Kyle York Priest River Year: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Guard/Post/Wing

Basketball in a box?

That’s the way Intermountain League boys basketball teams have tried to guard Priest River standout Kyle York.

They have used many schemes to defend York, the league’s most valuable player last year. The usual ploy is a box-and-one scheme that calls for one player to guard York one-on-one while the other four collapse in a zone, forming a box to further defend the basket.

If that tactic has been effective, its benefits been subtle at best because the 6-foot-1 York is on another MVP pace.

“I feel I’m having a better year than last season,” said York, who had 52 points in two wins last weekend. “I didn’t play well defensively last year. I’ve been concentrating on playing better defense and I think that’s helped my offense.”

York is doing more than just score - though he leads the league in that statistic, averaging 23.7 points per game, six more than the next highest scorer.

He leads the Spartans in just about every statistic. His scoring average, in fact, represents 41 percent of his team’s points per game. Additionally, he’s averaging 8.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.1 blocks.

He handles the ball the majority of the time for the Spartans. He’ll create from the point or post up inside. So, as often as he touches the ball, perhaps his most impressive statistic is turnovers (a mere 24 through 15 games).

In the Spartans’ 66-62 overtime victory over Moscow, York supported his 28 points with 11 rebounds, five assists, five steals and four blocked shots.

“He does everything for us,” Spartans coach Kelly Reed said. “He gets us into our offense, scores most of our points, gets most of our rebounds. But more than anything, he controls the tempo for us.”

But there’s another trait that Reed admires most in York.

“He’s very unselfish. He looks to pass and set other players up too,” he said. “He could shoot more than he does.”

Asked who the league MVP is, Reed didn’t hesitate.

“I think he’s by far and away the best player in this league,” Reed said. “He may be the best player in the state.”