1A DIVISION II

A peek at the Idaho High School Activities Association record book serves as a reminder.

No team from the North Star League has won a state championship in boys basketball since Lakeside won an A-4 title in 1997.

Since then, the A-4 classification became 1A, which then split into two classifications — 1A Division I and 1A Division II — starting with the 2008-09 school year.

Genesis Prep, which steamrolled through the North Star for the second straight year, and whipped up on several much bigger schools in North Idaho this year, has emerged as a legitimate threat to end that drought and bring home a state 1A Division II title this weekend.

The road begins tonight, when the Jaguars (18-4) face Butte County (18-7) in a first-round game at state at 7 p.m. PST at Caldwell High. Butte County dropped down from 1A Division I last fall.

Third-year Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert, who coached in the North Star League years ago at Post Falls Christian, why it’s been so long between state titles for a North Star team.

“I can imagine it’s a style of play,” he said. “The game down there is probably a little slower and a little more physical than it is up here in league play. And teams have to adjust, and not all teams can make that adjustment. That’s why we schedule the teams that we scheduled, to prepare for down there.”

Genesis Prep played four games in Phoenix, against teams from the largest two classifications in Arizona. They played 5A Coeur d’Alene and a few 3A squads.

Last year at state, Genesis Prep handled Rockland 63-45 in the first round, then lost 48-39 to Council in the semifinals, before rebounding to whip Clark County 57-30 in the third-place game.

If the Jaguars win tonight, they could face Council, which went on to finish second last year, in the semis on Friday afternoon.

Three of the tougher teams are on the other side of the bracket.

Defending champion Dietrich (22-1) faces District 2 champ Kendrick (17-5) today in the first round, and District 2 runner-up Deary (17-4) is also on the other side, and opens vs. Rockland (16-6). Deary is at state for the first time since 1998.

Colbert lamented missed easy shots, and missed free throws, vs. Council last year.

But he cautions the Jaguars aren’t looking that far ahead this year.

“We’ve talked about taking it one game at a time. You don’t want to look ahead, that’s when you get tripped up. You eat the elephant one bite at a time.”

At the beginning of the season, Colbert said he thought the Jaguars could be as good as they were last year, “we didn’t know how long it was going to take the kids to jell and buy in to how we wanted to play,” he said.

Sophomore shooting guard Jonny Hillman is the lone returning starter, and is averaging 16.7 points, 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

“His role has changed a little,” Colbert said. “Last year he was given freedom to score. This year, he still has the same responsibilities, but he has to be one of the leaders on the court. We have more kids that can score the ball (this year).”

Junior point guard Junior Williams averages 11.4 points, 2.6 assists and 2.9 steals, and Stephane Manzi, a 6-9 senior post, averages 14.9 points and 8 rebounds.

Colbert pointed at one of his team’s four losses — a one-point setback at Northwest Christian, the defending Washington state 2B champions — as a turning point to the Jaguars’ season.

“We had a chance to win the game, and they hit two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to play,” Colbert said. “Playing on the road, playing for the first time with the shot clock, that let us know that we were going to be OK.”

Basketball aside, Colbert said what he’s most proud of is his team’s GPA at the end of the first semester was 3.674.

“They work hard on the basketball court, but they work harder in the classroom,” he said.

5A

Boise (18-5), the first-round opponent of Post Falls (18-3) tonight at 7 PST at the Idaho Center in Nampa, is at state for the first time since 1997. The Braves also hang their hat on defense, so the first team to 40 might win this one.

Second-year Boise coach Manny Varela is a former Borah assistant under Cary Cada. Varela’s Braves are allowing 44.5 points per game. Post Falls allowed 50.2 points per game in league, a mark inflated by an 84-70 win over Lewiston.

Post Falls has won a state title through the back door before, winning in 2010 after prevailing in a state play-in game.

“It doesn’t matter how you get to the party, just as long as you get in,” said Post Falls coach Mike McLean, who has guided the Trojans to state in eight of his 10 seasons.

The Trojans, after winning the 5A Inland Empire League, had to go the play-in route this year as well, after losing at home to Lewiston in the Region 1 title game.

