- Battle for the Paddle (BFTP), an annual spirit event, is one of the most highly anticipated North Idaho sporting events each year.
Two heated rivals, Lakeland High School and Sandpoint High School, alternate hosting a seven-hour, tension-filled spirit competition that draws a significant crowd. The event’s judges are announced in the beginning and ultimately decide the fate of the paddle winner.
Lakeland won the inaugural BFTP in 2017, and Sandpoint won in 2018. Since their 2018 victory, the Bulldogs have yet to take the paddle back and have now lost five consecutive times as of Jan. 19. Though the six-year defending champ Lakeland was weary about holding onto the paddle, the Hawks came through once again when it mattered most.
This year’s event was held at LHS in Rathdrum and began at 4 p.m. with a girl’s basketball game. The Hawks (5-8, 0-2) played excellent team defense in the first half and led the Bulldogs (16-3, 3-0) 23-16 going into the break.
Sandpoint senior Karlie Banks scored 33 points, and the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half. Banks finished with 33 of the Bulldogs’ 49 points in a 49-41 win, giving Sandpoint an early edge in the competition.
Landree Simon scored 12 points for a Lakeland team that struggled to make shots in crunch time.
Both schools had cheer routines, and Lakeland’s dance team performed well. After girls’ basketball was wrestling. Lakeland dominated wrestling 63-12, silencing the Sandpoint crowd. Lakeland pinned six Sandpoint wrestlers, courtesy of Kade Knopp, Carson Leonard, Duke Williamson, Kros O`Brien and Carter Vanek.
The final event of the night was the boys basketball game. This game was extremely important for head coach Tony Hanna’s team after starting league play 0-2 with a loss to both Sandpoint and Moscow. Sandpoint (7-9, 1-4) was unable to find a comfortable flow at any point in the game, and the Hawks (9-5, 1-2) won 67-58.
Kenton Ferguson played lockdown defense for four quarters and notched 16 points, tying Mason Hensley for a team-high. The Hawks outscored the Bulldogs by eleven points in the third quarter after trailing by four at halftime.
23 points in one quarter made the difference for the Hawks en route to yet another BFTP game victory. The Hawks have completely flipped the script from last season, holding nine wins by the end of January, while they only won three regular season games in 2022-23.
Emerik Jones scored 22 points for the Bulldogs but was held in check in the second half.
Lakeland now owns home-court advantage over the Bulldogs due to a point differential in the two games the teams played.
Senior Ben Ryan feels bittersweet that this was his final year to play in such a high-intensity game.
“I am definitely going to miss the feeling of playing in a basketball game and just striving to do my best to bring home the win for Lakeland in front of basically the whole school and parents,” Ryan said. “Getting to rush the floor after hearing our name as the winner of the paddle is a feeling I’m never going to forget.”
During the second half of the boys’ game, following the lip sync competition, fundraising totals were announced. Lakeland fundraised a record $33,500, And Sandpoint only raised $13,300.
The Hawks beat Sandpoint with a score of 168.1-141.7 and will hold the paddle for a sixth year in a row.
Aside from sports, BFTP consists of many competitions that are all worth a set amount of points.
There are plunger car races, which are cardboard cars that are decorated according to each school’s adopted theme. Then, teams of four use plungers to propel themselves across the gym floor and race from baseline to baseline. Sandpoint beat Lakeland in this event easily.
Each side can gain points based on how loud they cheer, the events they win and sportsmanship.
LHS won sportsmanship 23.7-21.2, school spirit 14.5-12.6, lip sync 13.7-12.5 and band 13.5-10.7. The schools tied in the rap battle and spirit posters sections, and Sandpoint won the paddle drawing 14.7-13.
There are two separate decibel readings to see whose student section is the loudest. All the students huddle together as close as they can, stomp their feet and scream to their heart’s content.
This was a momentous year for Lakeland, who won both readings, though they entered the night never having won one in the past. In the first reading, which took place after the girls’ basketball game.
Lakeland beat out Sandpoint with an impressive 119 db reading, while Sandpoint got 113. For the second reading, Lakeland won later 116-112.
Lip syncs are a highly anticipated component of BFTP.
Lip syncs are not the only music-related event; there are also rap battles thrown in the mix. These usually consist of two to four students rapping custom lyrics over a beat, and parody versions of famous songs are frequent.
The atmosphere in the gym was unrivaled throughout the event, which was the best part of being in the stands.
Both sides have chants and cheers to help their team. The “We Got Spirit” chant and “We Love Judges” chants turn into competitions between each side to see who can chant longer.
Lakeland repped a rock n’ roll theme, while Sandpoint’s theme was racecar.
“I am going to miss the school cheering on the cheer team after our routine,” LHS senior Charlie Dickerson said. “Battle for the Paddle is the one time we get to show the school our routines and all the work we put in for each routine. Being able to hear the crowd after we hit everything is an unforgettable feeling. Battle for the Paddle is such a positive high school experience.”
