Players to Watch:
Kelsey Carroll, Coeur d’Alene
Brookeslee Colvin, Coeur d’Alene
Macy Murphey, Lake City
Sadie Zimmerman, Lake City
Myckenzee Mitley, Post Falls
Kailey Walton, Post Falls
Written by: Brandon Baney
North Idaho’s 6A Inland Empire League has been one of the state’s toughest over the past several years. Coeur d’Alene is the two-time defending state champion, while Post Falls brought home a first place finish as recently as 2018.
In fact, last year’s Class 5A (now 6A) championship featured two schools that are separated by less than two miles, as the Vikings dispatched rival Lake City 57-49 to win its second consecutive championship.
The championship win gave Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons her 100th career victory as a varsity coach, which is a good number to retire on. That’s exactly what Symons did, stepping down to spend more time with family.
For Lake City coach David Pratt, the championship loss stung, but the fact that he was able to steer the Timberwolves all the way to the championship game during his first season on the job was a tremendous accomplishment.
And now, in the blink of an eye, Pratt (in just his second season at Lake City) has become the dean of the IEL’s coaches, as Post Falls decided to move on from coach Brian Hall after two seasons. The Trojans hired Mike Divilbiss, who spent 14 seasons as the head women’s basketball coach at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, followed by seven seasons as the head coach for the University of Idaho women.
Post Falls lost five seniors to graduation, but guards Myckenzee Mitley (junior) and Kailey Walton (sophomore) will trigger Divilbiss’ famous “Buzz” defense, an in-your-face, trapping 2-3 zone.
Meanwhile, Stacy Boyd takes over for Symons at Coeur d’Alene High. Boyd brings plenty of experience from just over the border in Spokane, Washington, serving as the President/CEO of the largest club basketball program in the area for the past 25 years.
Boyd will have to configure a lineup that lost three starters off of last year’s title-winning squad. Guards Teagan Colvin and Maddie Mitchell, along with wing Kendal Holecek, all departed. Those three started a year ago alongside Teagan’s younger sister, sophomore Brookeslee Colvin, and senior post Kelsey Carroll.
When asked what excites him most about this year’s team, the answer is…everything.
“I’m excited about the entire team, our chances for another state championship, Brookeslee Colvin having a chance to experience leadership without being on the floor with her older sister Teagan, and our incoming freshman Lexie Wheeler, who wants to embrace her ability to be the floor general with her speed and quickness,” says Boyd.
Relying upon a freshman (Wheeler) and sophomore (Colvin) in the backcourt can be tricky, which is why post Carroll, an All-League selection a year ago, will be critical.
Boyd says this year can be successful “if every player buys in to our coaching philosophy, and we develop hard work ethics on and off the court.”
As for Pratt, the IEL’s most seasoned coach, Year 2 promises to be just as challenging as last year’s rookie campaign. Four starters (Avery Waddington, Sophia Zufelt, Kamryn Pickford, and Kaliah Frazey) all graduated.
“We need experience,” Pratt admits. “We graduated a ton of stellar, experienced kids. Experience comes with time but we’re hoping that we will gain good experience throughout the year to help propel us into the state tournament.”
Senior combo guard Sadie Zimmerman is the lone returning starter for Lake City, but the top three players off the bench a year ago (sophomores Macy Murphey and Ella Pearson, and junior Kaelee Kolden) all figure to slide into the starting five. Murphey is a guard, while Kolden and Pearson can play guard or forward.
“We will be young, but quick,” says Pratt. “We can shoot it well from behind the line. Macy will take another step this year in becoming a huge impact player and she can really shoot it. Sadie is also a tremendously effective shooter.”
Overall, the Inland Empire League looks slightly different than it did a year ago, as Lewiston has moved down a classification level, making this year’s IEL an intense three-team battle. 1.5 bids to the state tournament are available this season, and whichever team (or teams) advance to state will have earned it.