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Capital High School
School Info
Conference: 5A Southern Idaho Conference
Classification: 5A
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Head Coach: Blas Telleria
Years as Head Coach: 9th Season
Previous Experience: 8 years as assistant for Capital boys
Record Last Year: 14-11
State Titles: 1977
Assistant Coaches:
Ron Marthe
Steve Danaha
Patrick Fithen
Steve Stanard
Justine Williams
Returning Players:
Elly Johnson, F, 11
Beverly Slater, G, 11
Belle Lewis, PG, 12
Yesenya Bendinelli, G, 11
Ciera Johnson, F, 11
Devanie Ferguson, G, 11
Brittany Ralston, F, 11
Lauren Baumgartner, PG, 10
Anna Ramos, F, 10
Returning Players with Honors:
Elly Johnson. All-Conference Honorable Mention last year as a sophomore
Yesenya Bendinelli. All-Conference Honorable Mention last year as a sophomore
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Team Preview
Written by: Lucas Gebhart
Loaded with freshmen and sophomores, Capital was one win away from going to the state tournament.
The Eagles won 14 games, but they needed to win 15. They lost the final game of the season at Boise High School, falling to arch rival Borah, 59-43, with the winner playing their next two games at the Ford Idaho Center, and the loser going home.
While the Borah seniors celebrated their final chance to play in the state tournament, Capital’s underclassmen moved on to spring sports, fully aware that they would be back next season with something they did not have the previous year; Experience.
Capital returns nine players from last year’s team, most of which played a significant role in the previous year.
Led by senior point guard in Belle Lewis, Capital is still a young team. With Six juniors and two sophomores returning to a squad that lost in the state play-in game to arch rival Borah, the Eagles have the rare and lethal combination of youth, skill and experience.
Elly Johnson and Yesenya Bendinelli were All-Conference Honorable Mentions last season as sophomores, while Lauren Baumgartner and Anna Ramos quietly flew under the radar as freshmen. All four will be a part of this young but talented group.
“We are already one of the top teams in the conference,” said head coach Blas Telleria. “We hope that a year’s worth of experience and maturity will let us be a little bigger, stronger, and faster, and that will allow us to take the next step.”
Not only did the Eagles win 14 games with a heavyset of underclassmen, but they did it in one of the toughest conferences in the state.
Last year, the Southern Idaho Conference sent five teams to the state tournament. The top three finishers were all from the SIC, including two-time defending state champion Mountain View.
“The conference is as tough as it has ever been since I started coaching girls,” Telleria said, who is in his ninth season. “There are nine teams that can beat you on any given night.”
At the end of last season, Capital dropped three of its last five games and only picked up one win in the District Tournament and struggled against the District’s top teams.
In games against Mountain View and Centennial the top two finishers in the state tournament, Capital went 0-4, including an early December game at Centennial where the Eagles managed only 12 points.
The second time the teams go together Capital contained the high-powered Centennial offense and only lost by nine.
“To win the conference, we are going to have to be healthy, playing well at the end of the season, and perhaps a little bit lucky too,” Telleria said.
This season, Capital closes its regular season with three of their last four games coming at home, where Boise, Mountain View and Nampa making trips into the city.
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