A look at the other guys in town

For some, it is a tradition to come to Coeur d’Alene for the holidays.

As teams arrive for the Lake City Holiday Invitational — which runs Thursday to Saturday — it’s a little bit of a homecoming as well.

COLUMBIA RIVER coach David Long was born in Coeur d’Alene in 1960.

“My dad (Sonny Long) went to Coeur d’Alene High, played and later coached for Elmer Jordan way back,” David Long said. “He coached baseball as well as basketball at Coeur d’Alene before taking the head basketball job at North Central, then Lake Oswego (Ore.) for 33 years. He retired as one of the winningest coaches in the state of Oregon back in the early 90s. My dad is 85 years old and still sits on my bench during most games as an assistant coach.”

Columbia River, of Vancouver, Wash., opens the tournament on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. against Post Falls.

Long, as well as all of his assistants, attended the University of Idaho. Jim Sevall, the junior varsity coach, graduated from Idaho in 1976. He also coached the Vandal men’s and women’s tennis team from 1979-85. David Long played tennis for Sevall at Idaho.

“I personally really love the area,” David Long said. “I will admit the summer months are more appealing to me than the winter. As long as the roads are clear, it is an easy half day’s drive from Vancouver, Wash., and we’re in an entirely different part of the Northwest.”

This will be the fourth straight year Columbia River has participated in the tournament.

“(Lake City) coach (Jim) Winger does a great job putting on a first-class event,” David Long said. “We get great games against teams we would never see otherwise. The officiating is some of the best we see all season, and we don’t have to play with that dang shot clock. (The state of) Washington put a shot clock in a few years back, and it makes everyone play at the same tempo. We like playing in Idaho or Oregon, because you get to play good old-fashioned high school basketball. Coaches and players can determine the tempo, not a clock on the wall.”

While in town, Long has plenty of ideas for things to do to pass the time.

“Special thanks to The Coeur d’Alene Resort for putting us up each year,” David Long said. “It is a wonderful treat from our kids to stay in a first-class resort. We never take the accomodations for granted. It makes the trip worthwhile. We try to hit up a Zag game if they are in town at the same time we are. I know Dan Dickau pretty well. His former high school coach has a couple of boys who play for me, so Dan will try and get tickets for our team when we come up. Last year, Gonzaga was sold out, Dan couldn’t even get us some tickets, so we went to watch North Idaho College play. They were pretty darn good, and our kids liked that as well.”

Gonzaga hosts North Alabama on Friday. NIC competes in the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday through Saturday.

Columbia River is 5-1 heading into Thursday’s game.

“We are coming off a sixth-place finish at the state (2A) tournament a year ago,” David Long said. “We have four of our top six kids back from that team. Experience and shooting is our strength. We have pretty good length overall and we are very disciplined in our offensive approach. Our scoring can be very balanced.”

KENTRIDGE OPENS the tournament, the program’s fifth trip to the event, against Coeur d’Alene on Thursday at 5:15 p.m.

“We love the hospitality that the tournament staff and Resort staff give the visiting teams,” Kentridge coach Dave Jamison said. “We enjoy spending time together as a team and playing teams that we don’t see all the time. To pass the time we go bowling and have a team lunch or dinner at Red Robin.”

Kentridge, a 4A school in Kent, Wash., is 7-2 entering Thursday’s game.

“We have an experienced group of hard working kids that play well together,” Jamison said.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.