Snow cancels basketball games

SANDPOINT — As anyone who's been shoveling roofs, sidewalks or driveways knows by now, the heavy snowfall is throwing quite a wrench into life as we know it in Bonner County. The high school sports schedule is also taking a beating, as a spate of games have been either canceled or postponed.

The Sandpoint girls basketball team is ready and willing to host its district playoff opener against Moscow, but Mother Nature continues to squelch the idea. Icy roads and heavy snowfall, coupled with school cancelations and the long bus ride from Moscow, continue to push back the game, which was originally slated for Tuesday night. The game has been postponed an unheard of fourth time, presently scheduled for Saturday night at 6 p.m., after school was canceled Friday.

The Bulldog boys basketball team's home game against Lakeland tonight has also been postponed, the second time this week they've lost a game due to the inclement weather.

Clark Fork has had to postpone several league games as well. The boys team was supposed to play at Wallace on Tuesday and host Mullan tonight, but both games have been called off. The Clark Fork girls game against Kootenai, originally scheduled for Thursday and then moved to Friday, now faces the prospect of being canceled all together.

"It's Mother Nature's way of throwing a wrench in things once in a while," said Clark Fork athletic director Brian Arthun, who like his colleague at Sandpoint, Cheryl Klein, has been scrambling to reschedule games.

Arthun says he and the other North Star League athletic directors are trying to figure out a plan B scenario, in case they can't get all the league games in. Clark Fork's game against Kootenai will factor into the seeding for the girls district tournament, which starts next Wednesday.