PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Season tips off tonight
The Idaho high school girls basketball season tips off tonight, though most area teams don’t begin until next week.
Genesis Prep of Post Falls, in its first season with an Idaho High School Activities Association-sanctioned girls basketball program, opens tonight at 7:30 vs. Mullan at the Silver Valley Tournament in Mullan. Wallace and Kellogg square off in the first game at 6 p.m.
Next Tuesday, Post Falls plays host to Sandpoint, Timberlake visits Moscow, Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy travels to Kellogg, St. Maries plays host to Kootenai, and Lakeside plays North Idaho Christian at Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene.
Next Thursday, Coeur d’Alene opens at Lakeland.
Next Friday, Lake City opens at Sandpoint.
Here are capsules on area girls basketball teams. They will be profiled further, along with boys basketball, wrestling and North Idaho College teams, in the Press’ annual winter sports special section, scheduled to be published Dec. 3.
5A
Coeur d’Alene
After qualifying for state in each of Dale Poffenroth’s first 10 seasons as Viking coach, Coeur d’Alene went 10-13 last year and failed to make it to state.
But Poffenroth was encouraged by the play of his team during summer ball.
However, as the high school season begins, thanks to injuries, defections and other issues, only seven of the 13 players he had pencilled in on the varsity at this point will be able to play with the Vikings open next week.
“So what should have been a decent, respectable team — not like I had the first 10 years, but much better than last year — is in disarray,” Poffenroth said.
Returning players from last year’s team include senior guards Baylie Miller and Emily Callahan, junior forward Isabella Hollibaugh, junior guards Taryn Horvath and Kayla Fagan, and sophomore forward Ali Rollins.
Among the newcomers are a pair of freshmen, post Kelly Horning and post/forward Rey Louden.
If the Vikings can get back close to full strength ...
“If we can get it back to where we were this summer, we have a chance to win some league games,” Poffenroth said.
Lake City
The Timberwolves return all but two players from last year’s 16-10 squad, looking to get back to state for the first time since 2009.
Three starters return in senior guards Whitney Meier and Olivia Maryon, and junior post Lauren Rewers.
Five others also return with varsity experience — senior guards Cierra Dvorak, Kate Maryon and Madi Vershum; junior post/wing Nina Carlson and sophomore post Keara Simpson.
Among the provmising newcomers is Bridget Rieken, a 5-11 post. Along with Rewers (6-4), Carlson (6-2) and Simpson (6-1), the Timberwolves are loaded with size inside.
“We’ve got some posts that have played, and gotten a lot better than last year,” said Bryan Kelly, in his fourth season as Lake City coach. “We can pound the ball inside, and our guards are athletic — we can get the ball up and down the floor.”
Post Falls
The Trojans finished 18-7 last season, coming up one game short of state, falling to Rocky Mountain of Meridian in a state play-in game.
Post Falls returns just three players from last year’s squad, including two starters in sophomore post Melody Kempton and sophomore point guard Bailey Brennan. Kempton, who averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds, was the player of the year in the 5A Inland Empire League last season.
“Melody was kind of an unknown product last year,” fifth-year Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “She doesn’t have that luxury this year; she’s going to draw more attention.”
Among the varsity newcomers are four sophomores — guards Abby Gennett, Glory Ellison and Macky Morris, and post Sydney Parks.
“We’ll be a work in progress, but I think we’ve got potential to be pretty good at the end of the year,” Allert said.
For the second time in a decade and a half, Post Falls has an Aubree Johnson in the program. This one is a 6-2 senior post who is transfer from Colorado along with her twin sister, Charissa, a 5-10 guard/post.
The Aubree Johnson that previously played for Post Falls helped the Trojans win a pair of state titles, was a state player of the year, and went on to play at Arizona State.
“That’s got to be a good thing, right,” Allert said of having another Aubree Johnson on the roster. “I told her, ‘no pressure.’ But she’s going to help us. She’s a big, physical body that we don’t have.”
4A
Lakeland
Senior guard Faith Bodak and junior guard Tauna Kirk are returning starters for the Hawks, who finished 5-16 last season.
Senior post Savannah Pruitt also started some games last year. Senior post Kassie Bilski and senior guard Brooklyn Bunch are other returners with experience. And junior guard Brittany Charles has “quite a bit of potential to play some significant minutes at point guard,” Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said.
“There seems to be quite a bit of positive energy,” said Seymour, beginning his 21st season as Hawks coach. “They talk about wanting to get back to the district championship game; a lot of them played in it two years ago. They were disappointed they didn’t get the opportunity to do that last year.”
One year after upending Moscow in the semifinals before losing to Sandpoint in the title game, Lakeland fell to Moscow in the semis last year.
“These guards have enough quickness ... there’s some interesting possibilities,” Seymour said.
Senior Emily Vanderhoof, who started most of the last three seasons at point guard, transferred to Timberlake.
3A
Timberlake
To ask Tigers coach Matt Miller to rattle off his returning starters could take a while.
Not only did Timberlake lose just one player from last year’s 21-4 squad that finished second at state, nearly all of the returning players started at one time or another last year, because of injuries.
Back is junior guard Allison Kirby, the Intermountain League MVP last year, along with junior guard/forward Keelie Lawler and senior guard Peyton Rhodes, all-IML selections last year.
But also back is junior forward Jacqueline Mallet, senior post Carlene Simpson and a trio of sophomores — guards Lilly Kelley and Shelby Starr, and post Kayle Jezek.
