North Star points toward state

History suggests that the North Star League teams that qualified for the State 1A boys basketball tournament won’t be around long this week.

The Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy and Clark Fork coaches admit it’s a possibility. But they also believe their teams can buck the odds.

The tournament for the state’s smallest schools begins today at two locations in Caldwell. NSL champ Clark Fork (15-7) takes on Sho-Ban (15-4) at 2 p.m. PST at Vallivue High School and District I champ Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy (19-3) goes against Murtaugh (13-9) at 5:15 at Caldwell High School.

It’s the first trip to state for Coeur d’Alene Charter in its four years fielding a team. But it’s not the first visit to state for coach Brian Childs. He went three times as a varsity assistant at Lake City under former coach Jim Winger.

Childs knows what can happen to teams making a trip to state for the first time.

“I’m hoping we can draw from the experience of the district tournament,” Childs said. “We hadn’t been in an atmosphere like last Wednesday (first district win) and Friday playing in front of a big crowd. I thought we responded well.”

Childs said his team has enjoyed the special attention that comes from a school making its first trip to state.

“It’s been a lot of fun for them at school today,” Childs said Monday. “They worked awfully hard in the off-season – last spring, summer and this fall. To see that hard work pay off for these kids is pretty satisfying.”

Childs also knows what generally happens in opening games.

“Usually, whoever can settle into the game the quickest can get an advantage,” he said. “With our style of play, it’s a lot of just going out and playing and reacting. We don’t necessarily rely on half-court sets. So if we can get off to a good start we can eliminate some of those nerves.”

What could benefit the Panthers is their balance. Four players have averaged double-digit scoring.

“Our leading scorer, Josiah Menzies, only scored three points in our two district games,” Childs said. “But other kids stepped up. That’s happened a lot this year where different guys on different nights had big contributions. It’s nice to know we have different options.”

Like most teams do each year, the Panthers set going to state as a goal before the season. Childs said that it wasn’t until back-to-back wins in the middle of the season – at home against Wallace and at Kootenai – that his team started to realize their goal could be attained.

“Maybe there was a little doubt for a while,” Childs said. “But those two wins got us believing that we can make this thing happen.”

Childs won’t burden his team with advice or expectations going into the opener.

“We’re just going to go down there and just try to play as loose as we can and let it fly,” Childs said. “We’re certainly enjoying the moment. If we can relax and settle in, who knows what can happen after that?”

It would probably behoove Clark Fork to take a similar approach. The Wampus Cats played poorly for all but one quarter in three district games, but they somehow found a way to win when it counted most.

“We were fortunate to make it to state,” Clark Fork coach Brian Powell said. “Hopefully, we’ll play more consistent down there.”

The key, Powell said, is getting off to a better start than his team did in the district games.

“I’m not sure what it is. If I knew, I’d solve it,” Powell said. “We can play good basketball, but we can also play some basketball that can get nothing done. I’m trying to be nice about it.”

It’s Clark Fork’s first state trip since 2003.

“We have some seniors, but a lot of the kids who are playing will be back,” Powell said. “This will be a good experience for them. We don’t want to go down there and be done in two and on the way home. I know my kids will play hard. Hopefully, we’re in the tournament until Saturday and can play for something.”

Notes

Four Coeur d’Alene Charter players, all seniors, average 12.6 points or more. The Panthers are led by guard Josiah Menzies (15.4), forward David Baker (13.5 points, 8.7 rebounds), point guard Chris Shaw (13 points, 7.2 assists, 4.1 steals) and post Austin Folnagy (12.6 points, 9.2 rebounds). … Clark Fork is led by sophomore post Jared Broggi (12 points, eight rebounds), junior point guard Mike Martin (10 points, four assists) and senior wing Cameron Jeffres (11.5 points). … In addition to Lapwai, other returning placers include Troy (second), Cascade (third), Genesee (fourth) and Hagerman (fifth). … Genesee was ranked No. 1 in the final rankings. Genesee was followed by Notus, Hagerman, Cascade and Carey. … KVNI (1080-AM) plans to broadcast all of Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy’s games.