The top local sports stories of 2021

Selected, in no particular order, by Press sports staff

St. Maries wins state 2A boys basketball title

St. Maries made big plays late for the second time in less than 24 hours, and edged the Ambrose Archers of Meridian 51-50 in the state 2A boys basketball championship game in March at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa for the Lumberjacks' first state title since 1960, and second in school history.

"It's surreal; it's overwhelming. I don't even know how to process my emotions right now. I'm kinda numb at the moment," said St. Maries junior Tristan Gentry, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, including a couple of HUGE offensive rebounds off missed free throws in the closing minutes. "And this one wasn't even the most wild one we had."

No, that would be Friday night, when Colby Renner hit a 30-foot 3-pointer — his only basket of the game — to lift St. Maries past two-time defending champion North Fremont 45-43 in the semifinals.

"After that game last night we were like, 'Holy cow,'" we've just got to finish this tomorrow," said Renner, who finished with nine points in the title game.

And St. Maries (23-1) did — though the Lumberjacks, who led by 10 points late in the third quarter, had to respond after Ambrose (21-3) took a 50-45 lead with 1:47 left.

St. Maries senior Eli Gibson hit the first of two free throws with 1:26 left. He missed the second but Gentry, a 6-foot-5 junior, grabbed the rebound and scored to pull the Lumberjacks within 50-48.

Gibson was fouled again with 58.5 seconds left. Again he made the first free throw and missed the second, but Gentry grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled, and sank two free throws with 56.8 seconds left to put St. Maries up one.

"I was able to push him (the Ambrose player) under the hoop — not really push him, but nudge him under the hoop. I guessed I out-jumped him and that's it," Gentry said. "We've lost games in the past because guys didn't rebound, or box out, so that's what I always focus on."

Ambrose opted to hold the ball for the last shot. With the clock winding down, junior guard Johnny Sugarman, who led all scorers with 20 points, tried to knife his way between a couple of St. Maries defenders. He ended up putting up a wild, scooping layin try from just inside to foul line that missed. The ball was knocked over top of the backboard and out of bounds — St. Maries ball with 3 seconds left.

"What was going through my head was No. 1 (Sugarman) was going to take a crazy shot and make it, honestly," Gentry said.

Ambrose railed for a foul call on the play. Meanwhile, St. Maries inbounded the ball to Gentry, all alone in the far corner, and Ambrose couldn't catch him to foul in time. Ambrose moved up a classification after winning the 1A Division I title last year.

"I kinda went and hid in the corner, and ran up the (sideline) and threw it up in the air," Gentry said. "It was a feeling of relief."

"My coaches wanted to get a timeout, but it looked like they (Ambrose) weren't quite organized yet," St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. "My gut instinct was to let them go with that, and if they got in trouble, I was going to use it. That just shows how smart these kids are; they have a good basketball IQ; it showed last night with Eli calling that timeout (at midcourt, with .6 seconds left, setting up Renner's winning shot). They're just a smart group of kids."

Gibson was the lone remaining Lumberjack to play in St. Maries' overtime loss to North Fremont two years ago in the state title game. He nearly won that game for the 'Jacks in regulation, but his driving layin rolled off the rim at the buzzer, forcing overtime.

"It's stuck with me since it happened," said Gibson, who finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists. "I watched that game for the first time, maybe two days ago, It hurt, and to finally come in here and finish it is awesome."

"We brought the picture down from two years ago, where Eli and I are crying," Chase said. "We've looked at it the last couple of days, and it just kept inspiring me to stay up late and game plan and get ready. And I know these guys were focused all week long, and we did walkthroughs for an hour and a half each day, getting ready for each opponent, and we scouted the teams out. It says a lot about what they wanted to get done down here."

"They're really good defensively, and we knew that coming in," Ambrose coach Ken Sugarman said of St. Maries. "They're just really sound; they all move well together, they take away driving lanes well, they deal with screens well. They're just well disciplined on the defensive end, and I thought, especially tonight, they were probably the most disciplined I've ever seen them in their shot selection. And obviously that pays big dividends in a state championship game. Hats off to them … it was a war."

Chapman, Lake City relays shine

After missing out on state in 2020 due to COVID-19, Lake City High's Angelyca Chapman wrapped up a stellar Timberwolf track and field career in May at the state 5A meet at Eagle High.

Chapman won the 200-meter dash in a state-record 24.61 seconds. She also won the 400 meters, and anchoring Lake City's winning 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Chapman, who also won the 400 and 4x200 and 4x400 as a sophomore, finishes with seven state titles — and who knows how more medals she would have brought home had she been able to compete at state as a junior.

"I've been dreaming of this moment since my freshman year," said Chapman, who signed with Weber State. "I've wanted these goals since my freshman year."

