Ryan Corbeill Coeur D’Alene Year: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Guard

Because Ryan Corbeill is sitting less on the pine, he earned the honor of parking his car next to Viking Gym for a week.

Coeur d’Alene High School honors its boy and girl athletes of the week by allowing them to park for a week in special spots near the gym.

Corbeill is spending more time on the court and less time parked on the bench because he’s fouling less this season.

“I think I fouled out of half the games last year, maybe two-thirds of the games,” Corbeill said.

His coach, Larry Bieber, begs to differ.

“I think he fouled out of nearly all the games,” Bieber said. “He definitely fouled out of all the ones he started. There would be times he’d pick up a foul, and by the time I had a sub ready to go in, he’d pick up another.”

Corbeill has played a key role in the Vikings’ continued improved play this season. Last Friday, he scored 10 points and had five assists in CdA’s 66-63 win over previously undefeated Boise. He had a key defensive play in the final seconds as he blocked an attempted game-tying 3-pointer.

He followed that Saturday with a career-high 16 points and five assists in the Viks’ 63-52 win over Nampa.

“Pretty good for a guy who can’t shoot,” Bieber said of his left-handed guard.

Corbeill, the son of longtime high school basketball referee Dave Corbeill, had a career-low one foul against Boise. And that foul came late in the third quarter.

He played the entire fourth quarter against Nampa with four fouls, and has had to take an early exit just once in six games.

“My dad told me after the game, ‘Ryan, way to stay in the ballgame.’ I get quite a bit of static about the fouls. Whenever I complain to my dad about a bad call by a referee, my dad’s philosophy is, ‘Chances are, they missed one that should have been called against me,”’ Corbeill said, smiling.

Corbeill knows his role for the Viks, and it’s not to be a shooter. He’s averaging less than eight points per game, and if he scores more than that, it’s a bonus.

“My main role is more of a passer, to get the ball to the big guys,” he said. “I know my shot isn’t the best.”

Bieber calls Corbeill the Viks’ “defensive instigator.”

“That’s my other role - to help create turnovers on defense,” Corbeill said.

Corbeill earned an unwanted nickname last year - “Captain Chaos” - largely because of the occasional flurries of fouls, bad passes and poor shots.

He knows he’ll never earn a moniker such as “Captain Control,” but he thinks his play has been closer to the latter than the former.

Corbeill believes the Viks can compete for a berth to state.

“There hasn’t been a game where all five of us (starters) have showed up the same night,” he said. “But we’re definitely a better team than last year.”

And Corbeill’s increased playing time is proof of it.

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