Players to Watch:
Jaydon Crowe, Kamiah
David Kludt, Kamiah
Ralli Roetciscoender, Kendrick
Cade Silflow, Kendrick
Vincent Kipp, Lapwai
Douglas Pappan, Lapwai
Lucius Comis, Logos
Seamus Wilson, Logos
Chase Lovell, Potlatch
Everett Lovell, Potlatch
Briggs Rambo, Prairie
Phil Schwartz, Prairie
Makhi Durrett, Troy
Dominic Holden, Troy
Written by: Will Hoenike
For the past several years, the 1A Division 1 (now 2A) Whitepine League has been a strong conference that the Lapwai Wildcats have ruled. Thanks to strong rosters led by college-level talent like Ivory Miles-Williams, Emmit Taylor III, Titus Yearout, and Kase Wynott, Lapwai has won four state championships in the past seven years.
Veteran head coach Zachary Eastman’s team may not be as dominant as recent seasons in 2024-25 but is full of players anxious to create their own legacies among a long list of Lapwai greats.
“This is an all-new roster, and our opponents don’t know much about our new personnel,” Eastman said. “I believe this year we will have a balanced attack on offense. We can score at all three levels: three-pointers, midrange, and at the basket.”
The Wildcats return a pair of seniors, center Laricci George-Smith and guard Marcisio Noriega, who will be looked upon to shoulder larger responsibilities this season. They’ll be joined by junior wing Vincent Kipp and sophomore guard Douglas Pappan to form what should be a competitive team once again.
However, there’s a new team with the bull’s eye on its back this season – the Kamiah Kubs. Most of the Whitepine expects the Kubs to ascend to the top of the league standings this fall thanks to the presence of another college-level talent: 6-foot-6 forward David Kludt, who has committed to compete for NAIA national-power College of Idaho.
“Dave has been a four-year starter for us, looks to be the frontrunner for Whitepine Player of the Year, and has his goals set on a return to the state playoffs,” said Kamiah head coach Aaron Skinner. “The chemistry with this team won’t be too hard to establish since most of these kids have been playing together for so long. If we can remain healthy, we should set ourselves up nicely for a deep run.”
The Kubs also return guards Jaydon Crowe, Jack Engledow, and Matthew Oatman and bring in a pair of sophomores, Lawson Landmark and Rylan Skinner, to create a strong foundation that will allow Kamiah to match up with any opponent.
“We will be able to run the floor in transition when needed as well as take the air out of the ball when we need to slow the game down,” Skinner said. “I have experienced players that are basketball savvy.”
Though Kamiah is expected to lead the way in the Whitepine this year, as usual, the league is flush with talented and competitive teams. Along with Lapwai, two football powers – Logos and Kendrick – should also challenge for potential state tournament berths.
Logos, coming off a 14-win campaign last season, returns virtually its entire roster after graduating just one senior. First-team All-Whitepine guard Seamus Wilson returns, as does fellow all-league honoree Lucius Comis. Both are seniors as the Knights are a senior-heavy group that opened its season with a tough win at home over Lapwai for head coach Nate Wilson. The team will challenge itself over the holiday break later this month by participating in two tournaments – the Freeman (Wash.) Holiday Tournament and then Lapwai/Logos Christmas Tournament.
As for Kendrick, the Tiger basketball squad will look to follow the lead of its state-championship football team. Junior guards Cade Silflow and Ralli Roetcisoender will be joined by senior post player Wyatt Cook to lead the way this season, though Kendrick will be without talented junior Nathan Tweit, who was injured during the football season. Sophomores Nate Kimberling and Maddox Kirkland will have an opportunity to fill key roles this season, as will freshman Hudson Kirkland.
“With so many new faces this year, we expect it to take a while to learn who we are as a team,” said Tigers’ head coach Steve Kirkland. “We want to put defensive pressure on teams to help create some easy baskets for us. We have some good shooters that we think can help open things up for us a bit.”
Injuries during the fall will also impact head coach Ryan Ball’s Potlatch team. The Loggers will be without three key players this season but, fortunately for Potlatch fans, the squad still returns four strong performers from last year’s team that won 20 games and placed third in the 1A Division 1 state tournament.
Senior Everett Lovell and junior Chase Lovell will be leaders at both ends of the floor for the Loggers. Senior Tyson Chambers and junior Jamison Morris also return, leaving the team with ample talent to compete again this season in the Whitepine.
“We have been a program that has been a pretty good man-to-man defensive team in the past and we will still rely on that basic principle,” Ball said. “But we will be a bit smaller than previous years so we will need to mix up our defensive strategies to help with our lack of size.”
Head coach Tim Scheffler and the Prairie Pirates will look to an extra year of experience and development to avoid the season-ending swoon that sunk the team last season. The team was in good position with the district tournament on the horizon before losing its final five games. Senior Briggs Rambo and junior Phil Schwartz return for Prairie in the backcourt, who look to replace talented big man Lee Forsmann.
The Troy Trojans are coming off an 11-win season but must replace all-league performers Eli Stoner and Joseph Brendel. Head coach Mitchell Sandquist will lean on a trio of seniors - Dominic Holden, Makhi Durrett, and Connor Wilson – as the team gains experience this season. Juniors Rowan Tyler and Wade Moser will also fill key roles for the Trojans.
“I am very excited to see how this group plays together, we have a little less size than we did last year but we make up for that in speed and the ability to push the ball up the court,” Sandquist said. “I am very excited to see how Makhi Durrett guards other teams' best players and how Rowan Tyler and Dominic Holden shoot the ball from the perimeter.”