After five years on the bench alongside his father, Dave, at Lakeland High, Scott Stockwell has flown the nest for his first head coaching opportunity at Coeur d’Alene High.

Stockwell, 29, accepted the position as head Coeur d’Alene High girls varsity basketball coach earlier this week, replacing Dale Poffenroth, who retired after 12 years at the school in February.

“Scott’s a young guy with a ton of enthusiasm for the job,” newly appointed Coeur d’Alene athletic director Mike Lindquist said. “We’ve got a chance to get our numbers back up and build some excitement for the program.”

Stockwell, a former basketball standout at Post Falls High, was an assistant under his father the past five years at Lakeland, coaching the boys program.

“I’ve been with my dad for the longest time and always dreamed of being a head coach somewhere,” Scott Stockwell said. “When the job came open, I decided to poke my nose through and see what could happen. I’m just excited to take over the program and bring back a winning status.”

Stockwell was selected from list of four final candidates. Coeur d’Alene returns all but one player from last year’s team that finished 8-15.

Under Poffenroth, Coeur d’Alene advanced to state 10 straight years from 2005 to 2014, winning the state 5A title four times and playing in the championship game six straight times (2006 to 2011).

“He was a great coach,” said Stockwell of Poffenroth. “He’s had some great success in Spokane (at Central Valley High) and in Idaho. I’ve got some big shoes to fill, but I’m excited for the opportunity. I’m not nervous about coaching, but just excited to get going. I want to get going as soon as possible. Once we get through the summer and that, it will be a good time.”

Stockwell, who owns Precision Fitness in Hayden, played basketball collegiately at North Idaho College and NAIA Carroll College in Helena, Mont., after graduating from Post Falls High in 2005. Something both he and Lindquist hope is his familiarity with the league will be an asset on the bench this season.

“When you look around the league at the other coaches in the league with (Lake City coach) Bryan (Kelly) and (Post Falls coach) Marc (Allert), we felt Scott’s skill set matched that,” said Lindquist, who is finishing up this year as principal at Venture High. “We felt he could put together a program like those. It’s a very competitive league for sure.”

Lindquist — ironically — coached Scott during his senior year at Post Falls in 2005 as an assistant.

“I was able to coach Scott and worked with his dad in Post Falls, so I know what kind of kid he is,” Lindquist said.

There will be a parent/player meeting on May 11 at 6 p.m. for returning players and their parents to get to know Stockwell at the Coeur d’Alene High library.