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Idaho Falls won another state title on Saturdaty, downing Post Falls in four sets.
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BY RYAN [email protected]
COEUR D’ ALENE — Longtime IdahoFalls High School coach Wendy Johnsonhas yet to grow weary of extended staysat the 5A state volleyball tournament.
Even if her favorite Tigers punchedtheir ticket to the title round in eight ofthe past 12 championship matches ineither Boise, Idaho Falls or an eight-hourjaunt north, it’s that whole runner-upthing that irks her.
Consider the atypical trend, which fea-tured two second-best finishes in the pastthree years, officially bucked.
Idaho Falls, which survived a gut-check semifinal earlier in the day againstLake City, bested Post Falls 25-22, 25-18,21-25, 25-17 on Saturday at Coeurd’Alene High School to capture its fourthstate title in just over a decade.
“Like I’ve been telling the girls all yearand even in my (biology) class, ‘Second-place does not feel good,’” Johnson said,reflecting on a runner-up finish last fall.“These girls were driven, focused and laidit all on the line for me this year.”
The Tigers were on the cusp of playingfor a third-place trophy in their morningsemifinal after trailing 2-0 to Lake City,whose home gym is not even two milesfrom the campus of the tournament host.
Idaho Falls was able to dig itself out of
the two-game crevice 20-25, 25-20, 25-16,24-14, 15-7 before taking on its secondDistrict I school of the day in the titlegame.
“We had such a tough semifinal that Iwas hoping the girls’ emotions would stillbe high for (the championship),” Johnsonsaid.
They never fizzled. Ifanything, the emotionspeaked at the right time.
Idaho Falls and its ever-balanced attack put PostFalls — which was essen-tially playing a home gamewith its student section and pep band inthe mix — in a two-game hole, but thesets weren’t gimmes.
Lead changes were a common threadthroughout the match, but when theTigers stuck to their bread-and-butterpower up front, the results were positive.
Setter Hayley Farrer was the benefac-tor in that pursuit.
Farrer, who dished out 29 assists to goalong with 21 digs and six kills, let theTrojans pick their poison.
“They couldn’t just camp on one of ourhitters,” Farrer said. “They can all hit, andthey did tonight.”
Marley Taylor and her 6-foot-1 framewas a load up front, as she tallied 11 killsto go along with five blocks. Taylor Cottlewasn’t far behind, adding eight kills with
two blocks.When Idaho Falls evaded its power,
however, Post Falls took advantage. TheTrojans had power of their own.
“We kind of went away from our arm-swings in the game we dropped,”Johnson said. “But we made an adjust-ment and they responded.”
The Tigers were able to get away in thefourth and deciding game when juniorKatelyn Zabriskie came up with threestraight kills to give her club a 20-12 edgethat it wouldn’t relinquish.
Post Falls coach Willow Hanna wasquick to laud the Tigers.
“They had great ball control and werequick to put the ball down,” Hanna said.“We had too many unforced mistakes andcouldn’t get into a rhythm.”
Johnson, who has two daughters onthe team in senior Kaitlyn and sophomoreKiarra, said having family made this title“more memorable.”
The five seniors — four who’ve beenon varsity all four years — on the Tigers’roster made it a point to make this tourna-ment a memorable one.
“This was our last year playing for(Johnson), and she deserves this,” Farrersaid emphatically. “Honestly, I didn’tthink we were going to be very good thisyear, but she believed in us and got ushere.”
Sports Editor Jeff Pinkham — phone: 542-6772, fax: 529-9683, email: [email protected]
SPORTS B1S U N D A Y , O C T O B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 1
Talentedtrio winsindividualgolds■ Challis’ Tyler Jaszkowiak,Salmon’s Alice Keller andSnake River’s James Witherseach won gold at Saturday’scross-country championships.
BY DAVID [email protected]
EAGLE ISLAND STATE PARK — AllChallis High School’s Tyler Jaszkowiakwanted was to be close with 800 metersremaining at the 2011 2A/1A state cross-country championships Saturday.
“I knew if I could hangin there for two-and-a-halfmiles, the last 800 would bemine,” Jaszkowiak said.
Running against defend-ing 2A/1A state championDylan Crevelt fromCascade, Jaszkowiak need-ed every ounce of his high-altitude training to win. Both runners bat-tled throughout the race before Jaszkowiakpulled ahead coming down the only hill onthe course at the 600-meter mark. Creveltfought back and caught Jaszkowiak with 10meters remaining. Jaszkowiak covered the
H I G H S C H O O L S TAT E V O L L E Y B A L L P L AYO F F S
I.F. overcomes deficit to top Post Falls in 4I.F. takes 5A crown
INSIDE■ Volleyballroundup / B2
High school football
■ The Bobcats ranfor a season-high415 yards againstISU, the secondmost in the schools’77-matchup history.
