From battles to blowouts

SPOKANE — Rivalries on the court are one thing.

But if you put them on the same team, with the same goal of winning a Hoopfest championship, it can wind up pretty special.

Take the team of Idaho Girls, comprised of Post Falls High product Jordan Schoening, Sydney (Butler) Smyly of Lake City and Kama Griffitts of Coeur d’Alene.

Sure, they had some battles in the 5A Inland Empire League.

On Saturday, those battles turned into blowouts, as the Idaho Girls advanced past Tomato Street in a second round game in their adult female bracket at the 29th annual 3-on-3 tournament on the streets of downtown Spokane.

“Kama and I were friends in high school and hung out a lot,” Schoening said. “Sydney and I were kind of rivals because we both played point guard. In women’s league, it’s a lot of fun.”

“Sydney, Blaire (Brady) and I all play women’s league together (in Hayden), so we decided to pull a team together,” Schoening said. “Dayna Drager (another Coeur d’Alene High product) was supposed to play with us, but has her wedding going on, so we decided to call Kama.”

“I’ve been thinking about it a bit since we signed up, and just think, ‘how cool is this that we’re going from rivals to teammates,’” Smyly said. “We’ve kept in contact with each other over the years and it’s been cool to see it evolve into what it is today.”

Griffitts just returned from playing professionally with SISU Basketball in Denmark.

“It’s been a really good experience,” Griffitts said. “It’s been more of a life experience just being in another country and meeting new people and new culture. Just the everyday life is different. You learn different ways of living.”

“They just needed an extra player and it’s nice to play with them,” Griffitts said. “It’s fun because they just picked me up last minute.”

Both Schoening and Smyly were assistant coaches for the Lake City girls varsity team before stepping down before the 2017-18 season. They’re still coaching, however, with Schoening at Post Falls Middle School and Smyly at Lakes Middle School in Coeur d’Alene.

“It’s kind of fun now,” Schoening said of playing with former high school rivals. “We have fun with it. We’re not rivals anymore, but we definitely were in high school. Sydney is such a competitor. You know she’s going to come at you 100 percent.”

As far as someday making a run at an Elite Division title, don’t expect to see Smyly doing that.

“I’m really transitioning into the running part of my life,” said Symly, married to former Lake City High standout Mark Smyly. “Basketball will always be my first love and I enjoy playing with a competitive group of girls. I competed in my first Ironman in Coeur d’Alene last year (the full Ironman, in August), and that’s always been a dream of mine.”

Smyly will turn her attention to qualifying for the Boston Marathon when she competes in the Missoula Marathon on July 15 along with Brady, who was the fourth player on the Idaho Girls team this weekend.

“We’ve been training together and getting ready for that,” Smyly said. “We’ve been timing ourselves and training as cheap as possible on our own and see what happens.”

Griffitts did take time out of her busy European League basketball schedule to visit boyfriend Braian Angola, the former NIC standout, during his senior day at Florida State in March. Angola’s mother was also in attendance that day on a surprise visit.

“It was a lot of fun,” Griffitts said. “I knew she was coming, but he didn’t. It was a really good surprise because he’s usually the one that surprises people. And we just wanted to make sure he had a special day for himself, especially on his senior night because it was only the second time that his mom had seen him play in the states. It was a really, really exciting, special moment.”

Angola was also greeted on senior day by his college coaches at North Idaho College as Corey Symons and George Swanson made the trip to Tallahassee.

“He didn’t know and I didn’t even know they were coming,” said Griffitts, who met Angola when he played at NIC, and she was an assistant coach for the Cardinal women’s team. “It was really huge of them to show up because Braian loves those guys so much. He loved his time at NIC and Corey, and he was really happy to see him.”

As Florida State made its run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, which included a win over Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, Griffitts had to watch on television in Denmark, sometimes at 3 a.m.

“I had my playoffs during that same time,” said Griffitts, whose team reached the semifinals of the Eurobasket playoffs. “It would have been so much fun. I flew down that day for senior night and flew back the next day. 3 a.m. was typically the start time when he was playing, so it was some late nights for me.”

SINCE HIS graduation from the University of Idaho, Deon Watson has started giving back some of his football knowledge to youths in the area as part of the Spokane Bulls, a 7-on-7 football program.

