After two years as an assistant coach at the college level, Lake City High grad Cassie Bro wanted the chance to help get high school players to the next level.

Bro, who has spent the last two years as an assistant women's basketball coach at NCAA Division II Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., was named the new head girls basketball coach at Centennial High in Boise.

She succeeds Emery Roy, who had been at Centennial since it opened in 1987.

"Being from Idaho, I've got a lot of pride coming back here," Bro said. "I'm really excited to be back in my home state."

Roy has won nine state championships and is 729-162 in 35 years of coaching in the Treasure Valley. He won four state titles at Meridian and five at Centennial. Last month, Roy took the girls basketball job at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian, where his son is the boys basketball coach.

"I've always wanted to get on the other side of things," said Bro, who was an assistant at the Air Force Academy for three years. "I just want to help high school kids get into college. Now knowing the other side, I really wanted to be a part of that."

Bro graduated from Lake City in 2000 and played at Idaho State in 2000-01 before an injury halted her playing career. During her hiatus, she was the interim head coach at the Air Force Academy Prep School in 2003-04 - finishing with a 19-9 record before returning to play at Alaska-Anchorage the next year.

"I wasn't really out shopping for another job," Bro said. "I was definitely happy where I was. There was an opening and I got the ball rolling."

Of facing Roy in high school, Bro recalls her sophomore season when Lake City advanced to the state tournament in 1998 with a 23-0 record and faced Centennial in the opening round.

"We were going into state with a very good team," Bro said. "Centennial upset us in the first round. We may have played them a few more times, but I definitely remember that one. Emery's a great coach and had a bunch of success, but I'm not trying to be Emery - I'm just trying to be myself."

Centennial upset Coeur d'Alene in the state 5A semifinals in February, ending a string of seven straight title game appearances for the Vikings, before the Patriots lost in the championship game to Lewiston.

"We've had a couple open gyms and a lot of talent coming in," Bro said of Centennial "The girls are excited. Not winning state, they've got a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. I'm just preaching to them to work hard and be competitors and be good people in the community and get the kids into college."

Seeing either Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls or even Lake City in the state tournament isn't something Bro is concerned with now.

"It would be great," Bro said. "But I don't think about it now. When the time comes, it will be a fun experience, but it's nothing we talk about now. We need to work on what we need to do to be part of a team."