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Coeur d'Alene captures elusive Idaho girls basketball state championship after years of 'pain' and 'suffering'

Top-seeded Vikings pull off biggest Class 5A rout in history in 65-27 win over Rocky Mountain
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NAMPA, Idaho - The story of the Coeur d’Alene High School girls basketball team’s long-awaited state championship didn’t reside in the game itself.

The No. 1 team in the field had it won by halftime.

It’s in the 95 games preceding it.

The four-year journey culminated in the program’s first state title in nine years after a 65-27 rout of No. 7 Rocky Mountain during the Class 5A final Saturday night at the Ford Idaho Center.

“We talked about it, and sometimes you want your kids to experience a little pain and a little suffering,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons said. “So that when success does come, they understand the gratitude and are humbled by it. Because not everybody gets to experience that.”

There had been a lot of that “pain” and “suffering” recently.

Symons was a part of two of the five consecutive losing seasons preceding its last championship in 2014. She was an assistant coach for two years before taking the reins herself in 2019.

The Vikings (24-2) returned to state during her first two seasons. But they won just one combined game and failed to bring home any sort of trophy there.

The low point came last year, though.

Coeur d’Alene was arguably the favorite. It spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the state media poll only to shockingly have the season end at districts. The Vikings went two and out with losses against Lake City and Post Falls, both of whom they had beaten by double digits earlier in the year.

Senior forward Madi Symons, who came one rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine boards, admits to not even paying attention to the state tournament that year.

“I never want to feel that again and I think that’s why we’re here today,” said Symons, who is signed with the University of Wyoming. “I think all of us, and even our new players have put on that persona and understood that’s not what we’re about. That’s not what we came to do.”

Those new players included Teagan Colvin, who holds more than 30 Division I offers, including Kansas and Utah.

The junior point guard experienced some tough times herself having to leave Liberty High in Spangle, WA. But thanks to Symons, who she played club ball with for the Northwest Blazers, she quickly found a new home.

She’s been a difference maker, too.

Colvin combined for 71 points over the three-day tournament. She put up 15 fourth-quarter points in a come-from-behind win against Eagle Thursday, forced overtime with a late 3-pointer against Boise Friday and then dropped five treys, including one for the game’s first score, for 20 points on 7-of-12 (58.3%) shooting in Saturday’s final.

“To obviously come here and then win the whole thing, be with a different squad and to be around all my friends every day, has been a totally different experience,” Colvin said. “And I would not have wanted to do it with anyone else.”

Senior guard Kendall Omlin, a transfer from Ferris High in Spokane, and who Nicole Symons called “the x-factor,” was another big acquisition for the Vikings this season.

It all resulted in them ending the year on a 14-game winning streak and going unbeaten against Idaho teams. Their only losses came in December to California’s Sierra Canyon and Mater Dei at the prestigious Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas. Sierra Canyon and Mater Dei are widely considered two of the best teams in their state.

“In our very first game against Moscow when we realized our five starters were the first five in the book (scorebook), I just thought, ‘Dang, ok this is cool. I’ve never experienced this. This is gonna be a magical season,'” Nicole Symons said. “And it has been for sure.”

It was all capped off with nothing short of a dominating performance.

Coeur d’Alene never trailed.

Forced four turnovers in the first three minutes, seven in the opening quarter and 18 for the game.

And shot 49% from the field, including 48% from three-point range with 11 made 3s. Seven of those came from Colvin and Symons, who both shot at least 62.5% from downtown.

It all added up to the largest blowout in a Class 5A state final ever and came within one point of typing the all-classification record.

“About midway through the first quarter, I threw up my hands and was like, ‘What in the world?’” Rocky Mountain coach BJ Humphreys said. “I mean, everybody’s hitting them. And they were from deep and from everywhere.”

Junior guard Cianna Legaspi was the only Rocky Mountain (18-9) player to reach double figures in scoring with 10 points. But it was still quite the season for the Grizzlies.

They tied for the best finish in program history after being picked to finish fifth in their own league. Rocky Mountain was also the state runner-up in 2014 when it lost to, coincidentally enough, Coeur d’Alene.

“I think the moment got us a little bit, but I’m so proud of our team,” Humphreys said. “One game doesn’t define our season. We’ve been incredible.

“We’re not champions today. But we’re winners.”

PHOTO GALLERY

(All photos by Loren Orr)

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Idaho girls high school basketball: Coeur d'Alene defeated Rocky Mountain 65-27 in the Idaho Class 5A state championship on February 18, 2023
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Teagan Colvin, Coeur d'Alene girls basketball, class of 2024
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