Kelly named Lake City girls hoops coach
COEUR d'ALENE - Less than a week before the start of practice, the Lake City girls basketball program will start in a new direction.
Bryan Kelly, 35, who has served as an assistant coach for the Post Falls boys varsity as well as head junior varsity coach, has been named girls basketball coach at Lake City High - replacing Royce Johnston, who resigned on Monday.
Johnston said he was asked to resign.
Girls basketball practices begin Monday.
"I'm very excited to get going," Kelly said. "The timing is a little crazy, but we're excited to get going."
Kelly was also an assistant coach for the girls program at Timberline in Boise, and also spent four years as an assistant boys coach at Weiser.
Johnston was 58-36 in four seasons as coach at Lake City. He guided the Timberwolves to a fourth-place finish at state in 2009, his first season. Lake City has not been back to state since, and went 10-12 last season.
"The administration at Lake City felt it was in the best interest of the basketball program for me to resign," Johnston said in a statement. "I was told by administration that a couple of girls were not going to play this year - specifically because of me. After a brief discussion, the decision to step down was reluctantly made. Although I didn't accomplish the things that I set out to do, I still leave with my head held high knowing I did my best. I have a lot of great memories and have gotten to know a lot of great people. I would like to thank Aleasha Hamilton and Joe Partington, who loyally assisted me over the past four years. I am very sad to see it end and will definitely miss it. I will always have a great passion and love for the game of basketball. After 11 years of coaching basketball at Lake City, it is time to move on and enjoy my family. Thank you to all of those who have supported me over the years and for the overwhelming support I have received the last couple of days.”
“The administration has been very supportive of Royce throughout his four years,” Lake City athletic director Jim Winger said. “He’s a first-class guy and put in a lot of hard work. It’s just a tough situation for him and we thank him for everything he did for Lake City.”
The last six state champions have come from the 5A Inland Empire League — Lake City in 2007, Coeur d’Alene in ’08, ’09 and ’10, and Lewiston the past two seasons.
“That’s the biggest challenge right there,” Kelly said. “The competition is outstanding. Our goal is to get the girls to compete at every level and buy into what we want to do with the program. We’ll need to keep getting better and win some league games — because that’s where the competition is. It’s an uphill battle, but the biggest key in everything is to work hard and get them to play as a team.”
Kelly played his senior year at Lake City in 1995, the first year of the school, for Winger — who recently returned as boys coach.
“He comes from a great family,” Winger said. “He’s a great basketball coach and a total gentleman. If anyone can get them ready to play by Monday, it’s Bryan. He wants to be a head coach and we’re really excited and think he’s the perfect guy for the job.”
Originally, Kelly was going to join Winger’s staff after taking a job as a world history teacher at Lake City at the start of the school year.
“It’s great,” Kelly said. “I’ve always wanted to be here and a coach here and be a part of the program. My wife (Jennifer; the former Jenny Owen, a standout athlete in high school and former Lake City volleyball coach) is also a teacher here and it’s really exciting to be back here. I’m real gracious for the opportunity. We’ve got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.”