Years as Head Coach
6

Previous Experience
2 years assistant coach girls basketball, 4 years assistant coach boys basketball: all at Kendrick

Assistant Coaches
Cody Albright & Steve Kirkland

Record Last Year
20-3

State Titles
5

Returning Players
Ty Koepp, F, Sr.
Hunter Taylor, G, Sr.
Lane Clemenhagen, G, Sr.
Mason Kimberling, F, Sr.
Dallas Morgan, P, Sr.
Wyatt Cook, P, Jr.
Brock Boyer, P, Jr.
Nathan Tweit, G, So.

Returning Players with Honors
Nathan Tweit = Whitepine League Div 2 All-League 2nd team, IA Div 2 All-State Second team, 1A Div 2 All-Tournament MVP
Ty Koepp = Whitepine League Div 2 1st team all-league. 1A Div 2 All-Tournament honorable mention.
Hunter Taylor = 1A Div 2 All-Tournament Honorable Mention

Key Players lost from last year
Jagger Hewett, PG. Jagger was a 4-year starter for us and played point guard all 4 years. It will be hard to replace what he did as a court leader for us. He led the team last year in scoring, assists and steals. He was ranked as high as 3rd in the nation for steals per game at one point according to Maxpreps. He was an incredibly smart player and a kid who wanted to put his team on his back when things got tough. It will be hard to replace his production with just one person.

Incoming impact players
Ralli Roetcisoender, So., G. and Cade Silflow, So., G. I will look to both guys to help with our depth and to help fill some voids left by Jagger Hewett graduating. Ralli is a great athlete and Cade brings great court vision and quick hands on defense.

As a team, what are your offensive strengths?

Experience, balance and athleticism are our key strengths. We have a lot of smart kids; they understand the offense well and they are all very athletic. Most of the seniors have been on the varsity roster since Freshman or Sophomore year and have played a lot together, much like football, these seniors have been playing basketball together since the 3rd grade. Having dual threat players like Ty Koepp and Nathan Tweit who can score inside or from the perimeter makes it tough on defenses to match up with us. We have a good balance of size and quickness with our post players and guards. Wyatt Cook and Mason Kimberling bring good size and length under the basket, but also run the floor well that compliments our offense very well. Hunter Taylor and Lane Clemenhagen bring great quickness and athleticism to get the ball up the floor quickly and not let defenses get set up and become comfortable. Dallas Morgan back this year after an injury last season and Brock Boyer give us really good size and strength in the post position as well that helps us add another dimension to our offense.

Offensive areas you hope to improve on over last year:

We need to improve on being more efficient and consistent in our half court offense. I would also like to see us improve on our offense rebounds and create more second chance scoring.

As a team, what are your defensive strengths?

Again, athleticism is a major strength. We have guys that are very defensive minded and enjoy playing defense. We always want to create pressure and not let offenses get comfortable. Our guys have bought in to the idea that defense creates offense! Having the athletes we have and with their great basketball I.Q. we can often switch defenses and still get great results. Lane Clemenhagen is one of those guys that really sets the tone for us defensively, he works extremely hard and is one of the players that does the little things that don’t get put on the stat sheet. We also have guys like Wyatt Cook and Mason Kimberling with good length that really do a good job of taking away passing lanes. And Ty Koepp and Nathan Tweit again bring a dual threat defensively as they defend the perimeter well and can defend in the post as well. Having several athletic, strong football players that enjoy playing basketball makes the defense fun to coach and fun to watch!

Defensive Areas you hope to improve on over last year:

I’d like to see us continue to improve on our rebounding and keeping teams to one possession. We would also like to see an improvement on playing full court defense and applying good pressure to teams to force more turnovers.

What are you most excited about in regards to this year's team?

I think this would have to be our depth or our bench play. I really feel like we have had several guys that have improved a lot from last season and have matured physically and mentally. Game to game I think we’ll see different guys fighting for starting positions and this should make our team very competitive. I am excited to see how Nathan Tweit builds on his very successful Freshman year as a sophomore now. Having a year under his belt and spending the summer playing for Idaho Select should benefit Nathan this season helping him be even more successful. I am excited to see how much Wyatt Cook as grown as a player as well. Wyatt played some of his best basketball at the state tournament last season and spent a lot of time in the weight room getting bigger and stronger and I think we are likely to see some great things from him this year.

What is the 'X-Factor' to having success this season as a team?

Focus and determination. Coming off a State Title run makes everything harder in my opinion. Everyone wants to beat you even more now! We all must stay focused and work even harder to have success this season. Luckily, all these guys understand this from their success on the football field.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tucker Ashmead, Deary
Blaine Clark, Deary
Laithan Proctor, Deary
Ty Goeckner, Highland
Noah Watson, Highland
Ty Koepp, Kendrick
Hunter Taylor, Kendrick
Nathan Tweit, Kendrick
Nic Kirkland, Nezperce
Aidan McLeod, Nezperce
Gavin Christopherson, Timberline
Rylan West, Timberline

Written by: Jesse Richens

Any conversation about basketball in the 1AD2 Whitepine League has to start with Kendrick, as the Tigers are coming off of a state championship season. The Tigers defeated Richfield 59-57 to claim their first state championship title since 1985 and became winners of five state championships overall.

