WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW: Clark Fork girls basketball squad young and determined

LAST SEASON: 7-11, 1A District 1-2 Champions, with key wins over Troy (Mont.) (2) (51-19, 40-36), Mullan (3) (43-14, 44-24, 47-25) and Noxon (2) (44-31, 41-27).

COACHES: Chris Cavanaugh (head coach, first year), Jordan Adams (assistant coach).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: G — Piper Scarlett, jr.; Aliyah Leadbetter, sr.; Keira Gannon, fr.; Hannah Thompson, sr. F — Priscilla Mayorga, jr.; Nora-Jean Hoy, so.; Kathi Rupp, jr.

Under former junior varsity head coach and former varsity assistant, first-year head coach Chris Cavanaugh, a graduate of Cheney High who has Clark Fork roots, has a young team that's determined and ready to give it their all.

Cavanaugh takes over for Jordan Adams, who's a Kellogg High graduate and will still be an assistant coach for the Lady Cats this season. Formerly, Adams was the head coach for seven years, Cavanaugh an assistant for three of those years and for two of them, the junior high girls basketball coach.

The Lady Cats have a roster of 12 girls this year, six of which are freshman and one that is an exchange student who's never played before.

"The seniors now I have coached as seventh graders, and the juniors as sixth graders, so I get some years with the girls I started with and also get the younger girls to help build the program."

This year's exchange student is Kathi Rupp, and despite little experience, Cavanaugh said she's going to be a key player this season. Rupp, who stands a 5 foot 10 inches tall and is strong, athletic and fast, was a force to be reckoned with down low in the team's first game against Post Falls' JV.

Freshman Keira Gannon is another star set to make a big impact this season. She'll be looked at for a lot of production on both sides of the ball. Cavanaugh said that as of right now, she's the cream of the freshman class crop.

Sophomore Nora-Jean Hoy will see extended minutes down low this season, but has been rehabbing an injury as of late. She's set to return sometime before Christmas break. When she does return, expect her to see a lot of touches in the paint.

Junior Piper Scarlett will be the team's primary ballhandler and will work hand-in-hand with senior Hannah Thompson. Stepping up down low will be junior Priscilla Mayorga; Cavanaugh said they'll get her involved as much as possible.

Senior Aliyah Leadbetter returns and is an outside scoring threat, having already drained two 3-pointers against Lakeside earlier this season.

"She's come a long way," coach Cavanaugh said. "She started as a sophomore and never played sports before — she could barely reach the rim then. The fact that we're seeing her out there shooting a high percentage from the 3-point and free throw lines is sweet. She's done a really good job so far this season."

As far as the schedule goes, the Lady Cats will take on a tough 2A Scenic Idaho Conference slate which includes Genesis Prep, Lakeside and Wallace. In addition to that, they've scheduled some familiar non-conference opponents like Kellogg, Noxon and Priest River, but will also face Selkirk of Ione, Wash. twice. At least since Cavanaugh has been around, the Lady Cats have never faced off against Selkirk, which is roughly one hour northwest of Newport.

"It's going to be interesting year, there's a lot of new faces and I'm excited for it," coach Cavanaugh said. "We're really young and have a lot of growing to do, growing that we're going to do together — adjust things together, figure out our strengths and weaknesses together — it's going to be fun."

The Lady Cats, which are 0-2, travel to Selkirk on Dec. 3 in hopes of picking up their first win of the season.

Girls Basketball Schedule 

11/15 — vs. Post Falls JV, 7 p.m. 

11/19 — vs. Lakeside, 7 p.m. 

12/3 — @ Selkirk, 7 p.m. 

12/5 — vs. Priest River, 6 p.m. 

12/10 — vs. Wallace, 7 p.m. 

12/12 — vs. Noxon, 7 p.m. 

12/17 — vs. Genesis Prep, 6 p.m. 

12/19 — vs. Kootenai, 7 p.m. 

1/7 — @ Mullan, 6 p.m. 

1/9 — vs. Selkirk, 7 p.m. 

1/14 — @ Wallace, 7 p.m. 

1/16 — @ Noxon, 6 p.m. 

1/21 — @ Kellogg, 7 p.m. 

1/23 — @ Genesis Prep, 5:30 p.m. 

1/30 — vs. Mullan, 6 p.m. 

2/1 — @ Lakeside, 3:30 p.m. 

2/3 — vs. Kellogg, 7 p.m. 

2/4 — @ Priest River, 6 p.m. 

2/6 — vs. Kellogg, 6 p.m. 

    Clark Fork High junior Priscilla Mayorga battles down low while guarded by multiple defenders during a home game earlier this season against Lakeside.