"She was ridiculously good this weekend," Lake City coach Kelly Reed said after the state meet. "To go 55.94 in the 400, and get pushed, it just showed her strength. She hadn't been pushed like that all year. I was worried that she might be a little tired for the 200, because she had ran some really good races beforehand, but her 200, it was absolutely gorgeous."

On the relay wins, Chapman teamed with sophomores Keturah Vogel-Greenwood and Georgia Whitehead, and junior Hailey Parks.

"Angelyca's my idol," Whitehead said. "Watching her compete earlier in the day, it just made me run faster. I was really scared to hand off to her because I didn't want to miss my handoff."

Parks was the first leg of the relay, handing off to Vogel-Greenwood, who hands to Whitehead, with Chapman running the anchor.

"It was surreal to watch," Parks said. "Without having competition, I just wasn't sure what was going to happen. Just screaming for each other and watching Angelyca finish both times, it was just magical. It was the coolest thing I've been a part of."

"For those younger girls, it was their first meet," Reed said. "To go in seeded first, it's way more pressure than any other spot. For them to back it up as well, it was a huge day for them. Angelyca was able to do what she did today because of her work ethic. (Lake City cross country and assistant track and field coach) Heather (Harmon-Reed) did just a good job with Angelyca through the COVID times, and her distance pace. We just started working on sprinting in the last six weeks. It was fun to see that pay off for her, because sometimes it doesn't. For it to go like it did today, I couldn't be more thrilled for them and how it worked out."

State wrestling: Giulio wins third straight state 5A title; Post Falls' bid to four-peat comes up short

Coeur d'Alene High junior Gunner Giulio avenged two earlier losses to Kuna's Dante Roggio, winning 5-3 in the state 5A 170-pound championship match in February at the Ford Idaho Center.

"There's a theory that you can't beat a good wrestler three times in a row," Giulio said. "So I felt like I had an upper hand. There was definitely pressure on me, and there would have been more had I not put in as much work as I had. But I knew I was ready for it."

Giulio lost to Roggio in a dual on Jan. 7, then again in the finals of the Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa on Jan. 9.

After the finals at Rollie Lane, Giulio went back to work.

"He had a great match," Coeur d'Alene coach Jeff Moffat said. "He executed his game plan perfectly. That kid loves to compete. We told him not to hang his head in the tieups and get into ties. That kid (Roggio) likes to get you in ties, and wants to get you out front and slow the match down."

With the win, Giulio is the first three-time state champion in school history.

"He's a hard worker," Moffat said of Giulio. "He just does everything right."

"It means a lot to me, and I love that I'm the first," Giulio said. "But I want to be the first four-timer. I'm excited to have that goal in front of me and so happy to have that right in front of me now."

Giulio has yet to compete this season because of injuries suffered during football season.

Post Falls' bid for four straight state 5A titles came up short as the Trojans finished third.

"We just didn't have the firepower to compete with Meridian (which qualified 29)," said Post Falls coach Pete Reardon, whose team qualified 20, and finished third with 201.5 points. "But we were happy with how the kids competed. We knew there was going to be some ups and downs, but felt great about how our kids did."

Lake City girls win state 5A soccer title

Junior Elliotte Kortus took a feed from Taytum Curtis on the run and booted a left-footed shot past the Boise goalkeeper from the top of the box in the 76th minute, sending the fourth-seeded Timberwolves (17-2-0) past the third-seeded Boise Brave (16-4-1) 1-0 in the state 5A girls soccer championship match at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian in October.

"It was a really cool moment," Ruchti said of the goal. "With about five minutes left, she walked along the sideline and I told her we had one moment left, and to just create that moment. She told me 'OK.' Soon after that, the ball pops out and sure enough, she got behind it and I've seen her make that play. Taytum made a great play and Elliotte just buried it."

"Once it went in, I just felt a rush of excitement," said Kortus, who transferred from the Seattle Academy at the start of the season. "It was pretty crazy."

It is the third title for Lake City in program history (2012 and 2016), and the first won outside of Coeur d'Alene High's field. The Timberwolves did not allow a goal after Thursday's 3-2 opening round win over Timberline of Boise.

Lake City closed the season with 11 straight wins.

"We were definitely confident going into the tournament," said junior Georgia Whitehead, who along with Kortus has verbally committed to play at Washington State. "It's been a great season and we wanted to finish it the right way. We thought we could win after beating Timberline, so after that, we wanted to work our hardest to make sure it was going to happen."

Timberlake repeats as state 3A girls basketball champs for second time in four years

Senior guard Taryn Soumas had 23 points, six rebounds and two steals as the Timberlake Tigers won their second straight state 3A title, starting strong and rolling past the Sugar-Salem Diggers 65-49 in February at the Ford Idaho Center.

"It feels amazing," Soumas said. "It's great that I get to finish my high school career with a victory at state with one of the best teams I've ever played with."

