THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Lumberjacks learn lessons on court, life lessons off it

After a year elsewhere, St. Maries returned to its home away from home this year for the state 2A boys basketball tournament last week.

And the Lumberjacks felt right at “home” again.

A large contingent of fans from up north — and some from the Treasure Valley — cheered boisterously as the team won two games at Capital High in Boise and advanced to the state title game for the third time in four seasons.

“We have quite a few students going to BSU now; they all came out and supported us,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “Gosh, there had to be a couple hundred fans that made the trip down. So yeah, it was nice to see. We’re the one team that doesn’t have a band and cheerleaders down here, so when our fans get behind us, that means a lot.”

Chase has taken St. Maries to state in each of his eight seasons as Lumberjacks coach. In seven of those years, the 2A tourney was at Capital. Last year, due to COVID-19 restrictions in Boise, the 2A tourney was played at Eagle High.

Capital High has been good to St. Maries under Chase. The Lumberjacks are 12-7 in the building since coming to Capital in 2015.

“We love coming here; they’re great hosts, they treat us well,” Chase said of Capital.

This year, St. Maries won its quarterfinal and semifinal games at Capital High before advancing to the championship game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, where the ’Jacks fell to Melba.

Senior Tristan Gentry-Nelson played at Capital at state his freshman and sophomore year.

“It feels like a home away from home,” he said. “We’ve got a full student section, and a bunch of parents traveled … it’s awesome. It gives us the ability to have momentum. If there’s no noise, no cheering, it’s just like an open gym. The fans make it so much more special, more fun to play.”

THE LUMBERJACKS have made it to at least the semifinals in each of Chase’s eight years at the helm.

The first four years, St. Maries lost in the semifinals. Twice, the ’Jacks came back to win the third-place game; twice they lost.

The last four years, St. Maries has won in the semifinals three times and, in 2021, won its first state title since 1960.

“I think even as coaches, you learn a lot about what it takes to get there,” Chase said of the progression. “I think we prepare more now, probably more than we ever have. The first couple of times you come down here you don’t realize what a business trip it is. People think sometimes it’s a vacation. But we watch film until midnight every night, and we’re up at 6 (a.m.) making a game plan as a coaching staff. The kids take it pretty seriously too, in their walk-throughs.”

AH, THAT defense.

It didn’t lead to a repeat state title, but it helped win the two games at Capital, and kept St. Maries in the title game when its shots weren’t falling.

The Lumberjacks concede nothing on defense. They contest everything, and often end up on the floor. You could notice some players on the other teams looking at the refs after being defensed by the ’Jacks, looking for a call.

“We’ve always been hard on defense, getting up in their grill, and that’s paid off,” senior guard Coleman Ross said.

St. Maries gave up 34, 50 and 59 points in its three games.

“Most teams know us for our defense, and we take pride in it,” senior post Colby Renner said. “We work on it every day at practice. We push ourselves every day; the underclassmen push us seniors, it helps us out a lot. We press a lot, and you could tell when a team gets tired, they start making lazy passes, and that’s what we want. We want to create turnovers.”

GENTRY-NELSON has been known as Tristan Nelson and Tristan Gentry at various times in his high school career.

This season, he chose to go by Tristan Gentry-Nelson, to honor his father, Brendon Nelson, who played on Lakeside High’s state basketball champions in 1997.

Brendon Nelson passed away this past fall, just prior to the start of basketball practice.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, last Friday, prior to St. Maries’ semifinal game vs. West Side, Tristan learned that his grandfather had passed away the day before.

Gentry-Nelson honored his grandfather with 16 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Lumberjacks back to the title game.

“My team kept me up, they helped get me through it,” Gentry-Nelson said after Saturday’s state title game. “My coaches, my family, my girlfriend, they were all there for me.”

“At that point, you’re wondering if he’s going to be able to play,” Chase said. “But Tristan channeled it in the right direction; ‘I’m going to play this tournament for my dad and my grandpa.’ It just shows how his mentality has changed over the years. It says a lot about him.”

For the tournament, Gentry-Nelson, who is attracting some interest from area colleges, totaled 39 points and 30 rebounds in three games.

And honored his dad and grandfather as well.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.