STATE BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: Hawks flying south with limited experience

4A

One year ago, a senior-laden Lakeland High boys basketball team made the Hawks’ first appearance at the state tournament in 10 seasons.

Lakeland promptly went two and out.

This year, there will be more returning experience on the coaching staff than on the court as the Hawks return to the state 4A tourney, which begins today at Borah High in Boise.

Only three players on this year’s team were on last year’s state squad and just one, senior Andrew Knight, who was the sixth man last year, saw significant playing time.

“Last year we went down, and I think they were so excited to break that curse, and then when we got down there we had a terrific practice on Wednesday — and then couldn’t throw it in the ocean for two days,” fifth-year Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said. “So hopefully this year we have a terrible practice, and maybe they’ll change that.”

Lakeland (10-12) opens vs. District 4 runner-up Burley (16-8) today at 2 p.m. PST. Burley beat Lakeland 46-29 in a loser-out game last year, before falling to Century of Pocatello for the consolation title.

Guard Dan McDevitt and forward Forest Zubaly, both seniors, also returned with some varsity experience.

Lakeland started the season 3-7, and finished with seven wins in its final 12 games heading into state.

“Where the sparkle came from was from (sophomore) Dylan Knight, our point guard, who really matured as the season went and, of course, we got really lucky with the other sophomore, Kaden Davis, who is a terrific shooter.”

Davis, Stockwell said. “was on the jayvees last year as a freshman, and he could shoot you in a game, or out of it, so fast; he’s just one of those kids that just loves to shoot the ball. So what we had to do is put it into some sort of structure, and get him shots. Typically, if he doesn’t rush his shot, it’s going in.

“And Dylan Knight, down the stretch, being able to handle the ball and control the offense, was a big key in how this team improved.”

Lakeland will play either Preston (19-4) or Middleton (10-13) on Friday. On the other side of the bracket, defending champion Rigby (11-12) faces Bishop Kelly (14-5) in a rematch of last year’s title game, and Minico (20-4) plays Caldwell (14-12), which beat Sandpoint in a state play-in game.

Preston and Minico were ranked 1-2 in the final state media poll.

2A

How much did St. Maries second-year coach Bryan Chase NOT look ahead to state last week, while the Lumberjacks were still in the midst of their District 1-2 tournament, where only the winner advanced to state?

“They asked us to fill out an absences report (for state), and I said no, we’re not even going to look at it,” Chase said.

Chase said he never felt comfortable until St. Maries disposed of Orofino (in overtime in the semifinals) and Grangeville (in the title game) to punch the Lumberjacks’ ticket to state for the second straight year.

St. Maries (20-3) opens vs. Soda Springs (18-8) today at 12:15 p.m. PST at Capital High in Boise.

St. Maries placed third last year for its first state trophy since 2009. The Lumberjacks lost four key seniors from that squad, but returned a solid core with varsity experience, including seniors Drake Lounsbury and Chase Truscott, and juniors Jake Sieler, Kiefer Gibson, Dakota Wilson, Bryant Asbury and Brady Martin.

“We’re a totally different team (this year),” Chase said. “We’re a little quicker, and we have a lot of heart, they have that don’t-give-up attitude. We’re going to go down there and give it everything we’ve got to try to get another trophy.”

1A Division II

They’re the new kids on the block this weekend.

But as far as streaks go, Genesis Prep — in its first season as a Idaho High School Activities Association sanctioned program — is on quite the roll heading into today’s opening roung game against Rockland (15-7) at 12:15 p.m. PST at Caldwell High.

“The guys all bought into us being a team, being a family,” Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert said. “The guys all bought into it. It’s a family thing. It’s not about one guy. They battled this year, and they deserve it. They worked hard this year. They did everything we asked them to do and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Genesis Prep, ranked fourth in the final prep boys basketball poll, has won 10 straight games. As far as state experience, freshman Jonny Hillman has been at state before, watching his older brothers Zach, Matt and Mike play for Post Falls High.

“It’s going to be us against ourselves,” Hillman said. “We’ve got to play good defense to give ourselves a chance to win.

“It’s nice to have that kind of experience,” Colbert said. “In reality, we’re a young team. We don’t have a lot of guys that have played state-sanctioned basketball. This is huge. This is a big moment for these guys. We wanted to make it down there and compete. We definitely had to earn this. I think that’s good preparation for what we’re going to see at the state tournament because it’s going to be a lot of the same at the state tournament that we saw tonight. It’s going to be the same atmosphere that this game was and we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game every night.”

Genesis Prep has beaten 3A schools Kellogg (62-55 on Feb. 12) and Timberlake (46-38 on Dec. 15).

“We’ve got to play Running Jaguar basketball,” Colbert said. “We’ve got to play the way we want to play. We’ve got to work to eat. We’ve got to play defense and rebound the basketball before we can play on offense. That’s what our mentality needs to be. We need to play defense before we can play offense.”

3A

Fourth-ranked Kellogg (18-4), at state for the third straight year, and fourth in the last five seasons, opens vs. Parma (13-11) today at 2 p.m. PST at Meridian High. A win would likely put the Wildcats in the semifinals vs. second-ranked Buhl (21-2).

Defending champion South Fremont (13-12), which beat Buhl for the title last year, is in the other half of the bracket, as is top-ranked Snake River (20-2).

5A

Defending champion Post Falls saw its streak of seven straight state appearances come to an end last weekend with a loss to Capital of Boise in a state play-in game. Capital (14-12) opens vs. District 3 champ Borah (21-2) of Boise, one of the pre-tourney favorites along with Centennial (20-4), the District 3 runner-up. Centennial opens vs. Region 1 champion Lewiston (14-8), making its first state appearance since winning the 2009 state title.

1A Division I

Lapwai (20-0) is favored, and a rematch with defending champion Prairie (18-4) in the finals is possible.