It is the fourth state title in the last six years for Timberlake. The Tigers also went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

Senior forward Brooke Jessen finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Timberlake, which shot 20 of 36 from the field, and 19 of 25 from the free-throw line.

"Making shots matters," said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, in his 16th season as Tigers coach. "We started out shooting the ball well and shooting with confidence and that really got us going to start the game."

Timberlake (23-2) was third in 2018 and 2019. Sugar-Salem (24-2) beat Timberlake in the title game in 2011 and 2015. The Tigers were in the title game for the eighth time in the past 11 years.

Since 2011, Timberlake has faced Sugar-Salem at state six times, three coming in the championship game. Timberlake has won three of the last four.

"It's awesome," Jessen said. "I'm proud of my team for playing like I know we can. And I'm glad that we could show that tonight, they couldn't play on the same court as us."

Don Haynes • 1930-2021

Don Haynes, one of the top coaches in Pacific Northwest history, passed away in Sandpoint in September at age 91. He compiled a career record of 510-225 at nine coaching stops spanning four decades. Four of his teams won state titles.

Haynes was hired at Wallace High and was an assistant coach in football, basketball and track. He moved on to Kellogg in 1959, where he was an assistant in football and basketball. He was promoted to head football coach in 1961, winning a league title and finishing with an undefeated record in 1962.

He won his first state basketball title as a coach at Kellogg in 1964.

From there, Haynes moved on to Moscow High, going 93-29 in five years.

He then coached two seasons in Astoria, Ore., then went to Twin Falls High, where he won a state title in 1974. He coached at Lewis and Clark High in Spokane for three seasons.

He moved to Meridian High for the 1978-79 season and coached there for 10 years, capturing state titles in 1979 and 1983. His '83 state championship team was named the "Greatest High School Basketball Team Ever" for Idaho by MaxPreps.

Haynes, a 1948 graduate of Coeur d'Alene High who played for legendary coach Elmer Jordan, returned to his alma mater in 1988 and coached four seasons, taking the Vikings to state in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

"I remember when he came to Coeur d'Alene at the end of his coaching career, I thought, 'Why is this guy giving me this kind of attention?'" former Viking player and current Coeur d'Alene boys basketball coach Jon Adams said. "He'd tell me every day during the summer, 'We're going to be in the gym working.' And I thought, 'Why is this guy doing this?' And he'd open the gym at any time for anybody at any time. He just gave everything back to the kids and basketball was his vehicle to mentor kids."

And it wasn't just the gym doors either.

"He'd open the doors to his home to many kids," Adams said. "I had Thanksgiving dinner at his house once. As a kid, I'd keep losing my winter coat, so he and his wife Shirley would go out and buy me one, or they'd find me one. He used basketball to give some purpose. In a lot of ways, for me personally, I can't think of anyone that had more influence on me."

Adams played for Haynes in 1990 and 1991. Adams was named head boys basketball coach at Coeur d'Alene in 2020.

Haynes first "retired" as coach in 1992 in Milwaukie, Ore. A couple years later, nearby West Linn High coaxed him out of retirement for one season, and it was there he surpassed 500 wins for his career.

Haynes retired to Sandpoint in 2001, where his son, Tyler, coached the Bulldogs for three different stints.

Donny Haynes was inducted into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.

"He was always willing to listen to others," longtime Coeur d'Alene coach and athletic director Larry Schwenke said. "When I think of him, I think of the notebooks and handouts he'd give to the kids. He had a great philosophy and wasn't afraid to share that with any coach. And that applied to many different sports."

Jim Winger was an assistant coach at Coeur d'Alene High under Haynes, and took over as head coach when Haynes retired in 1992.

"Very few people other than my parents have had the kind of impact that he had on my life," said Winger, now the longtime boys basketball coach at Lake City. "When I worked with him 30 years ago, and we wouldn't always talk basketball, I find myself doing some of the same things he did. He was really good about teaching more than basketball and life skills. He was just awesome at that."

Former Lake City High star Manzardo drafted in second round by Tampa Bay

Kyle Manzardo received the call of a lifetime on a Monday morning in July.

The lefty swinging Washington State junior first baseman, a two-time All-American, and former Lake City High star was selected in the second round of the MLB first-year player draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, with the 63rd overall pick.

"I mean, it's been crazy," Manzardo told The Press later that day. "I woke up this morning knowing that I'd be going at some point today, and then around 11, the day started moving so quick."

While the San Diego Padres were making the 62nd pick, Manzardo, who was watching the draft from home with family and friends, got a call from his advisor and now agent, Randy Rowley, letting him know the Rays were going to take him with the next pick.

A few moments later, he was watching highlights of himself on the TV screen.

"It was crazy, hearing your name called, it really is," Manzardo said. "It was hard to hold it together at that moment. My dad (Paul) was freaking out, he was so excited, and my mom (Windy) started tearing up a little bit."

