STATE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: 'He just bleeds this school' — Josh Watson, senior and four-year varsity player, leads Lake City back to state

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

As a freshman on the Lake City High boys basketball team, Josh Watson was an intriguing young big man, mixed in with a senior-heavy squad where all five starters would eventually go off to play in college — four in basketball. 

“They were so dominant,” Watson recalled of that team, which rolled to an undefeated season and brought home the program’s first state championship in 2023. “It was a fun team to be on; they played for each other and I’m really proud of this team, we play for each other.”

In practice that year, Watson often guarded Blake Buchanan, who went on to play two seasons at Virginia and is now a junior starting at sixth-ranked Iowa State. 

“I got dunked on a lot, for sure,” Watson recalled. 

The 6-foot-5 Watson took those lessons learned as a freshman, and his growth the last three seasons for the Timberwolves has been exponential. 

“He is Lake City basketball, man,” third-year Timberwolves coach James Anderson said. “He just bleeds this school, and he’s just an incredible leader. More than his growth as a player is his growth as a person and a leader. I don’t know if we’ll ever have a captain as good as Josh Watson again. I really don’t. What he brings to this locker room is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. And he is the glue of everything this team is.” 

Lake City (16-8), last year’s state runner-up, is seeded third this year at state. The T-Wolves open against sixth seed Timberline (16-9) of Boise in the first round Thursday at 4 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

As a sophomore, Watson and incoming freshman Jordan Carlson teamed with a pair of holdover guards from the state title team, juniors Reese Strawn and Cason Miller, to get the T-Wolves back to state, where they brought home the consolation championship. 

Last year, Lake City reached the state title game for the third time in five seasons, falling to Owyhee of Meridian. 

“Freshman year, I wasn’t as strong, wasn’t as fast,” Watson said. “But after freshman year I started taking it more seriously, and I wanted to develop my shot more, my handles, how fast I can move, everything like that.” 

This year Watson, who has verbally committed to North Idaho College and is a cousin of former Coeur d’Alene resident and Gonzaga great Anton Watson, is averaging 11.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. 

“Basketball wise, he’s been able to shoot a little more from the perimeter this year, and do some other stuff,” Anderson said. “For him, he does a little better when he’s got a guard like Reese to play off of, in pick and roll games. So new things on offense this year have been an adventure, good and bad. But he continues to improve, and he only wants one thing, and that’s the team.” 

Carlson, who has an offer from Idaho and interest from a handful of other schools, is averaging 17.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 blocks. 

“Definitely tried to make some strides in my athleticism and defense," said Carlson, whose brother James played at Lake City, NIC and Idaho State. “I wanted to be able to score anywhere, get the ball in the post, face-up shots or get to the rim. I wanted to be an elite shooter, which I felt like I was this year.” 

Carlson, a forward, said he learned a lot playing with Strawn and Miller. 

“Being a versatile player, I learned a little bit how to be a guard, and learned how to get guards open,” Carlson said. “I learned from them how to score like a guard, and how to get elite guards open.” 

Senior Jackson Bowman averages 7.8 points per game. In addition to being an offensive threat, Bowman often draws the toughest defensive matchup — guards or bigs. 

“I’ve been doing it all season,” Bowman said. “It’s just your mindset, go out there and play ball, be a dog on defense, and offense will flow. Coach challenges me with taking on the best players, and I love that challenge, and get after those guys.” 

"The list of people he’s guarded the last two years has been absolutely crazy,” James Anderson said. “There’s going to be people on that list that are playing in the Big Ten, and the Big 12. He’s a pretty special defender and a pretty special kid. Last year he was the one that everyone laid off (defensively) in our lineup and tried to plug everything with. He’s worked on the things he needed to work on. He’s shot over 40 percent on 3s since Jan. 1, and that’s huge for us to have him shooting the ball like that.” 

Junior Jackson Anderson, James’ son, averages 7.1 points per game. He hit four 3-pointers and scored 22 points in Saturday’s win over Post Falls which propelled Lake City to state. 

In addition to shooting from the outside, “he likes to dribble post-up; we call those ‘Barkleys’,” James Anderson said. 

Lake City lost a lot of offense from last year’s team in Strawn, now playing at Division II Western Colorado, and Miller, now at NIC. So the emphasis shifted. 

“Last year we played a lot through our guards, Reese and Cason,” Anderson said. “We weren’t great defensively last year, but we were unbelievable on offense, and this year, it’s a little bit flipped. If you checked our schedule, and all the teams we played, there’s eight or nine teams that we’ve held them to their season low on defense. So this is a much more defensive-oriented team. A little less predictable on offense, in both a good way and a bad way. I don’t know who’s going to score, or if anybody’s going to score. Neither does the other team.” 

“Obviously our defense has gotten a lot better,” Bowman said, “but (also) just the way we move the ball, we trust each other a lot more, and are able to get the ball up the floor a lot faster.” 

James Anderson is optimistic senior guard Paxton Winey, who suffered a sprained ankle in Game 2 against Post Falls last week, will be available for state. To reach the title game, Lake City will have to go through the 6A Southern Idaho Conference. If the T-Wolves beat Timberline, they’ll face either No. 2 seed Centennial or No. 7 Capital in the semis. 

“Our goal is obviously to get back to Saturday night,” Anderson said. “Once you’ve played that game, like we did last year, and you return 11 guys that played in that game last year, you really only accept playing in that game again. That was our goal from the start.” 

Owyhee beat Lake City 77-46 in last year’s title game, for the Storm’s third state title in their four years of existence. 

“We’ve had Owyhee in our sights, and we’ve been watching,” Anderson said. “We got to see them play in their tournament (in December). I think they’re a little more beatable this year than they were last year, but it’s going take all of us, and it’s going to take a heckuva game to put them on the ropes.” 

But ... 

“We’ve got to get there first; everything’s earned, right?” Anderson said.