Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Lake City
2. Lewiston
3. Coeur d’Alene
4. Post Falls
Players to Watch
Kolton Mitchell, Lake City|
Blake Buchanan, Lake City
Zach Johnson, Lake City
Jace McKarcher, Lewiston
Brayden Forsman, Lewiston
Chance Eke, Lewiston
Cameren Cope, Coeur d’Alene
Steven Burgess, Coeur d’Alene
Jack Sciortino, Post Falls
Tyrus Blake, Post Falls
Written by: Will Hoenike
To hear the coaches of the 5A Inland Empire League tell it, it’s Lake City’s world and the rest of us are just living in it.
Gamesmanship? Perhaps. However, the Timberwolves do return four starters, including junior Kolton Mitchell, who was the league’s MVP and an all-state honoree as a sophomore, from a team that played for the 5A state title at the Ford Idaho Center last March. All he did in Lake City’s opener this season was score 38 points, which tied a school record set by former NCAA Division 1 player Matt Dlouhy.
Lake City will be challenged inside the IEL and will also make a trip to southern Idaho in December to play a trio of games, including a rematch of last spring’s championship game against Meridian of the Southern Idaho Conference.
Head coach Jim Winger’s squad returns fellow all-state honoree Blake Buchanan and three-year starter Zach Johnson. Like Mitchell, they’re both juniors. The team also welcomes 6-foot-6 transfer Nathan Hocking from Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington, to an already deep and talented roster.
“We have great team chemistry and energy,” Winger said. “We’re still young, but we’re experienced.”
Tests await, however. The southern edge of the IEL, Lewiston, must replace a trio of three-year starters in Kash Lang, Joel Mulikin, and George Forsman, but the Bengals still return four solid seniors that should have the team in the hunt to advance in post-season play, as it did last season when it went to the 5A play-in game against the SIC’s Eagle Mustangs. That game was won by Eagle, so there is a clear goal for the Bengals.
“Motivation is to get over the hump,” said veteran head coach Jayson Ulrich. “We have to be better than good. Rebounding will be key with our losses of players.”
Ulrich will lean on Jace McKarcher, Brayden Forsman, Chance Eke, and Cruz Hepburn. The four guards will be joined by juniors Carson Way and James White to form the core of the Bengals’ rotation this season. The team will get a good early test this weekend when it opens the season in the Boise valley with road games against the Boise Brave and Borah Lions. It’s part of a tough schedule that includes the annual Golden Throne rivalry game against neighboring Clarkston, a huge community event that packs the gym like few games in Idaho.
“Not many high school players get to play in front of 4,000 fans,” Ulrich said of the matchup, which will be played on January 28 this season.
Following the trend, Coeur d’Alene High School will also travel south in December for non-conference matchups. The Vikings will face Eagle, Bishop Kelly, and Meridian to prepare for IEL play. Second-year head coach Jon Adams likes his team and it’s understandable – the Vikings return all-league post player Cameren Cope along with an experienced backcourt of Steven Burgess, Cooper Larson, and Brayden Bengston. The Vikings played strong defense last season and improvements in the offense will make the team even tougher to play against this season.
“We played a very physical brand of three-quarters and half-court defense, our perimeter defense gave teams a lot of problems,” Adams said. “We’ve greatly improved our outside shooting this year, which we struggled with last season.”
Juniors Alexander Nipp and Colton Farrar should see increased roles this season, along with sophomores Logan Orchard and Gunner Larson.
The Post Falls Trojans won 14 games last season, including a nine-win campaign in IEL play. However, the team returns just one player – not one starter, one player – from that team. Senior Jack Sciortino, a multi-sport standout for Post Falls, is back to handle the point guard position for the Trojans but, other than that, it’s a fresh start for head coach Mike McLean.
Like the rest of the league, Post Falls will test itself by traveling south for non-conference games, except the Trojans will actually do it twice, playing in the Owyhee Christmas Tournament the week before Christmas before returning after Christmas to join Lake City and Coeur d’Alene in playing Eagle, Bishop Kelly and Meridian. Sciortino figures to get help from freshman Tyrus Blake, who scored 25 points (including five three-pointers) in the team’s season opener.
The Inland Empire League gets one and a half bids to the state tournament this spring. That means the team that wins the district tournament will qualify while the runner up, like Lewiston last spring, will advance to a play-in game against the fifth-place team from the Southern Idaho Conference of District 3. The winner of that play-in game will move on to the state tournament at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.