In his three seasons in Pullman, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Manzardo hit .336 with 37 doubles, 16 home runs, 105 RBI and 149 hits. He set a WSU record with a 43-game on-base streak and recorded a 27-game hitting streak, the second-longest hitting streak in program history.

Manzardo is the highest ever draft pick to be born in Coeur d'Alene. John Schroeder (Coeur d'Alene High) was a fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 1994. Bobby Jenks of Spirit Lake (Timberlake High, Prairie Cardinals), who was born in California, was a fifth-round pick of the Angels in 2000.

Manzardo is the third baseball player drafted from Lake City, which opened in 1994. Kyle Johnson was picked in the 25th round by the Angels in 2012, and Aaron Gabriel was selected in the 28th round by the Marlins in 2002.

A state swimming title in the cards for Lake City girls

Sophomore Gabby Garasky won the state title in the 100-yard freestyle, then swam the anchor leg of the winning 400 freestyle relay as Lake City edged Boise 230.5 points to 221.5 in November at the West Valley YMCA and Boise Aquatics Center for the program's first state team title.

"Both were nerve-wracking," Garasky said. "In the 100, I knew I wanted to place first and had some personal expectations of myself. In the relay, I knew my teammates were relying on me. I had a suspicion that we needed to win and needed to pull through."

Last year's state swim meet was all virtual, with times from regional qualifying meets being used to determine state placing.

Not this time around.

"Last year, we didn't get an experience like this," Garasky said. "For my first state experience, it was the best feeling ever."

Lake City senior Logan Robillard, who won a virtual state title in the 200 freestyle in 2020, repeated in the event Saturday, then added a title in the 500 freestyle.

Robillard, signed with Division II Northern Michigan in Marquette, Mich., where he'll swim distance events.

NIC starts seasons late due to coronavirus pandemic

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all North Idaho College teams — fall and winter included — finally got their games, albeit exhibition games against other East Region foes going in March.

NIC’s wrestling team began in early January, finishing up the season with Sal Silva winning the 149-pound NJCAA title on April 22 at the Mid-American Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Since starting this season, former coach Mike Sebaaly was named the school’s interim president in November and Sebaaly’s assistant Chase Clasen was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.

NIC’s men’s and women’s soccer teams began the season in April, as did the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The Cardinal men’s basketball team played only six games due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, finishing 5-1. Kellsi Parson, the interim women’s soccer coach at NIC, was named head coach on Monday.

This past fall, NIC’s volleyball team won all eight matches in conference that it played. Due to new conference rules relating to COVID-19, the Cardinals had to forfeit eight matches due to issues related to the pandemic and failed to qualify for the conference tournament.

Athletic director Bobby Lee, who took over in January 2020, resigned in October to take the same position at Mt. Spokane High.

St. Maries native Buchanan retires after 22 seasons at the helm of Idaho volleyball

Idaho volleyball coach Debbie Buchanan announced her retirement in November after 22 years, 320 wins, 16 conference postseason appearances and two NCAA tournament appearances as the Vandals head coach.

A native of St. Maries and a former Lumberjack volleyball star, Buchanan took the reins of Vandal Volleyball beginning in 2000.

She said she is taking the opportunity to focus on her family. Buchanan and her husband Buck have two sons. Austin, the oldest, is a redshirt freshman on the Hawaii men's volleyball team. Blake is a junior at Lake City High, where he is a highly sought-after basketball recruit.

"I am retiring from coaching after 27 years to be closer to my family and to be able to go and watch my boys compete," Buchanan said. "I have loved my time here at the University of Idaho and appreciate all the support and friendships I have made along the way."

Buchanan (then Debbie Martin) led St. Maries High to four state A-2 volleyball championships, and earned a scholarship to USC. However, a knee injury suffered in a high school basketball game her senior season ultimately cut short her volleyball career at USC. She was an assistant at Idaho and Colorado State before becoming the Vandals' head coach.

Buchanan concludes her tenure at Idaho as the program's all-time winningest head coach, boasting a 320-317 career record, including 198-164 in conference play, spanning across the Big West Conference, the Western Athletic Conference, and the Big Sky Conference.

"Debbie committed herself to this program for over 20 years," Idaho athletic director Terry Gawlik said. "She has done everything right on and off the court and made Vandal volleyball competitive for over two decades in three different leagues. We are grateful for everything she has done for Vandal Athletics and wish her all the best going forward."

In 2003, just her fourth season as head coach, Buchanan led the Vandals to their first NCAA appearance since 1995, receiving the first at-large bid to NCAA Tournament in program history. The 2004 season saw the Vandals earn their second consecutive at-large bid and pick up the highest-ranked win in program history, a 3-2 win over No. 13 UC Santa Barbara.