Conboy wants to keep good thing going

The Kellogg boys basketball team brought home the fourth-place consolation trophy from the State 3A tournament last year.

This year, one of higher expectations, it’s all about climbing that mountain again – albeit without the services of five members of last year’s team lost to graduation.

Up steps senior guard Jacob Conboy.

All-Intermountain League a year ago, Conboy is in the team’s top three in almost every statistical category and said Kellogg has its eyes firmly set on the prize.

“Our main goal is to get to state,” Conboy said. “Everyone is thirsty for that, and we’re just trying to get Kellogg basketball back on top.

“We got a taste of it last year, and we all want to do it again. It was fun, it was amazing and it was for real.”

Conboy said the 2006 version of KHS basketball has much the same chemistry as last year, but will have to use different physical tools if it is to succeed.

“We’re a little younger this year, and we’re a little smaller,” he said. “But I think we still have the same characteristics with leadership and stuff like that.”

As with most young teams, there has been a steady maturation process over the course of the season.

“Our first game was against Lakeland, and we lost by 30, and then we played Potlatch three days after that and only beat them by seven,” Conboy said. “Then Sandpoint came up here – that was the last 4A school we played – and we only lost to them by five.

“We just keep getting better and better, and I think we’re right around where our peak is going to be coming at just the right time.”

The chief obstacle is going to be league-leading Bonners Ferry – the Badgers have defeated Kellogg in both meetings this season.

“Bonners Ferry is going to be tough,” Conboy said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us – it’s all about rebounding and free throws. I think free throws are huge.

“If we stick to our game plan, I think it will work out. I think it will be tough for them to beat us three times in a row.”

Conboy, who also played wide receiver for the Wildcats football team, said he’s been playing basketball since the second grade and wouldn’t mind playing some more after high school.