06-07 Varsity Basketball

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:28 pm

Well, it's been a while, so I thought I'd post a little update:
Here are the boys scores since 12/15/06:
12/15/06: Kellogg 41, Orofino 53
12/19/06: Kellogg 48, Newport 35
12/29/06: Kellogg 43, Potlatch 36
01/04/07: Kellogg 64, Bonners Ferry 35
01/06/07: Kellogg 41, Orofino 33
01/12/07: Kellogg 44, Wallace 45
01/13/07: Kellogg 53, St. Maries 35

The 13th was the 1st Annual Brawl for the Ball with St. Maries (in St. Maries). It was a very fun day (five games). Kyle Finlay painted an awesome trophy (a basketball with a gold center stripe and green and purple sides. The green side has crossed gold axes and the purple side has a gold paw print. All of it is outlined with black and is air-brushed so soft edges). Kellogg easily won the Ball this year. We hope it will continue in Kellogg next year.
At this point, Kellogg is the only undefeated IML team in league play (2-0).

The girls made it to 16-0 before they finally lost a game. Unfortunately, last night they lost a game in Bonners Ferry (I think the score was 30-23). From what I've heard (because I couldn't make the trip last night), we didn't play very well. I hope it was just something they had to get out of their system. And if it is, I'm glad they did it before tournament play begins.

That's the news from Kellogg. The boys will travel to Timberlake on Friday. Then all four teams will travel to Priest River on Saturday. I'll try to keep you all posted.

Casey Fisher · Post by **Casey Fisher** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:59 pm

Thanks for the update Gwen. That sounds like a really cool idea, the "Annual Brawl for the Ball" with St. Maries. That trophy sounds really cool... Specifically, how do you win it? Do both the boys and girls varsity have to win on that day?

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:06 pm

There were 10 competitions that occurred in the "Brawl for the Ball":
Food drive (St. Maries won by getting 7000 lbs of food donated, Kellogg got donations of about 5800 lbs).
50/50 raffle ticket sale (Kellogg won this competition - $1500 worth of tickets were sold between the two school ASBs)
Peanut butter/Jelly bean competition - this was a half time activity and SMHS won this
Wrap your opponent - another half-time competition. KHS won this
The five Basketball Games - Kellogg won 4 of 5 games
The Mascot Dance Off - Kellogg's mascot won this
The Battle of the Bands - we all wonder how, but SMHS won this (it certainly wasn't a competition about music) This was a competition unto itself and didn't contribute to the Ball competition, I believe.
At any rate, t-shirts were sold by both schools and one half of the SMHS gym was a sea of purple and gold. It was awesome. I can't wait until we do this in Kellogg next year. We need to get pom-poms, foam fingers, etc.

Casey Fisher · Post by **Casey Fisher** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:56 pm

Wow. That sounds like a lot of fun...

Post by **Simon Miller** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:59 pm

It was indeed a great thing to see. Lots of spirit for both teams. I was particularly impressed with the St. Maries kids, as cheering your team on when they are losing by a considerable margin is not an easy thing to do. You really must have school spirit to do that. The Kellogg kids were pretty loud, but I wonder if they would have been as spirited if they were on the other end of the scoreboard.

Jason Spoor · Post by **Jason Spoor** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:33 pm

I just wanted to try this question again.....

I was checking out the rankings for the panhandle wrestlers and failed to notice a Wildcat in the top 3 in any weight class... I can't remember a time when the school didn't have 2-3 of the areas best wrestlers on it's squad. Is this years squad just really young? Poorly coached (unfair question on this board, I know)? Riddled by injury? Too early to tell?

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:32 am

I have only made it to one wrestling match this season...last week vs. Timberlake. Our team had someone in each weightclass...unlike Timberlake that had to forfeit two smaller weight class matches. Still, KHS lost the match. I think our team has been riddled with injuries and wrestlers quitting mid-season. I don't think this has been the best year for wrestling.
I was talking with one of the seniors just after they returned from the American Falls tournament last week. He said three of the wrestlers moved on to the varsity finals (the rest competed in the JV finals). None of those three won their weight class. So...
*shrug*

Jason Spoor · Post by **Jason Spoor** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:57 am

Thanks Gwen.

I just found it odd that there wasn't a single wreslter in the top 3 - the new rankings came out in todays Spokesman and they have Steven Frank listed in a tie as the 3rd best HWT in the panhandle, that's the only KHS grappler on the list.

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:28 pm

Steven went to state last year and placed...4th, I believe. He won his match against the Timberlake HWT in OT last week.
One of the other wrestlers who went to state last year, Casey Ryan, broke his foot or leg in the last month and will be out for the remainder of this season.

We're hoping to get him back for baseball season.
I'm sure there are other factors/issues of which I am not aware that have contributed to the lack of ranked wrestlers at KHS this year. There haven't been many home matches, but the GW Invitational is coming up at the end of the month.

Mike Nordin · Post by **Mike Nordin** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:48 pm

I love hearing about k-log current sports. I can't believe my ears that Kellogg doesn't have a good wrestling team. Who is coaching? Mr. Woods was the man!

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:00 pm

We should have probably started a separate thread for the wrestling, but since we're already discussing it...

I believe Terry Jolley is the current head wrestling coach.

There seems to be an interestings phenomenon happening in north Idaho with sports. Just in the past month:
A prominent senior (male)on the Bonner Ferry varsity basketball team quit.
A prominent senior (and later his two brothers) on the St. Maries varsity basketball team quit.
Several members of the St. Maries varsity girls basketball team quit.

