Written by: Will Hoenike
The Lakeside Knights were one of two teams from the 1A Division 1 Scenic Idaho Conference to opt down for the 2022 season, along with the Wallace Miners, to participate in the 1A Division 2 North Star League.
The Knights were a tiebreaker away from qualifying for the 1A Division 1 playoffs last season, falling to Wallace in a Kansas City tiebreaker at the end of the regular season. Both teams finished with a 3-5 overall record and split the two head-to-head matchups, necessitating the tiebreaker.
Senior all-everything athlete Vander Brown, one of the state’s most explosive basketball players at any level, is a threat to score every time he touches the ball for Lakeside. He scored six touchdowns in one game last season and added two more touchdowns in the abbreviated tiebreaker against Wallace. The ability to get him the ball with some space will be key for the Knights this fall.
The 1A Division 1 playoffs last season featured five automatic berths and seven at-large invitations. The Division 2 format is changing a bit this season as well. There will be no at-large berths but the North Star will get two teams in this season. The no. 2 seed from the league will play in the classification’s opening weekend while the conference champ will receive a bye into the quarterfinal round. Prior to this season, the North Star had only received a single bid to the postseason with Mullan-St. Regis claiming that spot each of the past three seasons.
The fight for the two berths will be heated. Mullan-St. Regis returns a good group and knows what it takes to win. Clark Fork has been so close several times and Wallace comes into the season with the positive momentum of having reached the Division 1 playoffs last season. Kootenai will field a young, energetic team as well.
Lakeside will play Kootenai, Wallace, and Clark Fork twice each, once at home and once away. The Knights only see Mullan-St. Regis one time, September 23 in Mullan.