COEUR d'ALENE — Donning a cowboy hat, T-shirt and jeans, southeast Idaho farmer Heath Peterson sat in the Rolly Williams Court stands on Saturday, his attention locked onto his sweet-shooting daughter.

After starring the last four years at Malad High, Hannah Peterson earned a nod to play in the annual Idaho high school all-star games at North Idaho College, tallying 12 points and eight rebounds.

The last time the elder Peterson toed North Idaho soil was in the late 1980s as a player, helping Malad, a tiny town near the Utah border, reach the state hoops tournament.

Nearly 30 years later, the man made the nine-hour drive with his daughter to give her the experience of playing among the state's most decorated seniors.

"It's exciting that she was picked," Heath Peterson said. "We're just kind of taking it all in."

The 14th edition of the state all-star games, hosted by NIC since its inception, annually attracts participants from the deepest, most rural corners of the state.

Most players had never truly taken in the Lake City experience. That changed after staying at The Coeur d’Alene Resort on Friday, courtesy of the game sponsors.

Naturally, Lake Coeur d'Alene caught their attention upon arrival.

"There's no lake or anything like that in Malad," said Hannah Peterson, whose college plans are undecided.

Longtime Dietrich resident and farmer Rick Astle, whose son Garrett Astle played in boys game, wasn't coy when comparing the aesthetics of north and south.

"It's beautiful here up. It's not like southern Idaho where it’s flat," Astle said with laugh.

The last time Astle was in North Idaho was in 1987 when his Dietrich squad reached the A-4 state championship game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

Dietrich, a Magic Valley town of just 350 residents, is a near 10-hour drive from Coeur d'Alene, so the Astle family is making the most of the trip.

Garrett Astle, who led the Blue Devils to a 1A Division II basketball title in 2016, is seeing as much as he can.

"It's very pretty up here. It's been fun just exploring Coeur d'Alene," said Astle, who is still weighing his college options. "We went to the Spokane mall. We wanted to check out the Gonzaga basketball arena, but didn't."

Road trips come and go, Rick Astle said, but making the lengthy drive from their farming and dairy community so Garrett could mix it up with the big-school talent was worth it.

"We couldn't pass this opportunity up, even though it's about a 10-hour drive. This will be something he will remember 15 years from now," Rick said.

Al Williams. NIC athletic director and director of the all-star games, is happy to accomodate such an experience.

"As the tournament has evolved, kids around Idaho have realized it's a pretty special treat," said Williams, who helped start the game in 2004. "Most of these kids were 3-4 years old when it first started, but have grown up knowing it was in existence. It's great to have all these players and their families here to experience our city and our campus."