This was a great article!

Lady Miners punch ticket to 1A State Tournament
Posted: Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - 10:21:07 am PDT
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer

WALLACE -- When the Wallace Lady Miners walked into the gym for the first time as a group for practice in early August, they probably didn't know how the season would finish, but at least they knew they were going to have fun finding out.

However, when the dust settled on the 2007 District Tournament, the Lady Miners were making plans for another week of fun in southern Idaho as they open the 1A State Tournament in Lewiston on Thursday.

Wallace seniors Kristin Hartmann and Jessica Johnson, who have been members of the varsity program at the school for the past three years, with both of them getting a taste of the upcoming state tournament a season ago.

When it came to their early season expectations, both knew it would be an interesting year.

"We knew it was going to be fun," Johnson said.

"We didn't know where we'd be in the league, but we knew we could keep up with everyone in the league," Hartmann said.

Wallace also graduated six seniors from their team from a season ago, making the Miners a different team when they took the floor this season.

"We knew we'd be a different team with six seniors graduating," Johnson said. "But we knew what it would take to get to state, along with the physical ability."

The Lady Miners battled their way through last weekend's district tournament, outlasting Coeur d'Alene Charter in five games and getting Kootenai in four games to earn the No. 1 seed to state.

"It was pretty amazing," Johnson said.

"It's the best feeling I've had in sports," Hartmann said. "We proved people wrong and played as a team, not as individuals.

It's the first time our class got it done."

Going into the District Tournament, the seniors added that they weren't too sure of what to expect as the tournament unfolded in Mullan.

"It was unpredictable," Hartmann said. "We didn't know what would happen."

"All we wanted to do was keep our heads held high and have faith in ourselves and team that we could do it," Johnson said.

During the district championship match, the Miners got a little scare when Hartmann was hit in the throat by a spike from Kootenai senior Hannah Nyrop. Hartmann went down and crawled out of the court while they continued to play.

"When I got hit, I wasn't sure what happened," Hartmann said. "I didn't know what was going on, but I got it together and went back into the game. It was a weird feeling."

"Playing against Hannah and Katie (Baker), they are both good hitters," Johnson said.

When the team steps on the floor for the first time on Thursday morning, in the first match of the day against Shoshone, they have already set a goal for this weekend's tournament.

"We expect to keep playing as a team," Johnson said. "We just want to enjoy every minute and try to get as far as we can."

Depending on how the Miners do this weekend, they won't have long to rest from the volleyball tournament as their basketball season gets going next week with the first practices of the season.

"I think we have a shot at being successful," Johnson said. "We have more team speed than in previous years to do it as long as we work together and have the determination as a team."

Both added that they've enjoyed the season to this point and are looking forward to getting on the court one more time this weekend.

"It's been amazing," Hartmann said. "This is the best year of my sports career."

"We didn't have any expectations coming into this season," Johnson said. "There wasn't any pressure. I'm proud and happy to have proved people wrong."

Both are also happy to have their fellow North Star League rivals Kootenai on the way to state with them.

"I'm glad we're going with Kootenai," Johnson said. "We both respect them as a team and we get along with everyone on their team."

With the state tournament being played only hours away from their school, the players may see a couple more of their supporters and fans starting this Thursday.

"It's mostly our parents and church group members," Johnson said. "It feels really good to have them yelling for us."

"They give us a reason to play hard," Hartmann said. "It doesn't matter if we win or lose, they are behind us all the way."