Senior guard Erica Powell missed most of last season with a torn ACL, and senior forward Anna Gardom missed most of last season with a foot injury.
Between concussions and injury, Lawler missed about half of last season.
“It ended up being a positive,” Miller said of the onslaught of injuries. “Especially the freshmen last year — Lilly, Shelby and Kayle — ended up taking on a bigger role than initially we had intended. Then the others came back, and we were much better for it in the long run.”
Finding enough playing time for all his talented players will be a job for Miller, in his 11th season at Timberlake.
Rhodes recently had foot surgery, and Miller hopes to have her back by early December.
“The biggest thing is kids just buying in, knowing their going to have to sacrifice,” Miller said. “With us so deep, the kids having a team-first mentality.”
One key newcomer is senior guard Emily Vanderhoof, a transfer from Lakeland.
2A
Coeur d’Alene Charter
In his fourth season as Panthers’ coach, Doug Grant plans to take small ball to a new level.
“The strength of this team is our speed; we are very quick and athletic,” said Grant, whose squad is coming off a 11-11 season last year. “We’re going to turn this thing up a notch. Look for more full-curt pressing, and speeding this thing up. It’s just going to be different, pushing the ball up the floor. We’ve got 10 guards, so we’re going to turn it up and move it up and down the floor.”
Senior guard Abby Bartlett and junior guard Mae Alexander are returning starters for Charter. Sophomore guard Maya Zollman and junior guard Alexis Taylor are returnees with experience.”
Jackie Jensen, a three-year starter at post, did not turn out, Grant said.
“We’ll run a lot of five-guard sets,” Grant said. “We’ve got all guards, we’ve got no true posts on team. I think we’ll surprise some people; we’ll obviously take some lumps in the beginning.”
The Panthers, who are moving up to 3A next year, have a junior varsity team for the first time in the history of the program, which began in 2009.
St. Maries
The Lumberjacks nearly made it to state last year for the first time since 2002, but fell to Marsing in a state play-in game.
Four starters return from last year’s 10-13 squad — senior guards Alexis Cordell and Kari Ghramm, junior post Kelsey Auer and junior point guard Shelby Holder.
Three other juniors return who started occasionally last year — Devyn Wilson, Kaylee Auer and Paige Sines.
“We return a lot of experience, so hopefully that pays off,” said Jay Sines, in his sixth season coaching at his alma mater. “We need to cut the turnovers.”
Last year, he said, the Lumberjacks were averaging around 30 turnovers a game at the start of the season, and got it down to around 15-16 a game by the end of the season.
“I thought we did a good job of cutting the turnovers,” Sines said.
Kelsey Auer averaged 10 points and 11 rebounds per game last season.
“We were real close,” Sines said of last year’s play-in game. “We had the lead all the way until the fourth quarter, then we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”
1A Division II
Genesis Prep
The Jaguars move up into the North Star League, after playing last year in the Mountain Christian League.
No one returns from last year’s 15-9 squad. This year’s team consists of eight freshmen and one sophomore.
Three of the freshmen have significant previous playing experience, and figure to form the core of this year’s team — freshmen guards Rachel Schroeder and Shaye Schreibeis, and 6-3 post Bella Murekatete, an international student from Rwanda.
“Bella is very well skilled,” first-year Genesis Prep coach Debbie Holte said. “She is a real strong post player; she’ll do a lot for us off and defensively.”
Holte was an assistant for the Post Falls girls for two seasons, including the 2012-13 squad that won the state 5A title.
Genesis Prep played in a jamboree with the other North Star League teams last weekend, and Holte said the Jaguars should be competitive. But there could be some growing pains along the way.
“We go into the season opener with nine practices with no one that has played high school basketball,” Holte said. “We’ll be in such a stronger place in February, because now we’re starting at zero.”
Kootenai
The Warriors lost three seniors, including North Star League co-MVP Katey Mae McInturff, to graduation. But there are several returnees for the Warriors, who went 12-9 last year.
Seniors Grace McInturff, Ali Short and Jenna Karpinski are back, as are juniors Michaela LaFountaine and Paxton Dotson, and sophomore Kaili Gentry.
“We have some things we are really working on which will I think help put us in a situation where we will be playing our best ball at the end of the season,” Kootenai coach Mike LaFountaine said. “We have to outwork our opponents and cut down on the mistakes to improve our chances. It is really going to come down to defense every night and to carry us through the season.”
LaFountaine is also looking for contributions from juniors Hannah Whipple and Brook Larson
“Hannah has the potential to be a great floor leader and Brook is a good outside shooter,” LaFountaine said. “Hannah has a toughness to her that can really be an asset on the floor. I am excited for both of these girls.”
Lakeside
The Knights return all but one player, including all five starters from last year’s 12-11 team that brought home the consolation (fourth-place) trophy from state, in the program’s first trip to state in 10 years.
All told, eight players return, including returning starters in senior point guard Talia Hendrickx, senior guard Jordyn Nomee, senior post Cailyn Dohrman, junior guard Rachael Arthur and junior post Lillian Rhea.
“What I found, going through this summer league, the girls I have now are able to do things we were able to do at the end of the season right now,” said Chris Dohrman, in his second season coaching Lakeside’s girls. “I have my full offenses in right now.”
He said last year’s state experience should be helpful this year, but there’s still work to do.
“We’ve got to get better defensively,” Dohrman said. “We’ve got to be able to run our offenses better, and work on the little things, to be honest with you.”