“Where was that the whole season?” Mike McLean said of Lewiston. “Because what Lewiston did Tuesday (taking advantage of a massive size advantage with 6-8 Trystan Bradley, 6-5 Braeden Wilson and 6-5 Colton Richardson) is what they should have been doing from Day 1, in my opinion.”

Bill Hawkins, in his 29th season as coach of Madison of Rexburg, has won four state titles at the school, most recently a 4A crown in 2011. The lone loss by the Bobcats (21-1) this year came to a team from Utah.

Rocky Mountain (23-1) of Meridian has won 22 straight games. Kolby Lee, a 6-10 forward who averages 16.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots, has signed with BYU.

Defending champion Highland of Pocatello did not qualify for state this year.

3A

Timberlake, under first-year head coach Michael Scott, is at state for the first time since 2013.

The Tigers (13-8) open the 3A tournament vs. District 6 champion Sugar-Salem (17-5) today at 12:15 p.m. PST at Meridian High.

“I had high hopes at the beginning, and we had that big break that threw us for a loop,” said Scott, whose son Keegan played on the last (and first) Timberlake team to go to state, in 2013.

From Dec. 20 to Jan. 27, Timberlake went a stretch of 37 games in which the Tigers played just one game.

“We made the best of it,” Scott said. “I always thought we’d be a different team at the end of the season, but we didn’t have time. We basically started our season in January, and I didn’t have practice time to change or add anything.”

The Tigers are led by senior guards Brayden Menti and Brenden Jessen.

“We don’t have any superstars on the team, but we have a team full of guys that are interchamgeable,” Scott said.

Scott has stayed with the same starting lineup most of the season. But when senior Brandon Hausladen missed a couple of games with a wrist injury, 6-5 junior post Colton Counts “replaced him and did such a fantastic job, we left him in there (when Hausladen returned),” Scott said.

Sugar-Salem is at state for the first time since 2014, when the Diggers won the consolation title. This year, Sugar beat second-ranked Shelley twice to win the district title.

Shelley (20-6) opens against Kellogg (18-2) tonight at 5:15. The Wildcats, under first-year coach and former Bonners Ferry standout Jeff Nearing, are at state for the fourth straight year.

Gooding (14-11), which opens against defending Parma (13-10) in the other game on Timberlake’s side of the bracket, is at state for the first time in 31 years.

2A

Not that they struggled out of the gate, but you could kind of understand why the St. Maries Lumberjacks didn’t quite look like themselves that first month of the season.

Lack of rest from an extended run in the state football playoffs.

Recovering from injuries and the punishment that entailed, that’s fine.

St. Maries opened the season with four straight wins, then lost three straight before winning eight of its final nine games, advancing to the state tournament for the third straight season.

“Losing two weeks to football, just the competitive spirit wasn’t there,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “I was pushing them to get going and maybe should have backed off instead. They were definitely tired and sore.”

The Lumberjacks (12-4) turned the corner at the start of 2017, with their lone loss coming at 4A Sandpoint on Jan. 28.

“It seems like since Christmas break, they’ve flipped the switch and been competitive,” Chase said. “We had a team meeting and the kids look like they want to do something at state. They’ve got a goal of getting a state championship and leaving a legacy and trying to do something special down there.”

St. Maries opens today against Melba (9-14) at 12:15 p.m. PST. St. Maries finished third in 2014 and fifth in last year’s tournament.

“Our boys are motivated and playing with a lot of energy,” Chase said. “Our senior leadership has set the tone on what we want to do.”

Melba still made the tournament despite losing Nick Fitts, last year’s Western Idaho Conference Player of the Year, to Vallivue.

Ririe (22-2) is at state for the first time since 2004, and ended defending champion Firth’s 10-year run as District 6 champions.

4A

Moscow (8-11), at state for the first time since 2014, opens vs. Preston (20-4), which beat Bishop Kelly in last year’s title game.

Bishop Kelly (19-4) boasts junior guard Max Rice (18.2 points per game), son of Boise State coach and former Gonzaga assistant Leon Rice.

Fitts, the Melba transfer, started every game at Vallivue this season and averaged 17.4 points and 3.2 assists and shot 40 percent from 3-point range.

1A DIVISION II

Ambrose (18-5) defeated Lapwai (21-1) last year, and could meet in the semifinals this year.

Press sports writer Jason Elliott contributed to this story.