Kendrick finished first in the Whitepine League Conference this past season with a perfect record of 10-0 in conference play and 20-3 overall. The Tigers just lost their four-year starting point guard, Jagger Hewett, to graduation, but are still feeling excited for the new season.

“I really feel like we have had several guys that have improved a lot from last season and have matured physically and mentally,” said head coach Tim Silflow. Silflow feels that they will be a great team offensively and gives a lot of credit to his players: “We have a lot of smart kids; they understand the offense well and they are all very athletic.”

Sophomore Nathan Tweit is back after a freshman year that saw the 6-foot-4 forward collect All-State and All-League accolades. Seniors Ty Koepp and Hunter Taylor were also named to the All-Whitepine team last season.

Defense wins championships, and coach Silflow has a lot of confidence in his players on the defensive side of the ball. “We have guys that are very defensive-minded and enjoy playing defense,” he says.

The major improvement that coach Silflow is looking for is rebounding, whether that is offensively or defensively, these improvements could be the difference between a state championship or not and the Tigers are hungry for another one.

Deary finished second in the Whitepine League with an 8-2 record in the conference and an overall record of 11-10. Head coach Jalen Kirk is looking forward to working with his group this upcoming season. “They are going to be held to a very high standard,” says Kirk. “I am excited to see them grow as basketball players, but most importantly young men.”

Coach Kirk wants the team to improve on rebounding and shooting for the upcoming season, stating, “I would like for us to get more second chance opportunities on offense, as well as see the ball go in the hoop.”

This season will be a little different for Deary as they lost their two tallest players (6-foot-4 Gus Rickert and 6-foot-2 Kalab Rickard) to graduation. Kirk hopes to attack the advantages of having a smaller lineup with speed and floor spacing. Seniors Blaine Clark and Laithan Proctor, along with junior Wyatt Vincent, will key the attack from the guard spots. Seniors Tucker Ashmead and Dallen Stapleton will be counted on inside.

“I need all of these guys to buy into what we are preaching and give maximum effort all year long,” says Kirk. “The two words that we use and embody DHS BBALL, are effort and focus. Mentally and physically these guys need to be locked in all year, and I am excited to see if they can achieve that or not.”

The Timberline Spartans finished third place in the Whitepine League this past season. They finished with a 5-5 record in the conference and 12-12 overall. This past season was the final one for four-year starting point guard Parker Brown, final season on the team, and the Spartans are looking for a way to replace the veteran presence on the team.

Despite Brown’s departure, head coach Jason Hunter is still eager to get his team back on the court. “Even though this season will be challenging, I’m excited to see how our young players step into new roles,” he says. Running a team without the main floor general can be difficult, but Hunter is excited for new and upcoming players to show talent and skill in different ways.

“Freshman Korbin Christopherson will provide key offense as a 6’4” post,” says Hunter. Senior Gavin Christopherson will also provide solid work inside, and guards Rylan West (senior) and Ares Mabberly (sophomore) will lead out front. “We will need larger contributions from all of our guards with dribble drive and outside shooting,” says Hunter.

St. John Bosco finished just behind Timberline this past season. While both teams finished with the same record in the conference at 5-5, the Patriots lost a couple more games overall, leading to an 8-10 overall record. St. John Bosco looks to break their way into the top three in the conference standings. After a decent showing in the conference last year, their grit and determination could be the difference in challenging the higher-ranked conference opponents.

Highland finished fifth in the Whitepine League last season with a conference record of 2-8 while finishing with an 8-12 overall record. Coach Monty Moddrell is excited for the new season as they are a rare story compared to most teams in the conference.

“We get everyone back from last year’s team,” explains Moddrell, who also doubles as the head football coach for the Lewis County co-op between Highland and Nezperce. “That continuity should help us finish better than last season.”

Post Noah Watson is Highland’s lone returning All-League player from last year, although Moddrell notes that “We lost Ty Goeckner last season to a knee injury after the 5th game, so we went a majority of our season without our biggest inside threat and rebounder, so it will be nice to see how they do at full strength.

Moddrell is excited about the advantage that they will have inside offensively and defensively as they have three players that are over 6’4”. “Not many teams will be able to match the height that we have,” Moddrell says.

Nezperce finished last in the standings in the Whitepine League this past season with a conference record of 0-10 and an overall record of 4-15. They will be looking to bounce back from a losing season and surprise some of the other teams in the conference. It seems like an uphill battle for Nezperce but anything can happen in high school basketball and at the flip of a switch anything can be turned on its head.

The Whitepine League should turn out to be another interesting finish with a lot of close games and fantastic finishes.