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.