tournament ... Ambrose became a full-fledged member of the IHSAA in 2012-13, losing to Salmon River in the Division II championship game.

1A Division II

If nothing else, the early season schedule for the Lakeside Knights forced their younger players to grow up in a hurry on the basketball court.

Games against state 3A qualifier Kellogg, 2A St. Maries, 1A Division II Logos, Newport (Wash.) - all losses - helped that process.

With only two players back from last year in its first season at the Division II level, Lakeside went unbeaten against teams of its own size in the North Star League, advancing to state for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

"That's what our goal was," said Lakeside coach Stacey Sonder said, who has coached at the school for nine seasons, returning to the boys team after coaching the girls team last season. "We played a tough schedule to prepare the kids mentally. We had two seasoned kids (Jordan Nilson and Hunter Kolar) that had played varsity ball, but we had to get them to mesh with the younger kids and come together."

Lakeside (13-8) opens the state 1A Division II tournament against Dietrich (20-3) today at 12:15 p.m. PST at Caldwell High.

"We had Jordan and Hunter that had some varsity starting experience, but nobody else really did," Sonder said. "Joseph Mitchell just kept working and working at it."

Sonder has coached Lakeside to its last three state appearances, including a fourth-place finish in 2005.

Salmon River, which had won the previous two championships, failed to qualify.

Notes: Dietrich, which has advanced to state five of the last six years, hasn't won a state title since 1966 ... This is Logos' first trip to state in school history since the Moscow school joined the IHSAA as a full-fledged member last year ...