Howdy from the wrestling state tournament!

Well, actually we are at the Pocatello Holiday Inn after returning from Holt Arena for the opening session of the state tournament. Now in the improved two-day version. With four mats for each classification, it certainly difficult to keep track of everything. But me and sports reporter Bruce Mason will try to keep up with everything involving the local...read more

A few stories from across the state that I thought might get wrestling fans ready for tomorrow's state tournament at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

There seems to be the feeling that the 5A team title is up for grabs. One team that will certainly be in the mix is District III champion Caldwell. The Cougars send 16 wrestlers - including defending state champion Colby Kloetzer - who feel they can bring...read more

The teams for this year's Idaho State High School All-Star Basketball Games were announced Monday by the North Idaho College. The games pit the north all-stars against the south all-stars and will be played Saturday, March 14, at NIC's Christianson Gym in Coeur d'Alene. There will also be a 3-point shooting and slam dunk contests.

State media and broadcaster voted on this. I have to admit...read more

The IHSAA has posted the preliminary brackets for this week's state wrestling tournament. As they note, the brackets are subject to change before wrestling starts Friday morning at Holt Arena in Pocatello. Click here, to the get to the IHSAA wrestling page.

Bruce Mason and I will drive over to cover the tournament. So be sure to check TreasureValleySports.com and my blog for updates.

FINAL: Bonneville 43, Middleton 36. The Bees pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Vikings. Still, a pretty good season for Middleton considering they lost all the starters from last year's championship team.

FINAL: Lapwai 55, Clearwater Valley 44. The Wildcats won their fourth state title in girls basketball and their first since 2002.

FINAL: Richfield 59, Dietrich 37. The Tigers...read more

Coeur d'Alene-Vallivue

THIRD QUARTER: Coeur d'Alene 47, Vallivue 34.

HALFTIME: Coeur d'Alene made three free throws in the final 28 seconds of the quarter to give the Vikings a 30-28 lead at halftime. Devyn Christensen has been playing limited minutes for Vallivue. She wasn't in foul trouble, so who knows ...

First Quarter: Devan Matkin hit a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter...read more

Madison-Vallivue

FINAL: Vallivue 58, Madison 52. The Falcons had to fend off the upset-minded Madison Bobcats to advance to the semifinals of the 5A state tournament. It wasn't easy for Vallivue, especially considering all of the free throws they missed. The Falcons will have to up their game if they want to compete with Coeur d'Alene.

For you District III fans, three teams from the 5A SIC...read more

Here are the final state media polls for the boys basketball season.

Notes: First-place votes in parentheses. Records are through Tuesday.

BOYS

5A

1. Lewiston (5) 16-3 32

2. tie, Lake City 16-4 23

Eagle (2) 16-5 23

4. tie, Vallivue 15-6 8

Centennial 15-6 8

Others receiving votes: Capital 5, Mountain View 4, Post Falls 2.

4A

1. Skyview (7) 20-0 35

2. Jerome 19-2 27

3. Hillcrest...read more

Thanks to all the reporters around the state who helped compile these.

State 5A tournament

Boise Braves

Record: 19-4

Road to state: Beat Borah 53-34 in first round of District III Tournament, lost to Vallivue 58-49 in semifinals, beat Capital 56-46 in state qualifying game.

Players to watch: Jordin Juker, jr., guard/forward (10.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.6 steals); Kimberly Smith, sr., guard...read more

Here are the district schedules for boys basketball. The District III-4A boys schedule is not filled out yet because the season ends Tuesday night.

As soon as I have the schedule, I will post it here.

District III-5A tournament

Saturday

Play-in Games

At Borah High School

Mountain View 55, Caldwell 41

At Capital High School

Boise 79, Meridian 58

Borah 78, Rocky Mountain 59

———

Tuesday, Feb. 17

At Borah High School

Game...read more

Update: I just got word that the 1A Division II seminfinals have been moved to the earlier session to allow the winners more rest before the championship game. Because there are six tournaments now, the Division II game will tip off at 9:30 a.m.

