THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Looking back at three battles in 92 hours

They knew the rules going in. 

That doesn’t make this week feel any better. 

And next year can’t get here soon enough. 

Due to this year’s math, only one team was going to advance to state from the three-team 6A Inland Empire League in boys basketball. 

Trouble was, two of the three teams — Lake City and Post Falls — spent much of the season ranked third and fourth in the state in 6A by MaxPreps, which seeds the state tournaments. 

And Coeur d’Alene, the third team, turned out to be one of the most dangerous 3 seeds in the history of 3 seeds. 

AS IT played out, Lake City and Post Falls ended up squaring off in a best-of-3 series to decide the District 1 title and the district’s lone berth to state.  

To the winner — a ticket to state, which begins today at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. 

To the loser — thanks for coming. No play-in game; no consolation prize. If you play a spring sport, practice has already started. 

You know the result: After three games in roughly four and a half days, Lake City survived, two games to one. James Anderson gets to coach this third-seeded Timberwolf team one more week, tonight under the bright lights at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. 

“This is where it really sucks,” said first-year Post Falls head coach Jayson Ulrich, who was a Trojans assistant the past three seasons. “Two teams in the top five in the state all season, and we played a tough regular season schedule, and we don’t get an opportunity to go to state. That part stings a little bit more.”

As fate would have it, Lake City’s first-round opponent tonight is sixth seed Timberline of Boise — a team Post Falls beat 52-50 on Timberline’s home court on Dec. 13.  

If Lake City wins tonight, the T-Wolves on Friday could face second seed Centennial of Boise — a team Post Falls beat 70-64 on Centennial’s home court on Dec. 12. 

SMALL DISTRICTS with few berths to state is not unique to North Idaho. 

For a few years in what is now 5A, District 5 (Preston, Pocatello and Century) got just one berth to state, despite having two or three of the eight best teams in the state.  

And this year, despite boasting the top two ranked teams in 4A, District 6 got just one berth to state. That berth went to second seed Teton, which beat top seed Sugar-Salem. 

In some years, due to the math, the 6A IEL would have gotten 1.5 berths to state; last year Post Falls, after losing to Lake City for the district title, moved on to a state play-in game. 

This year ... no dice.  

A new format makes its debut next year. 

Each district champion automatically qualifies for state. The rest of the field is completed either by, depending on the classification, play-in games based on MaxPreps rankings, or filled by at-large teams based on MaxPreps rankings.  

That’s good for the future in North Idaho, but does Post Falls no good this year, however. 

In any event, the three games last week between Lake City and Post Falls were entertaining. 

Well, at least that was one word for it. 

"It’s an interesting format for high school,” Anderson said Saturday afternoon, when it was all over. “I think it was fun for the fans. It’s a lot of pressure. it’s been an interesting 90-plus hours.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.