Players to Watch:
Maren Brushey, Cole Valley Christian
Grace Grooms, Cole Valley Christian
Aleksi Drollinger, Fruitland
Jenna Jenks, Fruitland
Belen Asumendi, Homedale
Tiana Sorenson, Homedale
Emma Ormsby, McCall-Donnelly
Izzy Tinney, McCall-Donnelly
Sianna Gable, Payette
Bella Nunez, Payette
Kailee Lerew, Weiser
Ellie Shirts, Weiser
Written by: Will Hoenike
It’s almost like the NFL Draft. The Idaho High School Activities Association strode to the podium over the summer and loudly proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a trade.”
The 4A (formerly 3A) Snake River Valley Conference and 3A (formerly 2A) Western Idaho Conference swapped teams this season as the Cole Valley Christian Chargers, who have reached the state tournament in each of the past eleven seasons (2022 2A state champion), has joined the SRV while perennial conference power Parma has moved down to the WIC.
But this “trade” was predicated on each school’s enrollment, not future draft picks.
“Honestly, being new to the SRV, I don’t have a very good feel yet for the key players,” said Matt Beglinger, the Chargers’ 5th-year head coach, when asked about key players in his new conference. “It will all be a surprise to me.”
Cole Valley Christian returns six players who contributed at the varsity level last season, including seniors Grace Grooms, Amelia Anstrand, Autumn Burgeson, and Maren Brushey. Beglinger said the team doesn’t have the length that it normally has. However, it does have a strong work ethic and commitment to team defense. The key, according to its coach, is the team’s ability to succeed on the other end of the court.
“We have a number of kids who have the ability to score, but have not been asked to very much in years past,” Beglnger said. “The X-Factor will be if they can find their in-game confidence.”
The Chargers played three non-conference games last season against teams that are current members of the SRV, winning all three games by an average of more than 20 points per game. One of the wins was over McCall-Donnelly, a team that many expect to contend for the district title this season.
Gone is SRV co-Player of the Year Gabi Green, who averaged 20 points per game as a senior en route to a selection for the annual, state-wide All-Star game played in Coeur d’Alene. However, the Vandals do return All-Conference selection Izzy Tinney, now a junior, who averaged around ten points per game as a sophomore. The team also returns junior post Emma Ormsby, who added about seven points per game last season.
Tim Thomas is once again joined as co-head coach by Lexi Onthank and the coaches agreed that converting shots, particularly on the perimeter, can lead to big things for their team.
“We are tough and run the floor hard, we get up lots of shots and expect everyone to be able to shoot when the ball hits their hands,” the two coaches commented. “The hope is that if we see that three-ball go in the net as much as possible, we will have success.”
To that end, the Vandals worked aggressively in the offseason, playing a large number of summer-league games in anticipation of this season. Senior guards Shilah Arnold, Lexie Arnold, and Rylee Arnold will have a chance to carve out important roles on the floor this season.
The Fruitland Grizzlies were one of two SRV representatives in the state tournament last season (Parma was the other) and reached the consolation final. Third-year head coach Willie Lake is tasked with replacing a strong group of seniors from that team and the next wave is led by now-senior Aleksi Drollenger, who was first-team All-SRV as a junior. The team also welcomes back senior Jenna Jenks, a senior who missed her junior season due to an injury. Guard Alicia Kreigh and forward Nyah Tubbs round out this year’s Fruitland seniors.
“As a whole, our strength offensively will be our speed and quickness,” Lake said. “We have to value the basketball much better than we did a year ago. We left far too many possessions on the table.”
First-team All-SRV guard Kailee Lerew returns for her senior season in Weiser, leading a strong contingent of returning players for Wolverine head coach Laraine Harrison. The Wolverines went 17-8 overall last season but were knocked out in the district tournament.
“I think we have a lot of key players returning. Our leadership should be strong. A majority of the returners will have a year of playing with each other under their belt,” Harrison said. “We need to be able to be a threat from the perimeter. We need to improve our shooting percentage as well as our free throw percentage from last year.”
Juniors Ellie Shirts (second team) and Evie Dolton (honorable mention) both received post-season recognition from the SRV coaches as sophomores last season. Guard Lucy Hickey and forward Hailey Eames, both seniors, also return for Weiser this season. Senior Jordan Stromberg should find a role for the team in the backcourt.
The Homedale Trojans bring back a solid core of junior returners this season, led by Tiana Sorenson, who earned second-team All-SRV accolades as a sophomore. Third-year Trojan head coach Benji Sorenson also welcomes back guard Stella Heck and wings Belen Asumendi and Stephanie Quezada and welcomes Mile Binford to the varsity program – each of the four is a junior.
“We are a junior-heavy team and have some experience there,” Sorenson noted. “I am looking forward to seeing those juniors step up into more of a leadership role.”
A near-miss in the district tournament against Weiser (58-53 in the opening round) suggests the team was trending in the right direction as the season wound down last season and the Trojans have a chance to rise in the SRV standings this season.
“Our team isn’t overall going to have much size,” Sorenson admitted. “We will need to take advantage of our quickness and get out and run a little.”
Another team looking to use its quickness to ascend in the conference standings is Payette. The Pirates lost just two seniors from last season’s team and, thus, is bringing most of the team back. On top of that, a pair of players who missed significant time due to injury, senior Bella Nunez and junior JoAnna Avila, will return for head coach Mike Boudreau. The roster continuity for Boudreau, who is entering his second season as the team’s head coach, is critical.
“We are a defensive team – tenacious, aggressive and fast,” Boudreau said. “We will look to run several different defensive schemes, everything from full-court press, half-court traps, to zones, man, anything and everything to give us the advantage.”
Nunez will handle the ball for Payette with senior Erin-Marie Auxier, senior Maddy Brown, and junior Sianna Gable helping to lead the offense.
“It has been a work in progress since I have taken over the program, but we are almost there,” he concluded. “Improving every week will be necessary to make waves this year throughout the SRV district.”
The six teams will be competing for berths at the 4A State Basketball Tournament, which will be held February 20 – 22 at Middleton High School. The championship game will be played at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on February 22.