BY COLTER NUANEZBozeman Daily Chronicle
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Thepregame story line focused onthe “Big Human.” The post-game talk was all about thebig holes.
In Idaho State head coachMike Kramer’s much-publi-cized return to Bozeman, theman known as the “BigHuman” was an afterthoughtfollowing a bone-crushing,clock-munching 54-16 displayof power by No. 4 MontanaState on Saturday at BobcatStadium.
The Bobcats used a pletho-ra of running plays, mostnotably the “power O” playthat is becoming this team’strademark, in rolling up a sea-son-high 415 yards on theground against the league’sworst rushing defense. MSUsophomore running backCody Kirk ran for 184 yardsand a career-high four touch-downs, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season inthe process. Kirk now has
1,114 yards and 13touchdowns this sea-son. Junior tailbackTray Robinson rum-bled for 154 yards onjust 10 carries andscored a single-gamecareer-high two touch-downs.
Montana State’s rushingtotal was the second-most by aBobcat team against IdahoState in 77 all-time matchups
between the twoschools. MSU rushedfor 417 yards againstthe Bengals in 1988.
“I’ll tell you, wehave a great offensiveline that goes outthere, busts their butts
and opens up holes,” Kirksaid. “(Offensive line) coach(Jason) McEndoo does a greatjob coaching those guys,(offensive coordinator) coach
(Brian) Wright does a greatjob making calls. We have areally good coaching staff andwe put together a really goodscheme today.”
Kramer, known throughoutthe Treasure State as the “BigHuman” for his massive pres-ence both in stature and per-sonality, coached MontanaState from 2000 to 2007. Hewas fired controversially fol-lowing a half-dozen arrests ofcurrent and former players fordrug and murder charges cou-pled with an MSU programwith a poor AcademicProgress Rating.
The loss dropped IdahoState to 2-7 this season.
“I think you should reallytake a look at the tenor of thewhole thing,” Kramer said.“(Montana State) had wonseven games in 1998. We’veonly had 13 winning seasonsin 41 years, ladies and gentle-man. We only won four gamesthe last three years. We are along ways away.
“I did this 10 years agowhen I was at Montana Stateand we went to Idaho Stateand the score at halftime was49-0. We came back the nextyear and clocked them. Ourhorizon is going to be positive.We are going to be OK. I justhate to go through thisprocess.”
Playoffs heatup this week
BY MICHAEL [email protected]
With the first week of the high schoolfootball playoffs in the books, each classifi-cation is whittled down to eight teams. Butseven of eastern Idaho’s clubs remain.
Skyline made it to the playoffs for thefirst time since 2006 and travels to faceCapital, the second-place team out of Boise,at 7 p.m. Friday at Bronco Stadium.
By knocking off undefeated No. 2Minico, Hillcrest returns to the quarterfi-nals after a one-year absence. The Knightshost Columbia, the third-place 4A teamfrom Boise, at 7 p.m. Friday while No. 1Blackfoot travels to Skyview at 7 p.m.Friday. Skyview is the district championfrom District 3.
In 3A, Salmon and Snake River meet inthe playoffs for the fourth time in six years.They will play at Holt Arena, but a time orday has not been set.
Nuclear Conference champion ButteCounty advanced to the quarterfinals forthe second year in a row Saturday thanks toits 38-10 win against Soda Springs. ThePirates move on to play West Side inDayton. A time or day has not been set.
Nuclear Conference mate Firth travels toDeclo for a 7 p.m. game Friday.
Mackay hasn’t qualified for its 17thstraight playoff appearance, but it has a lastchance at 6 p.m. Monday in Carey as itfaces Lighthouse Christian in a state play-ingame.
To see the complete playoff bracket, goto www.prpreps.com.
Brian Losness / for the Post Register
Challis High School’s Tyler Jasz-kowiak heads toward the finish lineand a victory in the 2A/1A state cross-country championship race Saturdayat Eagle Island State Park.
C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L
Montana State runs over ISU 54-16
Dean Hendrickson / Associated Press
Montana State running back Cody Kirk, front, rumbles fora touchdown past Idaho State defender Basim Hudeen(8) during the second quarter of an NCAA college foot-ball game Saturday in Bozeman, Mont.
INSIDE■ Hawaii beatsIdaho with alast-minute fieldgoal / B4
High school cross-country
INSIDE■ Teton boystake 3rd teamtitle; other raceresults / B2
■ The girls 3A defending champion AliceKeller had to come from behind for her win
X-COUNTRY, Continued on Page B2
Shawn Gust / Coeur d’Alene Press
Leah Wright, right, celebrates with Kaitlyn Johnson (10) and the rest of her Idaho Falls High School team Saturdaynight after winning the 2011 5A state volleyball championship in Coeur d’Alene.
