‘Playing with an edge’ — Kolton Mitchell, Lake City all-time leading scorer, hopes to lead the Timberwolves to their first state title

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

Some folks describe Kolton Mitchell, Lake City’s record-setting senior point guard, as playing with the proverbial “chip on his shoulder.”

The 6-foot, 155-pound Mitchell likes to refer to it as “playing with an edge.”

“That’s definitely part of it, but that’s also how my mentality is,” he said. “I always want to do my best for my teammates. That’s something I was born with.”

He continues with the chip/edge theme.

“It’s definitely part of it, being told I’m too small, or too short, don’t weigh enough, can’t guard, can’t do a lot of stuff, so that definitely goes into it for sure,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes it’s other things, but most of the time it’s self-motivation.”

“I’ve been watching Kolton since third grade,” Lake City boys basketball coach Jim Winger said, “and I think what separates him from a lot is his competitiveness. He’s as fierce a competitor as I’ve been around. And a lot of these other kids (on the Timberwolf basketball team) are, too. … in practice, you make a mistake in keeping track of the score, or the points in a drill, he’ll know it immediately.

“He just works his tail off. He’s in here (in the gym) shooting hours at a time. He’s played on the most competitive AAU circuit. He’s put in the time, the effort.”

Lake City assistant coach Kelly Reed started coaching Mitchell in AAU ball when he was in the fifth grade.

“He’s just a bigger, better version of what he was back then,” Reed said. “The first time I watched him, I knew he had the chance to be really good, and he was one of the better players back then, in his age group.”

Their AAU team, the Piranhas, played tournaments mostly in this region.

“After about a year you’ve seen most of the competition in the area, and I thought Kolton was the best point guard that I saw on the AAU circuit,” Reed said. “And I think it holds true now; I think he’s the best guard in the Northwest.”

For the last word on this subject, we’ll check in with his mother, Karla Mitchell, because moms know best.

“Crazy competitive,” is how mom describes her youngest son. “Even at age 2 or 3, playing foosball, he was always playing to win. His whole life he plays hard — and he competes at everything he does. I wouldn’t have ever said he had a chip on his shoulder. Maybe later, with (recruiting), but he plans to win at everything he does. He was just born that way. Being the youngest child, he definitely competed with his siblings, but honestly, I think he would have found a way to compete no matter what he was doing.”

That would include basketball in the driveway … cards … anything.

Even foosball.

“A friend of ours, Evelyn, loved foosball and had foosball tables,” Karla recalled. “And he was so little, you know the old rocking horses that bounce (on springs)? He would shove it over, and turn it, and he would stand on the side of the horse, because he was so little, he would put his feet on the side of the horse … on the bar, and he would slide up and down to play foosball because he was so tiny.”

KOLTON MITCHELL is the all-time leading scorer at Lake City, which opened in 1994, with 1,462 points, and counting.

He set the Timberwolves’ single-game scoring record with 39 points against Owyhee, the defending state 5A champions, in a December matchup at North Idaho College.

This year, he is averaging 18.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game for the Timberwolves (17-0).

He’s also the school’s career leader in 3-pointers made (186 of 486, 38.3%), assists (360) and steals (224).

He’s also a career 80.7% free-throw shooter (288 of 357).

His scoring average went from 11.0 per game as a freshman to 16.7 as a sophomore to 17.5 as a junior.

Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Lake City has a 74-20 record, with a shared 5A Inland Empire League title in 2021, an IEL crown in 2022, 5A Region 1 titles in 2021 and ’22.

In 2020, with three freshman starters, Lake City qualified for state for the first time since 2014, going 0-2.

In 2021, Lake City advanced to its first state title game since 2002, and only the second in school history, losing to Meridian in the finals.

Last year, Lake City was the top seed to state, but was upset in the first round by eighth seed Centennial, then lost to Madison for the consolation championship.

"He leads the school in almost everything," Winger said. "He has had an amazing career at Lake City. Point guards this day and age at every level are probably the most important position on a team. I feel so lucky to have him at Lake City. The things he has done on the floor the last four years are, quite frankly, amazing. The stats and accomplishments are great. However, for myself, I must say the relationship we have had over the last four years would be right at the top as well."

