THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Talking tests, reunions and motivation

Find a way.

Survive and advance.

Do your job.

For some coaches, if it’s not the first thing mentioned in the pregame speech, it could be the last.

AS SOME teams search for games in the Panhandle of the state, you can find some interesting nonleague games on the schedule, often from smaller schools looking to play up in competition.

Or, in the last two years, the 5A and 4A Inland Empire League coming together to count one game in the league standings.

Those early tests proved successful for both 4A Sandpoint and 3A Timberlake, who battled with 5A Coeur d’Alene throughout the season.

In its lone game of the season against Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene beat the Bulldogs 73-39 at Viking Court on Dec. 6. The Vikings also handed Timberlake a 52-48 setback on Jan. 10 in Spirit Lake.

“I think what you learn in games against great teams, especially early in the season, is that they’ll exploit your mistakes,” said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, in his 18th season at Timberlake. “And they’ll make you feel the pain of that mistake. Sometimes when you play lesser teams, you can make the mistakes, but you don’t feel the sting of it. And it never really gets fixed.”

Coeur d’Alene led by 19 points (36-17) after three quarters.

“Playing those really good teams, they show your weaknesses and where you need to improve,” Miller said. “I hope with this group, and we'll talk about it, but we won’t see anybody in the 3A bracket that’s even close to Coeur d’Alene. And we played them in a two-possession game. Hopefully that gives them a lot of confidence in terms of playing with that quality of an opponent.”

Of Sandpoint’s five losses this season, two came at the hands of Lake City, with one each to Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Timberlake.

The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2016, holding off Minico in the state 4A opening round on Thursday at Timberline High in Boise.

“We’ve been battle tested throughout the year playing the 5As like we do,” fifth-year Sandpoint coach Will Love said. “Timberlake, and I truly believe Lakeland, would win a game or two down here (in the state 4A tournament). They offered us some difficulties and when we’re looking at Timberlake and Lakeland, they made it tight for us and we’ve been in that situation.”

IT’S NOT normal to see a player grinning from ear to ear with her team down eight points in a semifinal game.

Then again, Coeur d’Alene junior guard Teagan Colvin, with over 30 Division I offers from schools around the country, isn’t any ordinary player.

Colvin transferred from Liberty High in Spangle, Wash., this season, playing at Coeur d’Alene alongside longtime teammate Madi Symons, who has signed with Wyoming.

“Getting to play with Madi is one of the best things about playing with this team,” Colvin said. “It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been playing club ball (for the Northwest Blazers AAU team) for as long as I can remember, and to play high school with her, it’s been awesome. It’s just deepened our bond even more.”

Symons had 24 points, Colvin 23 as Coeur d’Alene scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to rally past Eagle 63-50 on Thursday night.

“We really just play off each other,” Colvin said. “One of us gets a bucket, the next time down, one of us tries to get another one, and we keep rolling off of that.”

Eagle, the opponent for Coeur d’Alene on Thursday, had to navigate through southeastern Washington to get to last Saturday’s play-in game, which was moved from Grangeville to Lewiston after a hazmat incident involving a tanker truck carrying propane crashed on U.S. 95 between Riggins and New Meadows.

“This team, bouncing back from an 0-6 start to go 10-2 in our league, the adversity has been there all year,” said Eagle coach Jeremy Monroe, in his second season. “But they’ve fed off it all year. Driving to Walla Walla was a blast. Our girls got to practice in some tiny gyms and see a lot of things. And adversity is something they just feed off of. And it’s who they are as people too.”

The Mustangs advanced to state with a 48-39 win over Lake City in Lewiston.

Monroe added that a few pregame predictions from some on social media on that outcome didn’t go unnoticed.

“It was all in good fun,” Monroe said. “But it was just more fuel for our kids. They just battled and fought as much as they could.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.