STATE 6A GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Coeur d'Alene poised to challenge for third state title in four years

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

With all eyes on then-defending state 6A champion Coeur d'Alene last year — new players, new coaches and new style — the Vikings ended up on the short end in its final two games of the year.

Foul trouble against eventual champion Owyhee of Meridian.

A late turnover against Madison of Rexburg in the third-place game.

“We’ve got a lot more pieces this year with more experience,” said three-year starter Brookeslee Colvin, a junior. “A lot of us played last year, and my freshman year was a totally different group. We’re excited to go down there and compete.”

Coeur d’Alene led by seven points with just under six minutes remaining against Owyhee in the semifinal, but encountered foul trouble and was unable to hold off the Storm, falling 61-58 in overtime.

Against Madison, a Coeur d'Alene pass was intercepted in the frontcourt, and the Bobcats scored at the buzzer to upset the Vikings at Timberline High in Boise.

“We learned a lot from the game against Owyhee, leading the entire game, and it was a tough loss,” second-year Coeur d’Alene coach Stacy Boyd said. “What we’ve learned this year is, and we’ve been working with Brookeslee on it, is staying out of foul trouble. She’s a good defender and admits at times she has to game manage her defense a little bit. I think if we have her down the stretch last year, it’s going to be a different outcome. She’s a high-level player, but needs to be coached and loves to be coached. We’ve got to change that.”

Last year was the first trip to state for senior guard Natalie Semprimoznik, who as a junior transferred from Freeman in Rockford, Wash.

“Every play matters at state, but the bigger plays matter more,” Semprimoznik said. “You’ve really got to come together because every possession matters and every play counts. The physicality definitely increases and the stakes, you’re just playing and having fun. The Xs and Os kind of go out the window. You’re just playing for the bigger purpose.”

Senior Karisa Wallis was a reserve on the Viking state championship teams in 2023 and 2024.

“My freshman and sophomore year, we won and I mainly got to watch,” Wallis said. “Last year, getting to play, I really learned you’ve got to play like you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s your last two to three games of the season, and you’ve got to want to win. It’s hard, but so worth it.”

Coeur d’Alene (21-2) is seeded fourth and opens against fifth-seeded Borah (20-5) of Boise on Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. It’s a rematch of an opening round game from 2025, won by the Vikings 53-47.

“We’re excited,” Boyd said. “When you get to state, any team can win. It’s different from the regular season. I think whoever is the top six seeds, whoever is the six seed could jump into being the No. 1 seed. Our focus is that we don't care about whoever we have. We’re going to focus, watch film and prepare the best we can to have all our offense and defense together.”

Semprimoznik has committed to Division II Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., next year. Wallis has signed with NAIA University of Providence in Great Falls, Mont.

Semprimoznik missed the district championship series with an illness that caused fatigue and is still being diagnosed. She returned to practice on Friday.

“My hemoglobin was at an eight, and we went to the ER and went to Sacred Heart (last week),” Semprimoznik said. “I got a transfusion (on Thursday). I went to the ER three different times, and we’re doing all kinds of studies over the next 30 days to see what’s going on. It’s a little scary, but I never thought my season was over. I just told my doctors whatever you have to do, let me play. And it was just kind of a waiting game to do the transfusion and it was a risk, but I really wanted to play.”

Coeur d’Alene has won 15 straight games since a 68-46 loss at Deer Park on Dec. 11.

Coeur d’Alene opened the season with a 50-48 win over Boise, which is seeded seventh at state.

“Those were our first games of the season and they’d already played a few games,” Wallis said. “That being our first trip and first games, it’s really hard competition down there and you’ve really got to give it your all.”

Colvin, who averages 30.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, recently broke the school's all-time scoring record (1,461 points, by Madi Symons, who played on the 2023 title team) in Game 2 of 6A District 1 championship series last Thursday at Post Falls, scoring a school record 44 points. Colvin heads into state with 1,465 career points.

“Pressure is a privilege,” said Colvin, who has some 30 college offers. “I’ve got great teammates and coaches around me. They just give me the opportunities to make those plays. I’m very grateful for them.”

With a win in the opening round, Coeur d’Alene could face top-seeded Eagle, which beat the Vikings 75-56 on Dec. 4 at Viking Court.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Colvin said. “We want to get through the first one and go from there.”

“I’m excited,” Wallis said. “Not beating them earlier this season might give us more energy to really try to get them this time.”

Coeur d’Alene went 4-0 in the Nike Tournament of Championship in Mesa, Ariz., in December.

“The Arizona tournament was really good for us,” Colvin said. “We all just started clicking. There was a different level that we started to play at and we’ve started to grow as a team.”

“Being with each other the entire trip, it was more of an AAU-style trip than high school,” Wallis said. “It really helped us get back to having fun.”

“I think we learned a lot and grew from that tournament,” Boyd said. “We grew a lot from playing a majority of our games away. We always try to find the toughest schedule we can find, and I don’t really worry about where we fall if we get to state. I don’t care if we’re the sixth seed or wherever, but we want to go and play the best teams we can.”

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene senior forward Karisa Wallis looks to pass during a Jan. 22 game against Lake City at Viking Court.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene senior guard Natalie Semprimoznik looks to cut to the basket in a Jan. 22 game against Lake City at Viking Court.