In September, Mitchell verbally committed to Idaho State, and signed a letter of intent with the Bengals in November.

“His size affects the (recruiting) judgment on him, and I’ve never really got that, because, to me, he’s as good a point guard as I’ve seen,” said Winger, in his 26th season as a high school basketball head coach. “I think he could play at a very high level in D-1, but they don’t get over the 6-foot-1, and the frame. But they don’t measure the courage and the heart and the determination.

“Particularly for high school basketball point guard, he’s as good as they get. One thing he doesn’t get a ton of credit for, he’s a great defender. He leads us in deflections, steals, and for his size he’s a great rebounder.

“I know I’ve said this many times, but Idaho State got a gift, and it will stun me if he isn’t a highly successful college player.”

WATCHING MITCHELL in practice, Reed said he’ll say ‘Wow’ seven or eight times a day.

“He’s thrown some passes I’ve never even seen kids try, let alone complete,” Reed said. “He threw a full-court bounce pass in practice one day, it was probably a 70-foot pass, on one hop, right on the button. The window was about the size of a basketball. It was just unbelievable. He does stuff like that every day. I feel lucky that I’ve got to watch what I’ve got to watch, the last four years of high school, and even back … "

Reed mentions the play Michael Jordan made against the Knicks when he was on the baseline, dribbled at the basket and acted like he was going to stop, then spun back toward the corner, and the Knicks defenders relaxed — then he spun back to the hoop and dunked it on Patrick Ewing.

“When Kolton was a fifth grader, he did it on the right side of the hoop, though,” Reed recalled. “He drove baseline, hit the brakes, acted like he was heading out and spun it, just like Michael, and lays it up at the end of a quarter, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’

“He does some things that you just hit ‘rewind' on film about 10 times and you go ‘Goodness sakes, how did he do that?’ Winger said. “We just kinda let him do his thing. My brother (Mike, who played at Coeur d’Alene High and then at Gonzaga in the late 1980s) was a very good point guard, and there’s been some great ones around here, but I think he’s as good as they get.”

How good?

“Well, I’m his coach and very biased, but I would say he’s the best, and I would put him over my brother. But (Post Falls’ Marcus) Colbert was obviously very good, and there’s been some others (like Max McCullough of Post Falls).

“Point guards run the show and lead the team, but what also separates him is his ability to score, from the outside and the inside, and taking the ball to the basket. And then his defense is impeccable. So yeah, I rank him at the top.

“And I apologize to my brother, who played at Gonzaga.”

KOLTON MITCHELL has been Lake City’s starting point guard since Day 1 as a 130-pound freshman.

He still has a slender frame, but is much stronger now, thanks mostly to work in the weight room, and can finish through contact much better.

“I feel this past year my vision has really gone up a lot,” Mitchell said. “I’m able to hit a lot more full-court passes, and no-look passes that aren’t necessarily flashy; they’re the pass I needed to make. So I’m able to get guys a lot more open shots, and I think we’re succeeding, and guys are starting to hit a lot more open shots … God blessed me with these talents to do that.”

Mitchell said he doesn’t pattern his game after anyone in particular, but does mention John Stockton, whose assists weren’t necessarily flashy, just effective.

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Mitchell said. “I’m trying to pass the ball a lot more this year, get my guys open shots. The games where I got, like 10 assists — those are my favorite games.”

Winger mentioned a game earlier this season against Moscow, where “he had 10 points, and he shot one 3, and I thought it was one of his better games, because of the way he handled the team, the way he delivered the ball, his decision making … “

BACK TO that “chip.”

Or that “edge.”

Winger mentions the championship game of the Curtis Winter Classic, when Lake City took on the host school, the defending Washington 4A champions, led by junior point guard Zoom Diallo, who has offers from Gonzaga, Arizona and UCLA, among others.

Led by Mitchell, Lake City jumped out to a big lead over Curtis on its home court, and won going away, by 12 points. Mitchell scored 26 points and was named tournament MVP.

