WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW: Sandpoint boys basketball returns lots of depth, height

LAST SEASON: 12-14, 4A District 1-2 Champions, with key wins over Easy Valley (72-51), Timberlake (2) (71-65, 70-61), Heritage (54-44), Lakeland (2) (63-56, 64-62) and Moscow (2) (64-58, 58-45).

COACHES: Brian Childs (head coach, fourth year), Conner Childs (assistant coach).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: G — Knox Williams, so.; Logan Iverson, so.; Brock Yarbrough, so.; Wil Leisy, sr. F — Logan Roos, jr.; Emerik Jones, sr.; Kingston Corbett, jr.; Caiden Gion, jr.; Derrick Chamberlain, so.

Winning the 4A IEL District 1-2 title as the lowest seed last year, winning all of their games on the road in order to do so, certainly goes down as one of the greatest runs in Sandpoint High history, but this year's boys basketball team has an opportunity to surpass that accomplishment and make a deep run at the 5A state tournament.

Fourth-year head coach Brian Childs, father of sole 2024 graduate and elite scorer Parker Childs, acknowledged that the expectations are high coming into this season.

"We're returning experience, but it's young experience," coach Childs said. "We're going to have four sophomores on varsity, and also three seniors, but overall we're still going to be young."

Two of those sophomores are guard Knox Williams and forward Derrick Chamberlain, who started every game last season for the Bulldogs. While Williams has looked sharp in preseason action, especially from beyond the arc, Chamberlain, at 6 foot 7 inches tall, is dealing with some nagging injuries and hopes to heal up soon.

Senior forward Emerik Jones, standing at 6 foot 5 inches, is a returning 4A All-IEL First Team selection and has put in a lot of work this offseason to bring his game to an even higher level. He's extended his signature mid-range jumper to beyond the 3-point line.

"We're going to look to him to fill some of that void that Parker left," coach Childs said. "We're excited about what he brings to the table for us. We're going to need him to fill the stat sheet."

Junior Logan Roos is another player who's continued to grow both in height and in level of play.

"We're excited about his potential," coach Childs said. "Toward the end of last year, he was a big part of winning that district championship."

Senior guard Wil Leisy, junior forward Caiden Gion, senior forward Rece Wolff and junior forward Kingston Corbett will also be in the rotation. The same goes for sophomores Logan Iverson and Brock Yarbrough. Coach Childs said the two had great summers and that he's looking forward to see how they progress this season.

"We've got some good pieces here, we're just going need to see how the puzzle fits together," coach Childs said.

Schedule-wise, Sandpoint opens up the season on the road against reigning 3A (now 4A) State Champions Bonners Ferry, another team who returned a lot of players from last season. After that, the Bulldogs will head to the Lewiston Showcase where they'll see Lewiston, Moscow, Lakeland and will face a highly-touted 2A Kendrick squad.

"We're trying to get some experience on the road, playing in different environments," coach Childs said. "The beginning of the season is going to be a tough stretch for us."

Childs said that beyond that, they'll have a good idea of where they're at after playing in the Cactus Jam Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., a tournament where they'll see teams like Prosser (Washington), Rocky River (Ohio) and Whitney (California).

"We ran it by the Athletic Director (TJ Clary) and he thought it would be a great experience for the kids to go down there," coach Childs said. "We'll see a lot of different styles of play, three games on the road in three days... and hopefully that's what we're doing in March."

Childs said what ultimately is going to be a difference maker this year is getting healthy and staying healthy, something that has been a struggle this offseason. 

"I think this year is going to be evenly-matched and league games are going to be really tough, especially with Lewiston coming down a classification," coach Childs said. "It's always tough to win at Moscow, at Lewiston, at Lakeland with the rivalry... it should be a really competitive year."

Ultimately, what Childs and Bulldogs' goal is this year, is to build off of last year's season — a season that had good chemistry and a little luck.

"You have to have some luck if you're going to win district games, state tournament games," coach Childs said. "We've had a really good offseason going back to the spring and I think our kids our excited about Sandpoint basketball and what we might be able to do."

Boys Basketball Schedule

11/30 — @ Bonners Ferry, 7 p.m. 

12/6-7 — Lewiston Showcase Tournament @ Lewiston High

12/12 — vs. St. Maries, 7 p.m. 

12/14 — vs. Lewiston, 5:30 p.m. 

12/16 — @ West Valley, 7 p.m. 

12/18 — vs. Post Falls, 7 p.m. 

12/20 — vs. Priest River, 7 p.m.

12/27-30 — Cactus Jam Tournament @ Tempe, Ariz. 

1/6 — @ Priest River, 7 p.m. 

1/9 — vs. Moscow, 5:30 p.m. 

1/11 — vs. Ridgeline, 7 p.m. 

1/14 — @ St. Maries, 7 p.m. 

1/17 — vs. Lakeland, 7 p.m. 

1/24 — @ Lewiston, 7 p.m. 

2/6 — vs. Couer d’Alene, 7 p.m. 

2/8 — vs. Moscow, 3 p.m. 

2/12 — vs. Lake City, 7 p.m. 

2/14 — @ Lakeland, 7 p.m. 

    Sandpoint High senior Wil Leisy fires a 3-pointer during a jamboree earlier this season against St. Maries.