THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Sunday, March 6, 2016

Standing in the corner of the Caldwell High gym, Shella Brearley was one happy athletic director on Saturday.

This school year, Genesis Prep Academy of Post Falls joined the Idaho High School Activities Association in volleyball and basketball, after years in the Mountain Christian League.

The Jaguars boys basketball team qualified for state in its first season, and on Saturday brought home a trophy, finishing third at the state 1A Division II tournament.

“These boys worked really hard; they had a vision and a mission, and they went after it,” Brearley said.

AFTER YEARS of playing the likes of North Idaho Christian, Christian Center School and the like, Genesis Prep joined the IHSAA in volleyball and hoops this year, facing the likes of Kootenai, Lakeside, Clark Fork, Mullan and Wallace in the North Star League.

The Genesis Prep girls basketball team came within one win of state, losing to Lakeside in the District 1 championship game. The Jaguar boys went undefeated in the North Star League, then won two straight at districts before going 2-1 at state.

Unlike most public schools, Genesis Prep does not have boundaries from which its students must reside.

“We have students from Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Rathdrum, Athol, all over,” Brearley said.

They have a couple from the Spokane Valley, and a few international students.

Bella Murekatete, the 6-foot-4 freshman phenom on the girls basketball team, is from Rwanda, as is one of the players on the boys’ junior varsity team.

Jackson Ebune (6-6) and Samuel Ogwuche, both freshmen on the varsity boys team, are from Nigeria.

They are not exchange students, meaning they can stay longer than one year.

“They’re here to go to school for how many years the visa gives them,” Brearley said. “People just step up and volunteer (to host them) if we get international students.”

Naturally, Brearley has heard the whispers that Genesis Prep, a private school, “recruits.”

“Nope, it’s not that way,” she said. “We actually started with the kids that were in Compete Hockey. We had 30 that were here last year internationally. It started there, and it’s just blossomed from that.”

MARSELL COLBERT is in his second year as Genesis Prep boys basketball coach. He said if someone had told him at the beginning of the season the Jaguars would be playing in the semifinals for a trip to the state title game, “I would have laughed at them.”

Still, he and his players had a feeling they could be something special. The players got that vibe over the summer, when they held their own against much bigger schools in tournaments.

During the high school season, they scheduled up, playing five games vs. 3A schools. The Jaguars beat Bonners Ferry twice, Timberlake once, and split with state 3A qualifier Kellogg. They went to the Seattle area and played a couple of larger schools over there.

“I think our guys learned that, don’t let the 1A Division II label tell that you that you’re a 1A Division II basketball team,” said Colbert, a former assistant coach at North Idaho College and Post Falls High, and former head coach at Falls Christian Academy.”You can play with anybody on any given day. And I wanted them to understand that, it’s basketball — I don’t care what level you are at. It’s basketball. You have to compete, night in and night out.”

You may recognize the last names of the two standout players.

Senior forward Caleb Symons is the nephew of North Idaho College men’s basketball coach Corey Symons. Caleb’s father, Tim, played at Lakeland High.

And Jonny Hillman, a freshman guard, is the brother of Post Falls High senior Zach Hillman, a standout football/basketball player.

“It’s been a lot of learning, a lot of growing, and I wouldn’t have traded it for the world,” Brearley said of the transition from the MCL to the IHSAA. “I learned that if you have a vision for something, don’t wait. Step out and go for it.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of the Press. He can be reached by phone at (208) 664-8176, ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.