Shooting hoops, shooting targets and wrestling in this week’s wrap

Welcome back, Bonners Ferry Badger fans! It’s basketball season again. I have heard some great things about the season  ahead and just yesterday I got some intel from head coach Nathan Williams about his upcoming fifth year of coaching Badgers.

“This year the Badgers are coming into the season for the first time as returning state champions,” he said. “After winning their first ever state championship in boys basketball the Badgers will begin to prepare for another run at a repeat starting November 15.”

Nathan Williams has been coaching many of these boys since grade school and is thrilled to be with them again this year.

“I am full of gratitude for getting to coach these hard working kids for as long as I have,” he said. “We have a great nucleus coming back with six of our top eight returning, and four of the five starters.”

Returning for the Badgers:

“This summer we had Ty Schrock step up for us and play some valuable minutes at some big tournaments,” Williams said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop.

Ivaan Cartwright, senior, will be contributing as well to the Badgers with his hustle and fearlessness on the court.

If we come into this season content on our past accomplishments and not hungry to set more records and do things that no other Badger team has done in the past, then we could come up short of our goals.  My job is to get them to work hard, give effort every second of every possession in practice and in games, and continue to play unselfishly on the court.  If we can do those things I see us having a great year.”

If you get the chance to come out to support these boys I would love to see you all there LETS, GO BADGERS!!!!

There’s a lull as the Badgers segue into the winter season, but the wait won’t be too long.

Basketball season kicks off this week with the Badger girls on the road to Sandpoint to face the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. Saturday, November 16, then they’re off to Moscow at 7 p.m. Monday, November 18.

The Badger boys basketball season kicks off with back to back home games. They’ll host the Sandpoint Bulldogs in the season opener at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 30, then Stillwater Christian at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 7.

Badger wrestling for both boys and girls gets  underway Saturday, December 7, with the lady Badgers welcoming the Lincoln County High School Lions to town all the way from Eureka, Montana. while the boys hit the road for Timberlake and the Van Tuinstra Duals.

In other sports action around the county, it’s the last week of the Bonners Ferry Wrestling Club’s fall league, and the fighters are home following a good showing at the Coeur d’Alene Buzzsaw Folkstyle tournament last Saturday.

Finishing in first were Kai Fusco, Ryan Masters, Jaeger Salcedo, James Masters, Rachel Roeser, Zuri Bassett, Eva-Pauline Sanchez, Dalton Regehr and Raelynn Masters. Second place went to Cashton Morrison, Ian Heigel, Titan Richards, Carson Schnittlinger, Brantley Stockdale, Gunner Graham and Isaac Dickson.

Coming in with third place finishes Dawsen Stow, Rownin Streeter, Aj Cotter, Myles Dinning, Logan Craig, Brayden Stockdale, Remington Bartoe, Hayden Dinning, Isaiah Runyan, Terryn Bradley, Chase Bartoe and Alyson Young and coming in fourth were Cora Sandelin-Bernard, Hank Cordle, Addison Van Alstyne, Rio Nadeau, Ronny Calderone, Jaxon Smith and Dominic Runyan.

The North Idaho Wrestling League Panhandle Championships take place November 16 at Real Life Ministries, 1860 N Cecil Road, Post Falls. The young fighters are back to regular practice this week with weigh-ins Wednesday and Thursday.

And this from Kathy Konek: Two members of the Kootenai Valley Junior Rifle Team travelled to Spokane November 2 to participate in the first match of the year, which was the Washington State International Rifle Championships. Shooters could choose to shoot the match at the Spokane or Tumwater rifle ranges.

Kyalynn Comer, Naples, and Salix Harris were among 27 shooters under the age of 21 to complete the course of 40 shots in the kneeling, prone and standing positions. Using a single shot .22 caliber rifle with iron sights, the target is placed at 50 feet down range. To score a ten, the shooter must hit a dot not much larger than the period at the end of this sentence.

Kyalynn placed 11th overall and Salix Harris 13th. If women and men were separated, which they are not, Comer would be sixth place for women and Harris seventh. However, they are separated in two different ways. First is by age, both girls are Intermediate Juniors between 15 and 17 years old, and by average score, which put both in Class A.

As Intermediate Juniors Comer, was seventh and Harris ninth. Comer also placed fourth in the standing position for Class A shooters.

For those interested in learning more about or returning to the sport of competitive shooting, Kathy extends a welcome to you to come give it a try. The Senior team, 21 years and older, meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the Kootenai Valley indoor range, 67175 US-2, Bonners Ferry. The Junior team, ages 12 to 20 years old, meets on Thursday at 6:00pm. Gear is available for your use. You can call Don at (208) 610-0226 for more information. See you on the range!