Lewiston Wins Kansas Plan Tiebreaker to Decide North Idaho 5A Playoff Positioning

Bengals avenge Week 9 loss to Lakeland to beat Rams for top seed, home game in first round

Lewiston won a three-team Kansas Plan Tiebreaker to claim home game in the Idaho Class 5A playoffs. / Lewiston Bengals

The final slots in the Idaho Class 5A state tournament were determined Monday night in a Kansas Plan Tiebreaker in Coeur d’Alene that decided the order of finish for the three teams that tied for the Inland Empire League championship.

Lewiston (3-6) won the decisive mini-game 8-7 over Lakeland to claim the No. 1 seed and a guaranteed home game in the first round of the state playoffs.

Rematch on tap in Friday’s playoff opener

The Bengals’ reward for winning the tiebreaker? They’ll play Lakeland (8-1) on Friday night, as Lewiston was the lowest ranked of the seeded teams in the final MaxPreps rankings, while the Hawks were the highest-ranked at-large team in the field.

The winner will be in the same quarter of the bracket as top seed and defending champion Hillcrest, which will face Shelley in Round 1.

Sandpoint (7-2), the third team to take part in the IEL tiebreaker, is the No. 11 seed in the bracket and travels to No. 6 Minico in the first round.

How did the tiebreaker progress?

What is the Kansas Plan Tiebreaker?

Basically, it's exactly the same as overtime in a regular season game. Each team alternates possessions from the 10-yard line until one team secures the victory.

The Bengals opened the tiebreaker with a 6-3 victory over Sandpoint, then beat Lakeland 8-0 in the second round. The Hawks’ 7-0 win over Sandpoint eliminated the Bulldogs, then they beat the Bengals 6-0 to force the winner-take-all matchup.

How did we get to needing a tiebreaker?

The tiebreaker playoff became necessary when Lakeland beat Lewiston 42-17 in the season finale. The Bengals earlier in the year upset Sandpoint 54-27, while the Bulldogs handed the Hawks their only loss 31-27 in Week 8.

That victory propelled Sandpoint back into the High School on SI Idaho Top 15 rankings, where it enters the postseason ranked 15th.

First-round 5A playoff matchups

October 31 or November 1

No. 16 Shelley (2-7) at No. 1 Hillcrest (8-1)

No. 9 Lakeland (8-1) at No. 8 Lewiston (3-6)

No. 13 Ridgevue (6-3) at No. 4 Twin Falls (7-2)

No. 12 Columbia (6-3) at No. 5 Century (8-0)

No. 15 Emmett (4-5) at No. 2 Bishop Kelly (9-0)

No. 10 Blackfoot (6-3) at No. 7 Vallivue (5-4)

No. 14 Bonneville (3-6) at No. 3 Skyline (7-2)

No. 11 Sandpoint (7-2) at No. 6 Minico (6-3)