Badgers Want To Leave No Room For Argument

Sometimes the arguing, the banter back and forth between players and coach can be misinterpreted as dissension or turmoil.

So says Dick Hollenbeck, coach of the Bonners Ferry High School boys basketball team.

At one point during the second quarter of Bonners Ferry’s statequalifying win over Priest River last Saturday, senior wing Gavin Glindeman sprinted to the Badgers’ bench and pleaded vociferously with Hollenbeck to try a different offense.

A few moments later, when the animated Glindeman complained again, Hollenbeck got up from his courtside chair and sternly advised Glindeman to run the offense or take a seat next to him.

“We have too many coaches at times,” Hollenbeck said later, smiling.

Many thought the Badgers’ toughest opponent coming into this season would be themselves. If Bonners Ferry didn’t qualify for state, it would most likely be because it selfdestructed, critics thought.

The track record supported such a theory. Bonners Ferry went to state last year and fell flat, losing two and taking an early exit. Players argued on the court; several just went through the motions at state.

“Last year, the season was over before we went to state,” Hollenbeck said. “We lost to teams at state we should have beat.”

The Badgers have an opportunity to redeem themselves, beginning when they open play tonight in the State A-2 Tournament at Pocatello. Bonners Ferry (18-5 overall) meets Weiser (18-5) in the final game at 7:15 PST, while Intermountain League rival Kellogg (19-3) tips off the tourney earlier against Sugar-Salem (15-9) at 1.

“We’ve got some unfinished business,” Hollenbeck said. “I told the upperclassmen this is not a vacation, that we’re going (to state) for business first and pleasure last.”

Hollenbeck said the Badgers have matured since last year.

It’s particularly evident, he said, in senior guard Kris Gravelle.

Gravelle led the IML in scoring last year, averaging 22 points per game. His average is six points lower this year, but he’s done more by scoring less.

Picking up scoring slack has been Glindeman, who tops all Badgers at 17.5 ppg.

It’s been a reunion of sorts this season for Glindeman and the Badgers. Glindeman, son of former Bonners Ferry head coach and current assistant Pete Glindeman, moved to the Spokane Valley following the eighth grade.

He played basketball with Gravelle in junior high.

Glindeman is particularly pleased he moved back after spending his junior year as a starter on a 4-16 team at East Valley.

“I’ve never played on a winning team,” Glindeman said. “Though I haven’t been here for a while, it’s like we’ve been playing together forever.”

“We’re really good friends,” Gravelle said. “Sometimes he forces stuff, but we all do at times. We have confidence in each other. Without Gavin we wouldn’t be where we’re at this year. There’d be no way we’d contend for a state title.”“He is a little out of control at times. He gets a little spacey, but he does not like to lose,” Hollenbeck said. “I don’t know if I’ve had a player quite as an intense as him.”Said Gravelle: “We get frustrated with each other, friends do, but we know we can count on each other at crunch time.”

From the opening tip today, the Badgers hope to run and keep running. There are few teams that make the transition from defense to offense quicker than Bonners Ferry.

Though Gravelle and Glindeman look for each other frequently in transition, guard Jesse Holeski, wing Benson LaRue and post Brian Stewart have proven to be capable scorers as well.

Hollenbeck doesn’t expect a repeat of last year’s pratfall.

“Leadership and maturity is there that wasn’t there last year,” he said.

MEMO: This is a sidebar which appeared with story:

STATE A-2 TOURNAMENT

When: Begins three-day run today at Idaho State University’s Reed Gym. First-round games: Kellogg (19-3) vs. Sugar-Salem (15-9), 1 p.m. PST; Marsh Valley (16-6) vs. Payette (18-5), 2:30 p.m.; Jerome (6-17) vs. Bear Lake (15-8), 5:45; Weiser (18-5) vs. Bonners Ferry (18-5), 7:15. Championship game: Saturday, 4:50 p.m., Holt Arena. Kellogg vs. Sugar-Salem: The Wildcats are glad to be back at state after last year’s disappointment. Kellogg breezed through the Intermountain League last year, only to fall apart at district, where the Wildcats’ season ended abruptly. The Wildcats also don’t mind toting “No. 1” on the back of their uniforms. They realize top billing in the final season poll serves as a huge target on their backs, but aren’t concerned because they think they can live up to it this weekend. Sugar-Salem isn’t nearly the team that dominated state the past two years. But the Diggers appear to be playing their best since their star player, 6-5 senior Shawn Dexter (20.5 points per game), died in a car accident in early January. Players to watch: Kellogg - Travis Fulton, 6-foot-2 senior, point guard, 16.2 ppg; Casey Fisher, 6-6 junior, post, 15.2 ppg; Derek Jennings, 5-9 sr., guard, 10.6; Chris Nielsen, 6-3 sr., forward, 10.1. Sugar-Salem - Robbie Harris, 6-0 sr., guard, 11 ppg; Tyler Meyers, 6-0 sr., guard, 10 ppg. Radio: KWAL (620 AM), pregame 10 minutes prior to tipoff. Bonners Ferry vs. Weiser: From a scouting standpoint, Weiser has a huge edge over Bonners Ferry. Wolverines coach Lyle Bayley watched Bonners Ferry lose to Kellogg in the district title game and defeat Priest River for a state berth last weekend. “That rankles me,” Bonners Ferry coach Dick Hollenbeck said. “Then you try to talk to the coaches in District III about Weiser and they’re tightlipped, won’t say anything.” Some question the strength of the Snake River Valley’s two state entrants, Weiser and Payette, because traditional state qualifiers Bishop Kelly and Kuna were down. Players to watch: Bonners Ferry - Gavin Glindeman, 6-4 sr., wing, 17.5 ppg; Kris Gravelle, 6-1 sr., guard, 15.9 ppg; Benson LaRue, 6-5 sr., wing, 11 ppg. Weiser - Danny Walker, 6-2 sr., guard, 15 ppg, 8 rebounds per game; Ben Boettcher, 6-4 sr., forward, 14 ppg; Jon Lindsey, 6-2 jr., guard, 12 ppg. Radio: KBFI (1450 AM), pregame 10 minutes prior to tipoff.