PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kallyn Rogers, Cascade
Ava Eppich, Council
Rhianna Iveson, Council
Hope Zollman, Council
Kadence Jacobs, Garden Valley
Rainey Walters, Salmon River
Riley Walters, Salmon River
McKayla Hart, Tri-Valley
Stella Warren, Tri-Valley

Written by: Will Hoenike

Looking for what it’s like to coach at the smallest of small-school girls’ basketball?

Salmon River head coach Levi Tucker has returning varsity players who are freshmen in high school. One of them, guard Taylor Ewing, earned all-conference recognition as an 8th grader.

Salmon River of the 1A Division 2 Long Pin Conference has 30 students, according to the Idaho High School Activities Association, making it the second-smallest school to field a girls basketball team in the Gem State. There are conditions that allow schools to play junior-high girls at the high-school level and the Savages took advantage last season – its three eighth graders gave the team a seven-person roster. Ewing will be joined by sisters Rainey Walters (senior) and Riley Walters (sophomore), giving Salmon River a nice nucleus of players as it looks to climb up the standings in 2023-24.

“We are a very young team, but three freshman got time last year as eighth graders,” said the Salmon River bench boss. “Their growth and chemistry with the older players will be fun to watch.”

Council and Garden Valley represented the Long Pin in the 1A Division 2 state tournament last spring and Council appears to be in good shape to make a return trip this winter after knocking off Kendrick, Rockland, and Dietrich en route to the state championship last February.

“We will be small, our tallest player is 5-foot-7,” said Council head coach Paula Tucker. “We will try to use our speed to overcome our height.”

Senior guard Rhianna Iveson will be joined by senior wings Hope Zollman and Ava Eppich to lead the way for the Lumberjacks, who went 17-5 last season.

Council will have to replace its leading scorer, Isabelle Eppich, as well as the conference MVP McKayla Hart, who transferred to Long Pin rival Tri-Valley for her senior season. At 6-foot-1, Hart gives the Titans an immediate presence in the paint for head coach Dennis Holmes. The Titans didn’t graduate a single player off of last season’s roster, so juniors Stella Warren and Hunter Hastie return after being selected to the Long Pin’s all-conference team along with sophomore Hope Harrison.

As for Garden Valley, the Wolverines return senior guard Kadence Jacobs, who averaged ten points, three rebounds, and two steals per game last winter as a junior. The team’s two leading scorers, Katelyn Thompson and Gracie Castillo, were both seniors so the team will be looking for fresh faces to step up alongside Jacobs to help Garden Valley.

Cascade will look to improve upon its one-win record in conference play this winter with its strong guard play. Senior Kallyn Rogers and sophomore Lily Gerzine will return to the Rambler backcourt as the team looks to push forward in the Long Pin. The team won eight non-conference games last season, including four over 1A Division 1 foes, but struggled in conference play.

After lacking sufficient numbers to play last season, the Horseshoe Bend Mustangs are expected to return to the court this season. The team will jump right into the Long Pin fire, hosting defending state champion Council in the conference opener on December 2. However, the Meadows Valley Mountaineers do not have enough players to field their own team so the school will be sending players to nearby McCall-Donnelly High School as part of a cooperative agreement this winter for both girls and boys basketball.