PREP FOOTBALL: Coeur d'Alene opens playoffs tonight at home
MARK NELKE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 2 months AGO
Mark Nelke covers high school and North Idaho College sports, University of Idaho football and other local/regional sports as a writer, photographer, paginator and editor at the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has been at The Press since 1998 and sports editor since 2002. Before that, Mark was the one-man sports staff for 16 years at the Bonner County Daily Bee in Sandpoint. Earlier, he was sports editor for student newspapers at Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University. Mark enjoys the NCAA men's basketball tournament and wiener dogs — and not necessarily in that order. | October 28, 2016 9:00 PM
After this month’s record rainfall, a tarp was used to cover the football field at Coeur d’Alene High this week.
What kind of shape the field is in will be revealed tonight, when Coeur d’Alene (5-3) plays host to Borah (5-4) of Boise at 7 at Viking Stadium in the first round of the state 5A playoffs.
Coeur d’Alene, the No. 2 seed from the 5A Inland Empire League, is in the playoffs for the eighth straight season. The Vikings had a first-round bye last year, then lost at home to Madison of Rexburg in the quarterfinals. Borah, the No. 3 seed from the West “B” pod, lost at Eagle in the first round last year. The Lions lost to Highland in the quarterfinals in 2012. Had they won, they would have faced Coeur d’Alene.
The five teams Borah beat had a combined record of 15-30. None had a winning record, and only one made the playoffs — and that was Kuna, the 12th and wild-card seed.
Coeur d’Alene and Borah last met in the state playoffs in 1993, with the Lions winning.
This is the third year the state 5A (and 4A) playoffs have been expanded to 12 teams.
The Borah-Coeur d’Alene winner will travel to Eagle (9-0) in the quarterfinals next weekend.
Lewis County (5-3, 3-2 White Star League) at Lakeside (4-4, 2-3): Tonight’s 7 p.m. kickoff in Plummer marks the season finale for both teams.
Melba (5-3) at St. Maries (8-0): The Lumberjacks, in the state 2A playoffs for the fifth straight year, host a first-round game for the second straight year when the Mustangs visit for a Saturday 1 p.m. tilt.
St. Maries has won its last two first-round playoff games. Melba lost to eventual champion Grangeville in the quarterfinals last year.
Saturday’s winner will play host to the winner of tonight’s game pitting Wendell (0-8) vs. North Fremont (5-3) at Holt Arena in Pocatello.
Lakeland, Timberlake idle: Lakeland (5-4), the 4A IEL champion, earned a first-round bye and will play host to Blackfoot (7-3) in a quarterfinal game next weekend. Blackfoot beat Minico 27-23 on Thursday night at Holt Arena.
Timberlake (3-6), the Intermountain League champions, received a first-round bye as well, and will open the state 3A playoffs at home next weekend. The Tigers will face the winner of tonight’s game pitting Homedale (5-3) at Gooding (5-4).
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“The whole process has been completely amazing,” said Nathan Williams, now in his fourth season as the Badgers boys basketball coach. “And the parents … it’s an hour and a half to Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, when we’d play an AAU game, and an hour and a half back, and there were so many times there was 6, 8 inches of snow. And we’ve got a game at 8 a.m. They’d always schedule us at 8 a.m., coming from Bonners. So we’re waking up at 5 … it was crazy. But the commitment from the parents and the kids has been amazing.”