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Cole Valley Christian High School
School Info
Conference: 2A Western Idaho Conference
Classification: 2A
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Head Coach: Brennan Koch
Years as Head Coach: 2nd Season
Record Last Year: 8-13
State Titles: 2003, 2005, 2012
Assistant Coaches:
Josh Muhle
Nathan Jones
Matt Jones
Ben Wherry
Returning Athletes:
G Dominick Panchenko (Sr)
F Trevor Evarts (Sr)
C Tanner Langley (Sr)
C Brad Van Ausdle (Sr)
Key Players lost from last year:
G Kylan Ross (Honorable Mention All-Western Idaho Conference)
Incoming impact players:
G Tyler Krogh (Sr) – Transfer from Summit Academy (District II)
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Team Preview:
Written by: Will Hoenike
There’s a cliché in sports when there’s no clear-cut favorite to win. People say, “it is wide open.”
And that is true for the 2A Western Idaho Conference in 2016-17.
With reigning WIC MVP (and 1st-team All State performer) Nick Fitts transferring from Melba, multiple teams felt the slight breeze of a door opening in the WIC this season. One of those teams is Brennan Koch’s Cole Valley Christian Chargers.
After a rough start to last season (the Chargers sat at 4-10 after a loss to Nampa Christian on January 21), Cole Valley Christian steadied the ship and finished strong, winning five of its final eight regular-season games before a narrow loss to Marsing ended the team’s season in the district tournament.
Now, the Chargers look to build on that.
“There are many ‘what-if’s’ in our conference as two of the biggest impact players transferred out,” Koch said of the upcoming season. “The most-consistent team will win.”
The team returns four key seniors in shooting guard Dominik Panchenko, forward Trevor Evarts and centers Tanner Langley and Brad Van Ausdle. To that mix, Koch will add a true point guard (sophomore Nathan Wetzel) and talented transfer Tyler Krogh, giving the Chargers a bevy of weapons and reason to believe the WIC could be there for the taking – and they have just as much reason to think they could be the ones to take it as anyone else.
Krogh, a senior guard, was selected second-team All-State in the 1A Division II ranks for Summit Academy last season, averaging nearly 20 points and over three steals per game, meaning he’ll help the team on both ends of the court.
“We’re a relatively ‘long’ defensive team, with no starters under 6-foot (tall),” Koch told the Preview. “We are better able to guard the full length of the floor.”
That’s good news for a team that lost seven games by fewer than ten points last season. Tighten up the defense a bit and add a little bit of offense … and some of those narrow losses should become wins this season.
The Chargers will test themselves before conference play with home-and-home sets against 3A foes Parma and Homedale as well as a game against defending 1A Division I state champion Ambrose. Once WIC play hits, there is no singular big game because the conference is so … wait for it … wide open. Melba will still pose a threat, Marsing returns multiple players from its near-state qualifying team from last season, New Plymouth seems poised for a bounce-back season and Nampa Christian has the looks of a competitive team as well.
“Nampa Christian is always a great rivalry game, with them beating us in OT at our court last year,” Koch said of the Trojans. “We look to pay that game back.”
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