“He was on a mission in that game,” Winger said. “He had a chip on his shoulder, and he was going to prove that he is very good, and I think that’s a great example.”

Reed noted how that game wrapped up an impressive eight-day stretch which saw Mitchell score 39 in an 80-60 win over defending Idaho 5A champion Owyhee of Meridian at North Idaho College, and ended with a win over the reigning champs in Washington’s top classification.

“Whatever ‘it’ is, he has ‘it’,” Reed said. “There will be a loose ball, and maybe he can’t grab it, but he’ll tip it twice, and he’ll tip it the second time to a spot where he knows he can grab it. And then he’ll get it. I just can’t believe how hard he plays … you never have to coach effort with him.”

Kolton’s take on the Zoom/Curtis matchup …

“It’s always fun playing against guys ranked super high, with a bunch of offers,” he said. “I try not to look at that, and just play my game. I’m confident in myself going up against anyone. Those games are definitely more fun, when a lot of people are watching, I like to play my best.”

And maybe show the “experts” there is another pretty good point guard in the gym?

“Yeah, I have to, a little,” Mitchell said, “just to try to get myself on the map, as well.”

KOLTON IS four years younger than his sister, Klaire, who grew up an accomplished ballerina, and following her eighth grade year was offered the chance to move to New York City for four years of training, perhaps leading to a job with the New York City Ballet.

“It was crazy; when I’m in the fourth grade hearing my sister might move to New York for good;” Kolton recalled. “Kinda scared me a little bit. … I’m super happy she decided to stay home; allowed me to get closer to her.”

Klaire opted to concentrate on volleyball, where she became a four-year starter at setter at Lake City, and is now playing at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Karla said Klaire’s leadership skills have rubbed off on Kolton.

“At college, Klaire watches film for hours, diligently,” Karla said. “She watches herself play, she watches every team she’s playing against, multiple times. She watches hours of film a day.

“That is a great thing Kolton has gotten from her. He is always watching film, and one time we were out to dinner, and somebody made a comment about him being on his phone, and Klaire goes, ‘Oh, he’s watching his practice film already.’ He’s not texting, he’s not TikTokking, he’s watching practice film.”

As it turns out, Kolton has a little bit of experience in ballet as well.

“He was in a couple ballets,” Karla said. “He was in the Nutcracker … he’s always a performer.

(Klaire) was dancing in it, and he was one of the kids in the Christmas scene at the beginning of the Nutcracker. And he did great.”

Before that, Kolton remembers watching his brother, Kaleb, now 29, play football at Lake City.

Kolton also played football growing up. He was an on-the-run passer for two years in the Timberwolves’ program, leading the freshman and sophomore teams to a combined 17-0 record. He also played some cornerback on the varsity team as a sophomore.

Heading into his junior year, he went through all the summer workouts — but on the first day of two-a-days in August, decided football was no longer for him.

“I loved playing football, but my heart’s with basketball,” Kolton said. “So I wanted to put everything into it.”

Football’s loss turned out to be basketball’s gain.

FOUR YEARS ago, when Mitchell was finishing up his eighth grade year at Woodland Middle School, he was summoned to Lake City for a meeting with Winger.

They talked about Mitchell’s upcoming career as a Timberwolf, as well as other stuff.

Then they walked into the gymnasium at Lake City, and looked up at the east wall — where all the league and regional titles, and state finishes, for each T-Wolf program are noted with rectangular plaques. State titles are noted with a gold plaque.

They looked at the section for boys basketball.

“What’s wrong with it?” Winger asked his future point guard.

“My immediate answer was, ‘There’s no state championship up there,’” Mitchell recalled. “My other answer was, ‘It’s all old. There’s no new league or district titles; it’s all from 2014 (and before).”

“That’s exactly right,” Winger said.

“So I made it my goal; we want to add some stuff there,” Mitchell recalled.

So far, his class has added plaques for two league titles, two regional titles and three state tournament appearances.

All that’s left to add is three more plaques — the final one gold.