Post Falls' Kempton named Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year

Post Falls senior Melody Kempton added another honor to a great season on Monday, as she was named the 2017-18 Gatorade Idaho Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

The award — which recognizes athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field — distinguishes Kempton as Idaho’s best high school basketball player, officials with The Gatorade Company announced in a press release.

Kempton’s honor comes as no surprise to Post Falls girls basketball coach Marc Allert, or fellow basketball coaches throughout the region and state.

“Melody’s a great basketball player, but she’s an even better person,” Allert said Monday. “She has a 4.1 GPA, does a lot of volunteer work in the community and through her church, and she’s just a very giving person.”

Kempton, a 6-foot post player, led the Trojans to a 24-2 record and Class 5A state championship this season. The four-time Inland Empire League Player of the Year and three-time all-state selection averaged 16 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 3.0 steals and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 63 percent from the field.

“Melody just changed the game athletically,” said Dave Cornelia, Lewiston girls basketball coach. “She definitely separated herself from the pack in our league and in our state.”

Kempton has maintained a 4.12 grade-point average in the classroom and has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Gonzaga University beginning this fall.

A three-time state champion high jumper and triple-jumper, Kempton has volunteered with the St. Pius X Catholic parish youth group and as a host of the Idaho Catholic Youth Convention. She also donates her time in community service initiatives at national parks, as a youth basketball camp leader, and as a reading volunteer at local elementary schools.

She joins Post Falls alumni Katelyn Loper (2009-10) and Dani Failor (2012-13) as Gatorade statewide award winners, along with recent North Idaho standouts Katie Baker of Lake City (a three-time Gatorade award winner, from 2006-07 through 2008-09) and Tisha Phillips of Lewiston (2011-12).

Kempton also gives Post Falls a sweep of Gatorade Idaho basketball player of the year honors this season, as Trojan senior Jake Pfennigs was honored in boys basketball.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.

The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board to determine the state winners in each sport.

Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate to a national or local youth sports organization of their choosing. Kempton also has the opportunity to enter an essay contest and advocate for their organization receiving $10,000 in additional support.