STATE 5A BOYS BASKETBALL: Taking the challenge ... Lake City, with new coaches and roster, back at state after winning it all in 2023

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

This was the year the other teams were going to deliver a little payback to the Lake City High boys basketball team.

After all, the Timberwolves were the dominant team in North Idaho for the last three years, playing in two state championship games, and last year capturing the program’s first state title with an undefeated season.

But the bulk of that group graduated last year. Three of them left to play college basketball — Blake Buchanan (Virginia), Kolton Mitchell (Idaho State) and Nathan Hocking (NAIA Ottawa University in Surprise, Ariz.) — and one, Zach Johnson, is playing football at Idaho.

And indeed, some area teams did exact some revenge on the Timberwolves this year.

But this year, despite five new starters and only two returnees who saw significant playing time the last two years, Lake City is back at state again, for the fifth straight year.

“Credit first to Jim (Winger, former longtime head coach) and Kelly (Reed, former longtime assistant) and John (Astorquia, former longtime assistant), and what they’ve done with this program, the kids they’ve left behind, and the winning tradition,” first-year Lake City boys coach James Anderson said. 

The seventh-seeded Timberwolves (16-9) will play second-seeded Coeur d’Alene (20-3) in the first round of the state 5A tournament Thursday at 4 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

Anderson coached the Lake City girls the past six six seasons before taking the boys job. With Winger, Reed and Astorquia all stepping down, not only did the T-Wolves have pretty much a brand-new team, but pretty much a brand-new coaching staff as well.

“For sure, a challenge with a new staff to come in, and take five new starters,” Anderson said. “We knew it was going to take some time to get it all where we wanted to go, and it just feels like we’re peaking, and starting to play much better at just the right time, and hopefully we can keep it going. We won three games in a row this (past) week that were all loser-out, so we’ve proved that we could play under some pressure now. It’s fun to see how fast we’re growing up.”

Whereas last year’s team was expected to win a state title, this year’s squad was able to fly under the radar. 

Coeur d’Alene, waiting in the wings the past few years, emerged as the favorite, and Post Falls brought back an experienced group.

The Vikings ran the table in the Inland Empire League, won the Region 1 tournament for the first time in 13 years, and qualified for state for the first time since 2012.

Post Falls upended Lake City in the first round at regionals, but the T-Wolves eliminated the Trojans in the second-place game, then beat Centennial of Boise in a state play-in game. 

“I think we had our own expectations in-house,” Anderson said. “I know definitely people on the outside probably didn’t expect a lot from Lake City this year, but we thought we could do this. We believed the whole time that we could get to this spot.

“But it probably helps a little bit to be the underdog, and just cut it loose and play, and see what happens. That’s always a nice place to be; better than being the team with all the pressure.”

Juniors Reese Strawn and Cason Miller came off the bench for Lake City the last two years, and this year were thrust into leadership roles. Strawn averages 18.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, and he has made a single-season school record 87 3-pointers this year. Miller averages 8.8 points and 4.3 assists. Bradyn Arrieta, the team’s lone senior, and who played on the JV team last year, has made 60 3s.

“Even our senior, this is totally new to him,” Anderson said. “And even Cason and Reese, they are in a completely different role. Everybody’s doing something completely different, and with very little varsity experience. So, pretty cool that we were able to piece it all together, and get back to the state tournament for the fifth year in a row.”

Sophomore post Josh Watson was on varsity last year, but saw his season cut short due to a leg injury. This year, he’s averaging 8.2 points and 7.2 boards.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player improve so much within one season as Josh has,” Anderson said. “Just a tireless worker, and a tireless rebounder. So much more comfortable with the ball.”

Freshman forward Jordan Carlson averages 10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

“Just efficient in everything he does,” Anderson said. “He’s growing up right before our eyes. Hard to believe he’s a freshman, being able to play as poised as he does in these situations.”

Anderson said, with such a young team, there were going to be some rough moments. 

The T-Wolves lost to Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls in a five-day span, both by double digits.

“I think those programs were relishing the moment to play us, after the last stretch of guys left,” Anderson said. “We were kind of in a spot — are we going to cave in, or are we going to keep fighting, and keep believing, and keep getting better.”

Lake City came back three nights later and beat Lewiston by 27 points, and wound up winning seven of its last 10 games, and is back at state.

In the state play-in game at Grangeville, the Timberwolves raced out to a 17-point lead late in the first half.

Centennial picked away during the second half and cut Lake City’s lead to two, but Strawn and the T-Wolves made the clutch plays down the stretch to keep their season alive.

“We weren’t ready for it to be over,” Anderson said. “Centennial made us a better team in the second half, and that’s going to help us push forward.”