PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lakeside, Kootenai earn berths to state

• 2A

COEUR d’ALENE — As the final seconds ticked down, the Lakeside Knights starters, smiling on the bench by then with the game well in hand, joined in the chant coming from their supporters across the way. 

“On to state! On to state!” 

It’s getting to become a habit for this year’s Knights, who qualified for state for the second straight year, and third time in four years, with a 77-50 victory over the Wallace Miners in the 2A District 1 championship game Thursday at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court. 

"It was a lot different because it was my last year, so it was super special to win it with these guys,” said Lakeside senior guard Kyleigh Wolfe, who poured in a game-high 35 points for the top-seeded Knights (12-11), who advance to state next Thursday through Saturday at Columbia High in Nampa. “In the first quarter we played a little rough, then we pulled through.” 

The Knights will learn their first-round foe this weekend. As of Wednesday, Lakeside was ranked 10th in 2A by MaxPreps, whose rankings seed the state tournaments. 

Sophomore Laila SiJohn added 23 points for Lakeside, which jumped out to a 41-18 lead at halftime, only to see second-seeded Wallace close within 43-31 early in the third quarter, before the Knights pulled away for good, as their press, fueled by guards Wolfe and SiJohn, began to force turnovers again. 

"It’s always hard to beat a team three times in a row,” said Lakeside coach Chris Dohrman, whose Knights beat the Miners by 28 and 30 points during the regular season. “We’ve been off for a week and a half; it really looked like we’d been off for a week and a half at the beginning. But I was really proud of their effort today.” 

Senior Kimberly Pluff added 11 points for Lakeside, which won its fourth straight district title, and sixth in seven years. 

Junior Khepri Wood scored 19 points for Wallace, which finished 9-9. 

"Lakeside’s a really good team,” Wallace coach Nichole Farkas said. “We had moments of doing great things; we fought back in that third quarter, and just didn’t have enough steam to make it the whole game.” 

“Wallace shot the ball really well — much better better than they have all season long,” Dohrman said. “The zone we sat in probably didn’t help much; we probably should have played more man.” 

Wallace was bidding for its first trip to state since 2022, and second since 2008. 

“The press is a big (difference),” Farkas said of the two teams. “In the half-court it’s a little more comparable, but they’ve got good shooters, great cutters ... “ 

Wallace     10    8    20    12    —    50 

Lakeside    15    26    19    17    —    77 

WALLACE — Au. Birdsell 4, Voorhees 4, M. Stutzke 0, Wood 19, K. Stutzke 8, DePatto 0, Petersen 0, Hanks 0, Al. Birdsell 6, Phillips 9.  

LAKESIDE — Gorr 0, Pluff 11, Wolfe 35, SiJohn 23, Samuels-Brown 0, Stensgar 0, Peone 3, Leo 0, Ortivez 0, Lambert 5, Thompson 0.  

Kootenai 43 

Mullan 16 

COEUR d’ALENE — The top-seeded Warriors earned a berth to state for the first time since 2013, beating the second-seeded Miners in the 1A District 1 championship game at NIC. 

“It’s amazing,” said Kootenai sophomore Brooklyn Charles, who finished with seven points, eight rebounds and eight steals, and was named Most Valuable Player of the North Star League after the game. 

“It’s crazy, because we’ve wanted it for so long. We fought really hard. Last year we wanted it so bad, but we fell to Nezperce in a play-in game. But this year, with no play-in game, it made it so very, very attainable, and we’re just so glad to have the opportunity to go.” 

Kootenai (7-8) advances to state at Owyhee High in Meridian beginning next Thursday. The Warriors will be the No. 8 seed, and open against top-seeded Salmon River (23-0) of Riggins in the tourney opener at 11 a.m. PST. 

Sophomore Harleigh Dutton led Kootenai with 10 points. She also had five rebounds and five steals. Freshman Juniper Stevenson had six points and seven rebounds, sophomore Madeline Loucks seven rebounds, freshman Hunter Charles five points and seven boards, freshman Dani Davidson six points, seven rebounds and three assists. 

“It’s a big deal,” fourth-year Kootenai coach Alyssa Liermann said. “I did not expect this to happen this year. I did not even know there wasn’t a play-in game until the season was a week or two in. I didn’t know that this was going to end up being the goal, but here we are.” 

The game was postponed from Tuesday because a flu outbreak on the Mullan team left the Tigers without enough to field a team. As it was, Mullan had five players available on Thursday, including one eighth grader, and the Tigers gave it their best. 

Freshman Lacie Morris scored nine points for Mullan, which finished 3-13. 

Mullan     0    5    4    7    —    16 

Kootenai    13    11    16    3    —    43 

MULLAN — Crandell 0, Tirabasso 3, Morris 9, Ullrich 4, Kostelich 0. 

KOOTENAI — J. Stevenson 6, Loucks 3, H. Charles 5, H. Stevenson 6, B. Charles 7, D. Davidson 6, Dutton 10. 

Sandpoint 63 

Moscow 50 

SANDPOINT — The second-seeded Bulldogs, who fell to top-seeded Lakeland in the 5A Region 1 championship game on Tuesday, bounced back to eliminate the third-seeded Bears in the regional second-place game at Les Rogers Court. 

Sandpoint (18-5) will play Skyview of Nampa on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Grangeville High in a state play-in game. 

Moscow finished 11-12. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Kootenai freshman Hunter Charles (10) holds the trophy as the Warriors celebrate a trip to state after beating Mullan in the 1A District 1 championship game Thursday night at North Idaho College.