Players to Watch:
Landon Schlieper, Clearwater Valley
Terrell Ellenwood-Jones, Lapwai
Kase Wynott, Lapwai
Ahlius Yearout, Lapwai
Jack Driskill, Logos
Seamus Wilson, Logos
David Kludt, Kamiah
Everett Skinner, Kamiah
Jack Clark, Potlatch
Jaxon Vowels, Potlatch
Lee Forsmann, Prairie
Noah Johnson, Troy
Eli Stoner, Troy
Written by: Christian Weaner
The 1AD1 Whitepine League proved just how dominant of a league it was last season when three of the top four finishers in the state tournament — Lapwai, Kamiah and Logos — were all from District 2.
Despite the graduation of a handful of Idaho's best boys basketball players (regardless of classification), the Whitepine League seems poised to be the best in the 1AD1 ranks once again this season, as numerous All-League and All-State players return with another year of experience under their belt.
Any 1AD1 Whitepine preview must start at the top with the best team in the state of Idaho in 2021-22 (according to MaxPreps), Lapwai.
What the Wildcats did last winter was nothing short of incredible. Lapwai went 27-0 on the season, scored nearly 83 points per game, beat opponents by an average of 37, defeated multiple 5A schools and placed all five starters on the All-State team. Lapwai has now won six state titles over the past 20 years, including four of the last six and two in a row under 2021-22 1AD1 Coach of the Year Zachary Eastman.
The craziest part is that even with the loss of three game-changing starters — Idaho Gatorade Player of Year Titus Yearout, First Team All-State nominee Kross Taylor, and Second Team All-State performer AJ Ellenwood — Lapwai is still the heavy favorites to repeat as 1AD1 champions for the third consecutive year.
The biggest reasons why: Kase Wynott, Terrell Ellenwood-Jones and Ahlius Yearout.
"All three have a lot of leadership experience and know the hard work it takes to win a championship," Eastman said, of the trio. "Each one of them have bigger roles on defense, rebounding, and scoring the basketball."
Wynott, who was First Team All-State for the second consecutive season as a sophomore last year, averaged a whopping 25.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5 assists per games to pace an unstoppable Lapwai offense. Ellenwood-Jones, who had a standout season as a dual-threat quarterback for the Wildcats football team this fall, earned Second Team All-State honors during his junior campaign and figures to be a strong senior leader from the point guard position in 2022-23. Ahlius Yearout was Lapwai's sixth man last season and will play an even bigger role this year as a junior.
With juniors Joey Payne and Christopher Bohnee and seniors Jalisco Miles and Jaishaun Sherman all expected to step up into bigger roles this season, Eastman remains confident in his team's ability to compete for a 1AD1 three-peat.
Lapwai's biggest competitor in the league — and possibly the entire 1AD1 classification — will likely be Kamiah, last season's state runner-up.
The Kubs posted an impressive 20-7 record a season ago, including an 11-3 mark in regular season league play. Kamiah did graduate 2021-22 All-League nominees Kavan Mercer and Luke Krogh, but Head Coach Aaron Skinner returns sophomore David Kludt, who was a Second Team All-League performer last year, and senior Everett Skinner, who was an All-Whitepine honorable mention during his junior season.
In his first season as the head coach at Logos, Nate Wilson inherits a program that finished 17-9 last year and finished fourth at state, but which also lost a slew of senior talent. Most notable of the graduates is 6-4 guard Will Casebolt, who stuffed the stat sheet for the Knights last season with 18.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals per contest and is now playing at Multnoma University in Portland, Oregon.
"Last year’s team was stacked with senior talent and size," Wilson said. "We will especially miss Will Casebolt’s deep range and Ben Druffel’s height."
Logos will return two contributors from last season's squad in sophomore point guard Seamus Wilson, who started for the Knights as a freshman, and junior Jack Driskill. Nate Wilson is also excited for a group of sophomores — guard Emeth Toebben and forwards Lucius Comis and Thomas Bowen — who should all make big impacts during their first varsity season this winter.
"The youth is exciting," Wilson said "It obviously presents challenges, but it’s a great opportunity for these guys to really build something as the majority of the squad has two more seasons together after this one."
The middle of the Whitepine League will be intriguing to watch as several schools have some talented young players that will play big roles this year.
Prairie finished third in the league during the regular season in 2021-22 and narrowly missed a trip to the state tournament thanks to a 42-36 loss to Logos in the district tournament. Head Coach Tim Scheffler and his Pirates lost key seniors Zach Rambo, Wyatt Ross and Lane Schumacher from the last year's team, but junior Lee Forsmann — a Second Team All-League player during his sophomore season — should be a go-to scorer for Prairie.
Several Whitepine coaches agreed that Potlatch could also be a young and talented team to keep an eye on this season.
The Loggers, led by Head Coach Ryan Ball, hope to build on a solid 13-10 record from last season, which included going 7-7 in a very challenging league schedule. To its advantage, Potlatch has Jaxon Vowels, a Second Team All-White selection from last season returning for his junior year.
Clearwater Valley, an 8-13 team in 2021-22, also has some promising younger players coming back this year. Landon Schlieper was an All-League honorable mention as a sophomore and figures to be a key contributor for the Rams this season.
Head Coach Tyler Bollman will have his hands full at Genesee, as he and the Bulldogs look to replace Jack Johnson, an All-Whitepine honorable mention during his senior year.
Last, but certainly not least, is Troy. The Trojans may have finished with a measly 3-19 record in 2021-22 and went 0-14 in the Whitepine League, but do not sleep on first-year Head Coach Trey Thatcher's squad.
Troy did not lose any key contributors from last season and the Trojans have senior bigs Noah Johnson and Chandler Blazzard, junior guards Eli Stoner and Joseph Bendel and sophomores Dominic Holden (guard) Kaiden Strunk (guard) and Makhi Durrett (forward) all returning.
"We return quite a few guys with varsity experience, and we have some talent on our roster," Thatcher said. "The guys have been putting in time in the gym over the summer and in the fall and I feel like there is a positive energy in the program right now which is exciting."
Thatcher believes the biggest keys to turning around his Troy's fortunes from a season ago will be using their size to their advantage by outrebounding opposing teams, giving superior effort on defense and cutting down on the costly turnovers that hurt the Trojans last year.
"If our players really buy into coming out every night and giving consistently high effort for 32 minutes, I think that we could surprise some people this season," Thatcher said. "Locking into the little things like rebounding, transition defense, and taking care of the ball will be big factors in how our season will go."