Season preview: Lady Cats believe chemistry will carry them far

CLARK FORK — The only thing that hampered the Clark Fork girls basketball team last season was inexperience.

Well, the Lady Cats don’t have that barrier this winter. Everyone who took the court in last year’s district championship against Mullan is back and with a season to mesh under their belts, Clark Fork looks primed to make a run at ending a decade-long state drought.

Senior Katelyn Matteson believes this group could do something special together because of their commitment to each other.

“I feel like we are capable of a lot if we put 100% in and work toward it,” she said. “I feel like our team is really connected and we will get far because we all love the sport and want to be here.”

This year, only one school stands in Clark Fork’s way of grabbing the district title and earning the right to compete in a state play-in game against the District 2 runner-up — Kootenai.

Due to low turnout, Mullan is only fielding a junior varsity team this season, leaving Clark Fork and Kootenai to duke out for the District 1 crown. The North Star League faced an eerily similar situation last year when the Warriors didn’t participate in winter sports at all due to COVID-19, allowing the Lady Cats and Mullan to vie for the district’s lone state bid.

Clark Fork fell to Mullan 37-34 in the District 1 title showdown, but the Tigers won’t be in the picture this season. Everything seems to be coming together at just the right time for the Lady Cats to end their state drought, but head coach Jordan Adams said they won’t know what resistance Kootenai will present until they take the court against them this winter.

However, one thing is clear — this team has made huge strides since the end of last season, Adams said.

“They’ve shown tremendous progress over this year,” she said.

The Lady Cats finished last season on an 11-game losing streak and were 2-14 overall. But that record doesn’t tell the whole story. Five of the eight players who suited up for Clark Fork in that district title defeat had never played in a varsity basketball game prior to last season and two of their starters were freshmen.

Despite all that, the Lady Cats still found a way to be competitive and improve with every game. Clark Fork’s growth was on full display in that district championship loss when they put up quite the fight against a veteran-led Mullan team, and they aren’t showing signs of slowing down their progress anytime soon.

Matteson is one of three seniors on this year’s team, alongside Grace Yancey and Kellie Mace. Juniors Paige Valliere, Emily Myers and Breezy Fournier, and sophomores Eloise Shelton and Eloise Shelton round out the rest of the returners for the Lady Cats.

Junior Savannah Weymouth, and freshmen Rachel Weymouth and Hannah Thompson are all newcomers who will split time between varsity and JV.

Clark Fork was unable to field a JV team last season, but an influx of players, including six freshmen, allowed the program to bring one back this winter and Adams is excited about what that means for the future.

“It’s really nice when you have the JV team every year because those younger girls get the experience so by the time they are on varsity they have a really good grasp of the fundamentals,” she said. “They just walk in and all you have to work on is conditioning and fine-tuning skills.”

Over the offseason, Adams said she did some one-on-one work with a couple of the Lady Cats, including Matteson and Shelton, and she’s already seen that dedication pay off in the first few weeks of practice.

Matteson said she focused on improving her shooting, ball handling and conditioning in those sessions and on her own time as she sets her sights on earning North Star League MVP honors this season. She is also interested in pursuing a college basketball career, and both those aspirations motivated her during the offseason.

Matteson was Clark Fork’s go-to scorer most of last season and she’s ready to have a similar impact, but it appears some of that pressure has been taken off her shoulders this year.

“I’ve seen everybody just get better with their shooting,” she said.

Shelton, Reuter, Yancey and Valliere all have opportunities to see significant upticks in their scoring, Adams said, giving the Lady Cats more options on the floor. However, Matteson will still be the No. 1 option for Clark Fork because of her commitment and skill level, Adams said.

“When it comes to ball smarts, Katelyn obviously has the most experience,” she said. “She’s the most vested in it and it shows. This girl, if there’s an open hole she finds it.”

Valliere, who earned NSL MVP on the volleyball court this fall, started at point guard last season as a sophomore. This year, she’ll split point guard duties with Shelton, which will give Valliere more freedom to look for her shot on the wing.

Valliere worked on her confidence shooting from beyond the arc over the summer, and she believes she’s dialed it in.

Valliere and Matteson are just over a month removed from a heartbreaking loss on the volleyball court that saw the Lady Cats fall to Deary in four sets in a state play-in game.

Volleyball is Valliere’s passion, so she still hasn’t gotten over the way this season ended. But that unfortunate ending is providing her with plenty of motivation entering the basketball season, especially if the Lady Cats draw Deary again in a state play-in, which is certainly a possibility.

“It gives me some motivation to go down there and want to do something,” Valliere said.

Valliere and Matteson were two of three Lady Cats who grabbed all-league honors last season. Myers was the other, but she likely will not take the court at all this season while she recovers from a torn ACL and meniscus.

Myers is a glue player that impacts the team in so many different ways. Adams said the junior playmaker can’t just be replaced and it will take the entire team to fill the void left by her absence.

“Emily was just really diverse,” she said. “I can put her anywhere so we have multiple people filling her shoes, but they have their own qualities that make them a good athlete just in a different way.”

A major bright spot for Clark Fork last year was the play of Reuter and Shelton. The guards stepped in the starting lineup as freshmen and were not intimidated by the moment one bit. Adams said she couldn’t have been happier with how the pair played in their first season and the sky’s the limit for what they could do down the road.

“This year it’s been great because they’ve already been through the ringer with me last year, so now we’re just pushing forward,” she said, “and learning new things, looking for different spots and being more aggressive. They have a really good grasp of what to expect and what I expect of them.”

Valliere has been playing alongside the likes of Shelton and Reuter since rec league volleyball and basketball. They’ve spent countless hours together through sports, Valliere said, and that tight bond allows them to have a sixth sense for each other’s next move on the court.

The Lady Cats will be undersized in plenty of games this season, but they will make-up for it with their pesky defense.

“I feel like defensively we're really strong because we’re fast so we’re able to anticipate the ball and steal it,” Valliere said.

Adams said this team has a special connection with one another. They genuinely care about each other on and off the basketball court, Adams said, and the returners this season embraced the newcomers with open arms. They are truly a family.

Matteson said that atmosphere will make a difference this winter.

“It keeps you happy whenever you’re on the court,” she said. “It makes you want to ride the bus home, and it makes you want to keep playing the sport and not quit.”

Clark Fork opens the season with a tough three-game stretch. The Lady Cats host Priest River at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Kellogg at 7 p.m. Thursday before traveling to Genesis Prep on Friday.