That will certainly make for a full day of basketball on Saturday.

5A State Tournament

Thursday, Feb. 19

At the Idaho Center

Game 1: Centennial...read more

Here are this week's state media rankings for boys basketball and a link to Idaho Wrestling News' state rankings. If you are looking for the girls basketball polls, the final rankings were released last week.

Anyway, the link for wrestling fans is here. The basketball polls are below.

State Media Basketball Rankings

Note: Records are through Tuesday. First-place votes in parentheses

...read more

The 5A SIC boys basketball regular season wrapped up last night. Below are the final league standings and next week's schedule for the District III-5A tournament. Remember, there are district play-in games Saturday at Borah and Capital high schools.

Final standings

1. Eagle 14-4

2. Centennial 13-5

3. Vallivue 12-6

4. Capital 12-6

5. Timberline 11-7

6. Borah 11-7

7. Mountain View 11-7

8...read more

We have had several track signing this week. The latest is Skyview's Nikkie Rudder, who will sign a letter of intent with the University of Utah on Thursday.

Rudder will compete in the throwing events for the Utes. The three-sport athlete was the 4A state champion in the shot put in 2007.

Other track signings this week included Nampa Christian's Kaycee Brunel inking with Wichita State. Columbia's...read more

The Idaho High School Activities Association announced Wednesday the 2008-09 winter sports academic state champions. The award is presented to a varsity team in each classification that achieves the highest cumulative grade point average.

Two schools from District III made the list - the Boise High girls and the Melba High boys. Congratulations to both teams for the honor.

Girls Basketball

5A...read more

Below is a release from the Idaho High School Activities Association. Some of the changes are small (such as making meetings paperless) and others are big (reducing the size of the state golf tournament).

Remember, the IHSAA is also looking at reducing the number of regular season events for all sports by 10 percent and eliminating state play-in games. If you don't think it might happen, take...read more

Idaho athletics is not my normal beat, but when Vandal football coach Robb Akey and athletic director Rob Spear were in the Treasure Valley last Friday I did the interviews. I wrote this story in Saturday's paper, which focused on Akey trying to get more football recruits from "Vandal Country." Spear also talked some on a possible contract extension for mens basketball coach Don...read more

It wasn't too long ago the Idaho Stampede were part of the Continental Basketball Association (Hooray for quarter points!). Long-time Stampede fans will remember in 2001 when the league went bankrupt.

The CBA returned, but it wasn't long before some of the stronger teams, including the Stampede, jumped ship for the D-League. I noticed at the start of this CBA season the league was down to...read more

The state wrestling tournament is just three weeks away.You can check out the latest wrestling rankings and Idaho Wrestling News by clicking here.

You will notice several Treasure Valley wrestlers top the state-wide rankings. Also, here is a feature on the Pocatello wrestling team which hopes to compete for a 4A state title.

Less than two weeks away is the state girls basketball tournament...read more

Sorry, I didn't get this up earlier. This is the final girls poll, and there are two more weeks of the boys poll.

State media basketball rankings

Note: Records are through Tuesday. First-place votes in parentheses.

BOYS

5A

1. Lake City (5) 13-3 29

2. Lewiston 12-2 27

3. tie, Eagle 12-4 18

Centennial (2) 13-4 18

5. Capital 13-4 14

Others receiving votes: Post Falls 8, Vallivue...read more

Here is a list of Treasure Valley football players that have or will be signing a letter of intent.

Boise State

Geraldo Hiwat, WR, Capital High School

Bryant Thomas, OL, Capital High School

Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, DL, Boise High School

Carroll College

Michael Siegersma, WR, Nampa Christian High School

Eastern Washington

Caleb Worthington, OL, Mountain View High School

Idaho

Jeffrey...read more

I just got word from Columbia athletic director Randy Potter on a schedule change for Saturday's Skyview-Columbia boys basketball game.

The game will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. at Skyview High School.