The Lapwai Wildcats Boys Basketball team is headed to the State Tournament as the #1 seed in the 1A-DI bracket. They're on a quest to win the school's 13th state championship in boys basketball.
With that kind of storied history comes pressure, especially when you consider that the Wildcats were an overtime loss to Lakeside away from winning their third straight title a season ago.
"I think that leads to a little bit of pressure," said Joseph Payne, a senior guard for the Wildcats, "But also enough pressure to push yourself to want to be better and to want to win and to represent this town."
"When you first come here it feels like there's a little bit of pressure," Christopher Bohnee, senior post, said, "But then after a while you get used to everyone supporting you no matter what."
In a sense, the same place the support comes from is the same place the pressure of high expectations comes from.
"We know our past, we know the generations of basketball players we've had come through here," said Head Coach Zachary Eastman, "A lot of them are relatives. When you're playing for your relatives, family, it's a little different than just playing for yourself."
"We're not representing our team, we're representing our whole community here," Senior guard Quenten Kipp said, "So it's a lot of pressure."
This Lapwai team features six seniors, a group that has been playing together since the third grade.
"We've been playing basketball since we were young," Ahlius Yearout, one of those senior guards said, "Just getting along with each other, that's all it is."
"We're kind of like brothers," Kipp added, "We're always there for each other and pick each other up."
As great as this season has been so far for Lapwai, and no matter how close the senior group is, there's still a sting that lingers from the loss in the title game last season.
"We had a really bad hardship last year, losing that State Championship," said Kase Whynott, another senior "I feel like we've just came together as a team and we want to win it bad."
"Last year we came up short, and that just stung us really hard," Farrell Hayes, senior wing, said "Ever since then we've just been grinding at it, trying to get better, trying not to be in the same position as last year."
The quest for the 13th title might've been delayed one year, but the Wildcats are looking to make it worth the wait this season.
"It was kind of hard to lose one last year, looking up there, there's a missing banner, "Kipp said, "So I think this year is really like a redemption year."
"We have to win it this year," Payne added, "It's like a must-have."
Lapwai plays Victory Charter at 2:00pm on Friday, February 9th, in their first game at the State Tournament.