“Basically, it’s like skeleton with no linemen,” said Watson, who starred at Coeur d’Alene High. “It’s the first year that the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene region has done it. I think it’s great for the kids. It’s another tool for them to use and gives them an opportunity to see competition outside of the city and in the Portland, Seattle and Las Vegas area. And they have fun with it, and I enjoy it as well. Playing in this area, you don’t get a lot of guys that come back and are able to help you out at all. It was kind of my way of opening that door up for kids to see, that ‘hey, people care about you and want to see you succeed.’”

Watson has also seen success in his younger brother, Anton — a rising senior at Gonzaga Prep — who has verballed to play basketball at Gonzaga. His sister, Halle, plays volleyball at Fresno State. His father, Deon, Sr., played basketball at Idaho and internationally.

“It’s the whole family,” Watson said. “I stay in his ear and try to keep him competitive and not get settled. I know my dad is always there as a mentor after playing overseas. And my mom (Anna) just tries to keep him level-headed. And my sister is always texting him and keeping him motivated. It’s a family effort when it comes to Anton. Each one of us chose our own path. My sister plays volleyball, I played football and he’s playing basketball. The one thing we expect out of him is 100 percent effort. Whatever path he choses, we’ll be there to support him 100 percent. There’s times when I see him play and I say, ‘Man, I miss playing basketball.’ We keep him level-headed, but it’s his path. We’re there to support him.”

Watson, along with his Super Soakers teammates, who include former Vandals teammate Kris Olugbode and Jason Wheelock, formerly of Lake City High, went 2-0 on the first day at Hoopfest and will resume tournament play today.

As far as continuing his football career in the newly formed Alliance of American Football in the near future?

“It’s something that stays in the back of my mind,” Watson said. “I’m a competitor, and I’ll always be a competitor. I’ll never forget to play the game of life. I’m an athlete, but also someone that has values outside off the field.”

FOR THE team of Wapbopoloobos, a Lake City High alumni team of Chris Wheelock, Scott Turner, Mark Smyly and Brady Smith, Hoopfest is a tradition.

“We’ve missed a couple of years, but I haven’t played in Hoopfest with anybody else,” said Wheelock, whose team went 1-1 on Saturday and were in a consolation game later in the day. “From fourth grade, Brady, Scotty and I have been together since then and then around middle school we started playing with Mark as well. Every chance we have to be in town during the summer, we try to play basketball together. It’s fun. They’ve been my favorite teammates. We’ve got good chemistry playing together.”

“We grew up playing together as kids playing basketball and now as adults,” Turner said. “It’s a good time to get back with the guys. It’s what we grew up doing. It’s a lot of time together this weekend.”

For Chris Wheelock, Jason’s brother, who went to NCAA Division II Westminster College in Salt Lake City after graduation, it has now came full circle.

“I’ve been all over,” Wheelock said. “Right out of high school I went to Westminster to play soccer. And then after that, I was on the soccer team and got invited to walk on to the basketball team. I went on an LDS two-year mission to Africa and came back, did another year at Westminster, and decided to call it good with basketball. Came back to NIC and played soccer, went to BYU and met my wife. Moved back to Salt Lake, and am finishing my nursing degree there at Westminster where I started.”

Since graduation, Turner has played basketball at NIC and is now an assistant coach for the Genesis Prep boys basketball team.

“We mark this on the calendars,” Turner said. “As we get older, and get busier and busier, we still try to find time for Hoopfest. For anyone that loves basketball, it’s what makes it fun. You get to watch basketball for two days straight.”

The Wapbopoloobos went 3-1 on Saturday, and will continue play this morning.

WHEN IT came to a goal for Lake City High vice principal Bryan Kelly on Saturday, it was simple, he joked.

“I just hope I don’t get hurt,” said the Lake City grad, and former girls basketball coach at his alma mater.

Kelly, along with Lake City resource officer Nate Petersen and Coeur d’Alene Police Department detective Jared Reneau, comprised LegitimousContinuous in the adult male division.

“We just love to play basketball, so why not come out and compete against these people that we’ve never played against,” said Reneau, who was playing in his first Hoopfest. “It’s the camaraderie with these guys that I enjoy. We spend a lot of time together and they’re great friends of mine. Just coming out and having another opportunity to come out and spend time with them, that’s the draw.”

The team lost its first two games on Saturday and will play in the consolation bracket semifinals today.

“My wife (Jen) keeps yelling at me that I’m going to get hurt, so I’ve got to prove her wrong,” said Kelly, who graduated from Lake City in 1995. “My body doesn’t do what it used to a few years ago. I’m a little nervous, but you still go play and try to have fun.”