Idaho : LC gets gift when Frisbies land in town
It’s been six years since the Lake City High boys basketball team qualified for state.
The Timberwolves should end that drought this season. Lewiston, meanwhile, wants to extend its string of 5A state appearances to seven this year. Coeur d’Alene, which broke through last season after a five-year absence at state, certainly will challenge for a return trip.
With two automatic state berths available and three teams in the running, one good team will be left out come late February. If youthful Post Falls, under first-year coach Mike McLean, has its way, the Trojans will make it a four-team battle. At the least, the Trojans could play the spoiler role.
LC is heavily favored to capture the Inland Empire League championship. Coach Jim Thacker, who won nearly 500 games in three decades at Walla Walla, figured he’d have a team that would be in the mix as he begins his third year at LC. But then an early Christmas present – make that plural, as in presents – landed in his lap in late October when brothers Nate and Ben Frisbie moved from New Hampshire. Both are juniors (they’re not twins, one is older). Nate is a 6-foot-4 post and Ben is a 6-1 guard. They were starters as sophomores at Kearsarge High, a school of 680 in North Sutton, N.H. The school plays up a division in Class I, the second-largest classification in the state. Kearsarge advanced to the Class I semifinals. Ben, who started the last 14 games of his freshman season, was selected as the player of the year by two area newspapers and was a first team all-state pick last year.
“There’s no question that they’ve given us more depth and made us stronger inside and outside,” Thacker said. “They’ve blended in well. Sometimes when you have transfers you have internal personality problems. I’ve seen none of that.”
LC and CdA will find out quickly how they rate on a state level. The teams travel to eastern Idaho for a pair of season openers. The first stop for LC is Friday at Madison, which captured the 5A state title last year. CdA plays Madison on Saturday. Both teams also play 4A Rigby.
For a closer look at the area leagues and to see capsule glances of each team, check out my blog at spokesmanreview.com/blogs/ sportslink.
What did you say?
I had just finished a postgame interview Tuesday with Lake City girls basketball coach Darren Taylor, moments after Coeur d’Alene took round one of the rivalry 46-38 at Elmer Jordan Court, when Taylor fired off one of his usual barbs as he walked away.
“They’re going to win every game by 20, huh?” Taylor said.
He was alluding to a comment I made recently while chatting on air with KVNI’s Norm McBride and Bret Bowers about girls basketball.
I told the radio boys that I predicted CdA wouldn’t lose a game in Idaho this season, but would probably lose at the high-powered tournament in Gillette, Wyo., in late December. I was so emphatic that I said they’d probably beat all Idaho teams by double-digit margins.
I’m not backing down from that statement, but I will say this: Taylor will always have his teams ready to play against the Vikings (see LC’s victory over CdA in the state title game last year).
CdA opened a 28-13 lead in the first half Tuesday, but LC came charging back in the second half. It was a defensive slugfest and the next league game and the Fight for the Fish game will probably feature more of the same.
LC committed 22 turnovers, many of which came against CdA’s defense. But the Vikings had 19 and the majority of those were caused by the T-Wolves.
“That’s just one of many,” Taylor said of the first showdown.
Before I’m accused of saying that the two 5A state berths have already been decided, don’t forget about Post Falls.
Sure, LC stopped the Trojans 57-51 last week. But the Trojans were playing without two starters. They’ll be in the thick of the chase for the two state berths.