How the potential Idaho high school reclassification affects the area
Jun. 21—The landscape of Idaho high school athletics could see a shakeup by the fall of 2024.
The state's potential new classification system — which would feature a new 6A class and go away with having two 1A classes — passed a preliminary vote held by the Idaho High School Activities Association on June 7.
This would be the first time in two decades that the state would overhaul its classifications, and the topic completely divided the room. The board's final tally was deadlocked at 6-6 with President Tim Perrigot casting the deciding vote, breaking the tie.
The board will have a second vote on Aug. 2 for the reclassification system to become official — with it going into full effect during the 2024-25 school year.
The proposed system would make Idaho's classifications 6A to 1A instead of its current system of 5A to 1A DII.
Here's how it would work and where each local team would reside:
6A — 1,400 and above (no area teams)
5A — 700 to 1,300 (Lewiston, Moscow)
4A — 350 to 699 (no area teams)
3A — 175 to 349 (Grangeville, Orofino)
2A — 90 to 174 (Kendrick, Clearwater Valley, Kamiah, Lapwai, Logos, Potlatch, Prairie, Troy)
1A — 89 and below (Deary, Genesee, Highland, Nezperce, St. John Bosco, Timberline)
This changes several things in the area, namely Lewiston "dropping" to the 5A classification, which is the current 4A Inland Empire League, to join Moscow, Lakeland and Sandpoint.
The old Whitepine League Division I would become the new 2A classification and would add Kendrick to its conference. Genesee would drop out of the WPL DI and join the old WPL DII in the new 1A classification.
Grangeville and Orofino basically stayed the same, maintaining their spots in the Central Idaho League. The league also maintains familiar faces in Kellogg, Priest River, St. Maries and Coeur d'Alene Charter.
Here's a deep dive into how the reclassification will affect teams in the area:
Can't make everyone happy
It doesn't matter what avenue the IHSAA decides to go or how it drew up the blueprint — there was no way to make everyone happy. But one school that has the potential to benefit more than many others is Lewiston.
The current 5A classification requires an enrollment count of 1,289 or more, putting the Bengals at the low end with 1,369 students, according to Usnews.com.
Lewiston's three 5A Inland Empire League foes over the years — Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lake City — all outnumber it by more than 100 students, with the Trojans holding the largest margin at 276 more.
Lewiston has competed in the 5A for 20 years and has collected 10 state championships across seven sports — all while being one of the smallest schools in the classification.
If the proposal passes, the Bengals will drop to the new 5A, where they will have a substantial size advantage against their league opponents, Moscow, Sandpoint and Lakeland.
Lewiston outnumbers all three schools by more than 400 students and nearly doubles Moscow, which has 725 students.
"We're going to play whoever they throw on the schedule," Lewiston football coach Matt Pancheri said. "(The potential new league) has some possible competitive games there, and it's as good of a league as the old 5A IEL."
Pancheri and Lewiston aren't strangers to playing against the 4A IEL teams, with both sides being scheduling staples throughout the years. But as far as competitive games go, that's debatable.
The football team has had traditional success against the three teams over the last decade, going 15-8 overall against the trio.
In fact, several other Lewiston teams have found success against the trifecta over the last 10 years, including the boys basketball (35-12), girls basketball (33-10), and baseball teams (47-4).
The three teams opening the door to Lewiston will probably be less than welcoming considering the on-paper advantage the Bengals have. But there are a couple of sports that Moscow should have a bit of an advantage in, such as softball. The Bears were able to notch a 12-5 win over Lewiston on April 6.
But overall, things wouldn't get easier for Moscow, which is already on the small side of the 4A classification.
A competitive league
One of the best small schools in the area over the last two years has been Kendrick.
The Tigers have two Idaho Class 1A Division II state football titles and one boys basketball crown in the last two years.
With an enrollment count of 106 according to highschools.com, whether the new classification system passes or not, Kendrick will be on the move and joining the current rendition of the Whitepine League Division I.
"The league is just getting another quality team," Kendrick football coach Zane Hobart said. "It's a gauntlet every year with that league, and adding us to the mix makes it even tougher. It's an ultra-competitive league, and as far as 8-man schedules go, it doesn't get much better."
Kendrick will be joining the likes of Clearwater Valley, Kamiah, Lapwai, Logos, Potlatch, Prairie and Troy, who all excel in different sports in their own right.
Adding the Tigers to the mix will make every sport during the athletic year that much more competitive — especially football and basketball.
The Tigers, who have won two straight state titles in football with a chance to add a third with senior quarterback Ty Koepp at the helm, will immediately be the favorites to win the league entering the 2024-25 season.
Kendrick played three 1A Division I football teams last season: Notus, Oakley and Genesee. The Tigers outscored the trio 192-48.
"I think the move will be fun," Hobart said. "It's a different level of competition up there, but I think we can have success at that level."
This is one of the rare cases in this reclassification system where the teams at the higher level probably aren't too enthused with what's to come.
Kendrick didn't schedule any of the upper-echelon Whitepine League Division I teams last year (nor did it this year). But a team like Kamiah, who won the league last year, or Lapwai, who is always athletic across the board, or a young and upcoming Logos team, presents a lot of potential fireworks on the gridiron for the new Whitepine League.
Kendrick's potential move-up also makes things interesting in both boys and girls basketball. While it's hard to ever consider anyone other than Lapwai the favorite, the addition of the Tigers shakes up the potential league standings.
The boys, as mentioned earlier, are defending state champions, and the girls aren't too shabby either, posting an 18-5 overall record with a 7-1 league record to earn a state bid.
The Kendrick girls also posted a 3-3 overall record against DI teams last season. One of those wins included a 51-50 victory against Prairie on Jan. 5. The Pirates placed third at the Idaho Class 1A Division I state tourney.
The boys team had the second-best record in the entire 1A Division II classification at 20-3 overall and 10-0 in league play last season. The Tigers also finished 4-1 against their potential new league foes on their way to a state title.
Maybe the best route
While Deary, Highland, Nezperce, St. John Bosco and Timberline probably won't shed any tears as Kendrick makes its exit, it does welcome a new face in Genesee.
The Bulldogs have taken their lumps over the last couple of years in boys basketball and football. But they have managed to excel in others, namely in girls sports such as softball, where they won a state title; volleyball, where they were state runner-ups; and girls' basketball, where they qualified for the end-of-the-year tournament.
Pete Crowley and the Genesee volleyball team should be licking their chops at the prospect of moving down. Other than Kendrick, Deary (17-8) was the only squad to finish above .500.
The girls' basketball team should feel the same way. The group finished right at .500 a year ago, and once again will only have to worry about Deary, who also earned a state bid in 2022-23.
As for boys basketball and football, which have suffered loss after loss and only combined for two wins total last season, they should see more of an equal playing field.
The Bulldogs football team's only win last season was a 52-44 victory in their season opener against potential new league foe Timberline.
Lewis-County, which finished second in the WPL Division II, averaged 28 points per game and would be in the proposed league with Genesee. The Bulldogs averaged more points per outing, with only one win. So the dip in competition might be exactly what Genesee's football team needs.
As for the basketball team, the best record outside of Kendrick in the current WPL Division II came from Deary, which went 11-10.
So, the dip not only makes sense for the Bulldogs, but with the seemingly equal competition, Genesee could potentially raise back to where it once was with athletic success.
Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.
