Whitepine League full of twists, turns as season nears end

Trevan Pixley, Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
·2 min read

Oct. 2—Nothing truly makes sense.

Up is down, and down is up. In other words, just another week for the Whitepine League Division I.

Kamiah took care of business in a big way with a 52-0 shutout at Prairie of Cottonwood on Friday to put the Kubs alone atop the WPL DI standings. But as Kamiah coach Nels Kludt said, it's too early to think about November.

Here's what we learned after week 6:

Kamiah is that team until proven otherwise

As the saying goes, good teams always get better as the season progresses, and Kamiah (5-1, 4-0) is a perfect example of that.

The Kubs lacked a significant win to make them feel like true WPL title contenders. However, they finally got that against the Pirates (3-2, 3-1).

Kamiah looks to have the easiest strength of schedule remaining among league contenders, with its opponents having a combined 3-7 record.

Potlatch is next up

Kamiah has faced many challenges along the way so far this season. First, it was Clearwater Valley, then it was ­Prairie. Now, it's Potlatch.

The Loggers (4-1, 3-1) quietly have been moving up the standings, and did so again after a tough 46-38 decision at Logos of Moscow. They now are in a logjam in second place with the Rams (4-2, 3-1) and the Pirates.

Potlatch fell 56-52 at Prairie on Sept. 9 and has a date at 7 p.m. Thursday at home against Clearwater Valley. The winner still will be alive for the race for the league championship and the loser probably will be eliminated with two games remaining.

If the Loggers and the Kubs hold serve the next two weeks, the league title will be decided at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Kamiah.

Bottom of the league will make things tough for upper half

While the WPL, at least for now, is a battle between three teams, spoiler teams will come from the bottom half of the league.

The Knights were competitive in its loss to the Loggers, holding a 30-18 lead at halftime.

Lapwai never will roll over, and the Wildcats have a significant advantage when they play at home. Prairie still is Prairie, Troy has been getting better each week, and Genesee has shown resiliency since taking a 104-0 loss Sept. 15 at home against Kendrick.

Although the schools in the bottom half of the league might not be playing for the title, none of those teams will roll over for those above them.

So as Kludt also has been wont to say, it's not over until it's over, especially in the Whitepine League Division I.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.