Players to Watch:
Steven Burgess, Coeur d’Alene
Alexander Nipp, Coeur d’Alene
Blake Buchanan, Lake City
Kolton Mitchell, Lake City
Zach Johnson, Lake City
Carson Way, Lewiston
Austin Lawrence, Lewiston
Asher Bowie, Post Falls
Cooper Craig, Post Falls
Written by: Will Hoenike
Oh, to be Jim Winger and the Lake City Timberwolves this winter.
Winger’s team won 23 games last season, including a 17-game winning streak, to earn the no. 1 seed in the 5A state tournament. The Timberwolves were upset in the first round by Centennial and were later defeated in the consolation final by Madison.
Lake City returns the 5A Inland Empire League’s Player of the Year, Kolton Mitchell, and a pair of All-League performers in Blake Buchanan and Zach Johnson. That talented trio, no doubt, showed up at the gym this season with something to prove. The talent is there, as is the motivation to play deeper into the postseason than last year’s squad.
“We have great team speed,” Winger said of his team. “We have a lot of weapons, inside and out.”
To go along with Mitchell, Buchanan, and Johnson, seniors Nathan Hocking and Justin Hill make for a strong top class for Lake City, but it’s also a team with plenty of youthful energy as well in sophomores Carson Miller and Reese Strawn as well as freshman Josh Watson.
The Timberwolves aren’t the only team with a strong returning cast of players. Cross-town rival Coeur d’Alene, which won 16 games last season and reached the 5A play-in game, also returns plenty of talent to challenge Lake City for the IEL’s top spot. Senior guard Steven Burgess returns to the lineup for head coach Jon Adams and the Vikings. Fellow seniors Logan Orchard, Alexander Nipp, Kruz Wheeler, and Junus McGraw also return for Coeur d’Alene, who will also receive contributions from junior Gunner Larson and Max Entzi.
Adams has depth and speed, two things that will serve the Vikings well as they look to push the tempo on offense and extend to create pressure on defense.
There’s a new head coach in Lewiston as Brooks Malm takes over a Bengals team that won 17 games last season before being bumped out in the district tournament. Malm and his staff had to replace All-IEL performer Jace McKarcher but they have three senior guards to help pick up the slack in Carson Way, Austin Lawrence, and Mike Wren. Senior James White and junior Drew Hottinger return up front for Lewiston, which also has juniors Rylan Gomez and Jordan Bramlett ready to contribute this season.
Malm likes his team’s length defensively and willingness to share the ball offensively and is excited to help the group find its ceiling.
“How much better we can get throughout the season,” Malm said when asked what he’s most excited about. “We have a really high character group of guys. I love getting to go to practice every day with this group.”
The Post Falls Trojans, which won state titles in 2010 and 2015 and reached the 5A semifinals every year from 2017 to 2020, is coming off of a tough, four-win season in 2021-22. Veteran head coach Mike McLean has his IEL peers’ attention, though, as no one in the conference is looking past the Trojans in 2022-23.
The sophomore tandem of Tyras Blake and Trenton McLean give the young Trojan team a pair of capable scorers to go along with 6-foot-5 junior Asher Bowie.
“We do not have any seniors this year in the program so the underclassmen must step up and contribute in a positive way,” said McLean, who has been the bench boss in Post Falls for 16 years. “With only losing one senior to graduation, our youth is not an excuse. The majority of these juniors and sophomores have already been through a varsity season.”
The league is assured one berth into the 5A state tournament with the possibility of earning a second berth via the state’s play-in game. Competition should be intense with three teams aiming to knock Lake City off its perch as the defending district champion.