PLAYERS TO WATCH

Samuel Huckaby, Cascade
Cole Olson, Cascade
Tyler Thurston, Cascade
Tucker Laine, Council
Decker McLinn, Council
Garrison Zielinski, Council
Tacoma Kelly, Garden Valley
Maddix Miller, Garden Valley
Nic Cooper, Horseshoe Bend
Kaelun Jones, Horseshoe Bend
Porter Larson, Horseshoe Bend
Cordell Bovey, Salmon River
Zane Nichols, Tri-Valley

Written by: Will Hoenike

The Long Pin Conference’s top two teams last season, in terms of total wins, look to be in prime position to repeat as the conference’s representatives in the 1A Division 2 state tournament again this season, but the Council Lumberjacks (20-6 last season) and Cascade Ramblers (17-9) will face tough tests from what looks to be a deep Long Pin.

Council will look to replace four of five starters, including 1st Team All-Conference performers Wyatt Vining and Porter McLinn. But JC Tucker, returning to the Council bench as head coach, has plenty of talent to lean on. Juniors Decker McLinn, Tucker Laine, and Wade Vining will see plenty of minutes alongside sophomore Garrison Zielinkski. The Lumberjacks will be a young squad, predominantly sophomores and juniors, so don’t be surprised if it is a team that starts slow and gains steam as the season progresses.

On the other end of the spectrum, experience-wise, is Cascade. The Ramblers return the conference’s Most Valuable Player in Tyler Thurston as well as All-Conference honorees Samuel Huckaby (senior) and Cole Olson (junior). Senior Trever Sayers also returns to the Cascade lineup, giving head coach Josh Hurley a talented foursome to lean on this season with plenty of depth behind them.

Hurley would like to see his team continue to get better at rebounding the basketball as well as running its offense in the open court.

“I think we left eight, ten points a game on the floor last year by not pushing into the defensive transition at our own pace,” Hurley said. “Also, our guys have spent a lot of time in the gym in the off-season putting up thousands of shots and I expect that to show in our shooting percentage.”

Nipping at the heels of the Ramblers and Lumberjacks are Garden Valley and Horseshoe Bend. Both teams finished above .500 last season and return valuable pieces of their respective teams. For Garden Valley, senior Tacoma Kelly returns after earning the Long Pin’s Defensive MVP award last season. Senior Zade Thompson and junior Trevor Corn will factor into the plans for head coach Heather Kelly, whose team coasted to a pair of big wins to open its season over 1A Division 1 foes Wilder and Idaho City – toppling the two teams by a combined score of 131-73.
Horseshoe Bend returns three players who earned All-Conference recognition in senior guard Porter Larson and senior post players Layth Bromgard and Nic Cooper. Seniors Kaelun Jones and Carson Drake, two key contributors to the school’s football team, will also be important to the Mustangs’ success on the basketball court. Head coach Jason Bromgard loves his team’s chemistry and believes it could do special things on the defensive end of the court.

“We anticipate dominating the boards on rebounding. Layth Bromgard is set to break the school career record in the first game of the season for rebounds,” the elder Bromgard said. “We plan to transition back on defense faster this year. We have a couple players that very well could earn defensive player of the year during the conference selections.”

The Mustangs are also playing for a fallen teammate – multi-sport athlete Jared Wolsleben passed away shortly after the football season ended.

Tri-Valley and Salmon River will look to push their way up the conference standings this season. For Tri-Valley, they return All-Conference post player Zane Nichols, but need to find someone to replace Kyle Paradis, who graduated in May. For Salmon River, the Savages also return an All-Conference player, senior Cordell Bovey. Senior Gabe Zavala also returns at guard for Salmon River.

Meadows Valley, which competed in the Long Pin last season, doesn’t have enough players to compete its own team this season so the school’s basketball athletes are traveling to nearby McCall-Donnelly to compete in a co-op with the Vandal program.