North Idaho boasts seven players for annual high school girls hoops showcase

This year’s Jack Blair Memorial Girls All-Star Basketball Classic is scheduled for University High in Spokane Valley.

As was last year’s game.

And the year before.

So is Idaho, which for the first 20 years hosted the game every other year since its inception in 1994, out of the rotation?

No way, says Ron Adams, promoter of the all-star game, and president of the Spokane Stars AAU girls basketball program.

“We tried to get it at Post Falls, but there’s too much construction at Post Falls High School (with the addition of an auxiliary gym),” he said. “We will do it at Post Falls High School next year.”

Post Falls last hosted the game in 2013.

Adams said while Lake City, which has hosted the game in the past, was an option, “We don’t get the crowd at (Lake City) as we do at U-Hi.”

He said all-star games held at Post Falls draw a few hundred more fans than games at Lake City. And the games at U-Hi draw a few hundred more than the games at Post Falls.

Adams said he wants Idaho to continue to host the game every other year, but probably only when it can be held at Post Falls, for attendance reasons.

As for the game itself, seven of the 13 players on the Region team this year are from North Idaho — senior Madi Schoening (Sandpoint), juniors Allison Kirby (Timberlake), Keelie Lawler (Timberlake), Nina Carlson (Lake City) and Lauren Rewers (Lake City), sophomore Melody Kempton (Post Falls) and freshman Kelly Horning (Coeur d’Alene).

Since 2001, the game has pitted the Metro team (players from the Greater Spokane League) vs. the Region squad (players from North Idaho and elsewhere in eastern Washington).

Before that, it was eastern Washington vs. North Idaho, and eastern Washington won all seven matchups.

Since 2001, the Metro has won 12 of the 15 games, but the Region has won two of the last three. The Metro won last year’s game 100-80.

Adams cited two factors for the Region’s success of late, one of them being the addition of the other eastern Washington players to what used to be an all-North Idaho team.

“There’s more of them to choose from,” Adams said. “And, they’re club players.”

Schoening has signed with Montana, Carlson has verbally committed to Idaho, and most of the other North Idaho players on this year’s squad figure to draw significant recruiting interest.

Of the other Region All-Stars, point guard Jessie Loera (Moses Lake) has signed with Gonzaga, guard Hannah Burland (East Valley) is headed to Lewis-Clark State, guard Rachel Bozlee (Northwest Christian) is off to Azusa Pacific, and guard Shaye Swannack (Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls) is going to Community Colleges of Spokane.

“If (the Region) can control the tempo, they’ll be right there,” Adams said. “If it’s a rat race, that favors the Metro team — they’re a bunch of roadrunners.”

The Metro is led by the Hull twins, Lexie and Lacie, both 6-foot-1 sophomore guard/forwards who led Central Valley to a 28-0 record and a state 4A championship. Lexie Hull was named Washington 4A Player of the Year by The Associated Press.

“The twins are two of the best in the country,” Adams said. “They’re going to be recruited from Connecticut on down.”

Guard Riley Lupfer (Lewis and Clark) has signed with Boise State.

“The Region team has to defend those (Metro) shooters,” Adams said. “The Metro has no size, but they get it up and down the court.”

Notes: The Region team has not one, not two, but three coaches from North Idaho — Bryan Kelly (Lake City), Matt Miller (Timberlake) and Marc Allert (Post Falls). ... Each team has 13 players on their roster, but one on each team will miss the game due to a torn ACL — junior guard Hailey Higashi of St. George’s (Region), and senior guard Megan Dean of North Central (Metro).

REGION

Jamie Loera, 5-9, so., G, Moses Lake; Jessie Loera, 5-8, sr., G, Moses Lake; Madi Schoening, 5-9, sr., G, Sandpoint; Shaye Swannack, 5-8, sr., G., Lakeside; Allison Kirby, 5-7, jr., G, Timberlake; Hailey Higashi, 5-7, jr., G, St. George’s; Keelie Lawler, 5-8, jr., G, Timberlake; Rachel Bozlee, 5-9, sr., G, Northwest Christian; Nina Carlson, 6-2, jr., F/C, Lake City; Melody Kempton, 6-0, so., G/F, Post Falls; Kelly Horning, 6-0, fr., F, Coeur d’Alene; Hannah Burland, 5-10, sr., G, East Valley; Lauren Rewers, 6-4, jr., F, Lake City. Coaches: Bryan Kelly, Lake City; Matt Miller, Timberlake; Marc Allert, Post Falls.

METRO

Tayler Drynan, 5-6, sr., G, Gonzaga Prep; Lexie Hull, 6-1, so., G/F, Central Valley; Payton Douglass, 5-6, sr., G, Mead; Jaidyn Lyman, 5-3, jr., G, Mt. Spokane; Jordan Smith, 5-8, sr., G, Mt. Spokane; Riley Lupfer, 5-9, sr., G, Lewis and Clark; Brooke Bailey, 5-9, sr., G, University; Lacie Hull, 6-1, so., G/F, Central Valley; Hailey Christopher, 6-0, so., F, Central Valley; Kaiti Pannell, 5-11, sr., F/G, University; Taylor Cunningham, 5-11, sr., G, Lewis and Clark; Aaliyah Pauling, 5-8, jr., G, Mead; Megan Dean, 5-8, sr., G, North Central. Coach: Freddie Rehkow, Central Valley.