“He’s been doing really well,” Eastman said. “He had a really good year of football and he’s just started getting into really good basketball shape. He’s been putting a lot of work in outside of practice, which has been really helping his shooting.”

Yearout is one of the team captains for this year’s Wildcats and has seen a major uptick in playing time as he steps into a leadership role in the team’s quest for a third consecutive state title.

A 6-foot-2 guard, Ahlius is the younger brother of recent Lapwai star Titus Yearout, who has graduated and joined the roster at the University of Idaho. He aspires ultimately to follow in Titus’ footsteps and go on to a Division I college career.

“Ahlius is at that level now where he wants to play basketball at the next level — at college — so we’re really trying to get him in the weight room and working a lot of extra hours to make that goal a reality,” Eastman said. “... He knows how much work he needs to put in, and he does that in the classroom and on the basketball court.”