I've heard (though I don't know how many or who) several members of the KHS wrestling squad have quit.
I know that earlier in the season a senior member of the Wallace girls varsity basketball team quit.
It seems odd to me that whatever squabbles, tiffs, disciplinary actions (or whatever else has caused these athletes to stop playing) have taken precidence over their love of the sport. Particularly for seniors who may never have another opportunity to play on an organized team with interstate competition.
I think it's sad.

I hope they don't look back one day an regret their actions.

Mike Nordin · Post by **Mike Nordin** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:13 pm

Oh, they will. I tell my kids all the time, "If you start, you finish it!". My oldest daughter wanted to quit softball two games before the end of the season because of another girl on the team. I reminded her my saying and then told her just to focus on the game and what she does. It worked. I was also the coach so there was absolutely no way she was going quit.

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:25 pm

Yes, we have a similar rule in our house. I've let my daughter quit a sport one time...and that was because she wanted to quit before she really got started. She stated playing softball a few years ago, but started coming home crying almost every day by the end of the first week of practice. She was highly frustrated by one of the coaches and I just didn't feel like fighting her. Since she hadn't really started playing yet (and the team wouldn't be depending on her in any way), I let her quit.
The rest of the time, if they start it, they finish. It's been difficult at times. Tempers flare, personalities clash, perceived unfairness abounds, but in the end, they are usually quite happy they stuck it out.
It's too bad that attitude isn't more prevalent these days.

Mike Nordin · Post by **Mike Nordin** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:20 pm

On KHS grads I, Roops asked about my post High school sport career. Well, I never counted myself in the same level as everyone else on the list becuase...
I was only a thrid stringer that, and I'm not kidding on this, was brought in only to possibly shoot three pointers and play hard defense at the top of the key.
The team I played on only played two other small colleges, one jobcore team (they were pretty good), and quite a few city league teams.
Most of the players went on to play for real college teams, but it was great to play with them and learn from them. I didn't play High School ball becuase I sucked, but after graduation I moved back to Astoria Oregon and I didn't know anyone. We had a court by my house so I practiced daily on dribbling with my left, something I couldn't do in high school, and literally shot about 500 free throws a day. That fall I took a college B-ball class, one that most of the team also took, and that is when I came to the belief that you can only get better if you play or practice with people that are better than you. What can I say, I gelled. So, yes, my post high school sport career basically consisted of playing two other college teams, of which I think I played a total of 5 min., but (in the spirit of ol' Rudy) I did practice with the team and I made them what they were.

So, there you go Roops.

Mike Nordin · Post by **Mike Nordin** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:24 pm

Maybe it was Rimdancer that asked?
By the way we only lost one game, to the Jobcore team, and our team was the Clatsop Comm. College Running Racoons or better known through out the nation

as the "Bandits".

Post by **Simon Miller** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:19 am

Gwen, I see the boys won last night... looks like they went inside often with McDonald having 12 in the second half. How was the game?

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:34 am

I just posted a big long entry about that...but it appears to have disappeared. I think I hit preview but not submit.

I'm such a dork!
Let's see if I can rewrite some of it.
The C-team and JV boys both lost close games. There's a prima-donna player on the THS JV team that had my blood pressure rising last night.

The varsity game was so exciting. The teams were tied at the end of Q1 and at the half. THe 'Cats came out early in the 2nd half and went up by 10 right away. Then our shooting turned ice-cold and a THS player got red-hot, popping off three consecutive treys to bring us back to tied (or a one point difference) by the end of Q3.
Our inside game was indeed superior to theirs and because of it, they fouled frequently. By the time the Q4 started, they were in bonus and we had a few fouls to give. That would come in handy before the game ended. Their scoring hot streak continued (as did our cold stretch) until they were up by 10 with 4 minutes to play. Then JBS became a one man defense and stole two consecutive THS drives up the court and returned them for lay-ins on our end. That's when our free-throw shooting started to pay-off. Josh McDonald and Jonathan Fuller hit critical free-throws to bring us back to tied (and put us up by one, I think). The score see-sawed back and forth for a bit until there was less than a minute to play. Good D on the part of the 'Cats combined with a couple of THS mistakes helped send us to the line until we were up 4 with 9 seconds to go. THS has two chances at their own basket, but the shots wouldn't drop. I believe the final score was 50-46, but I could be wrong. I know the point difference was 4.
The drive home was...horrendous. We have definitely receive the 3in (and possibly more as it's still dupming outside) and the advisory was supposed to continue through 4pm this afternoon (I haven't updated myself on any current warnings/advisories).
I'm wondering about the game today with PR. If this weather continues, will they still play it? When does that decision need to be made?

I will submit this one.

Post by **Simon Miller** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:42 am

Wow... sounds like a barn-burner last night! Kudos to the boys for winning a very tough IML road game.

I don't know about tonight. I just don't see how they can keep the game on if this snow keeps up. It is a white-out out there.

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:48 am

It is...and the driving is not good, trust me.

It would be one thing during the day, but when it gets dark, in those areas with no streetlights...
*shudders*
I don't want another drive tonight like the one I had last night.

Post by **Gwen Johnson** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:10 am

I just got word from Troy a few moments ago...the Priest River games for today have been cancelled.

While I'm bummed to not play this game today, I'm so happy that none of us will have to make that drive today. I already have a foot of snow in my yard and it's still coming down.