Rocky basketball: 2011-12 season recap

Starting in April, I interviewed Rocky Mountain (Idaho) boys basketball coach Dane Roy and several of his players regarding the 2011-12 season, which was coach Roy's first at the school. Here is the article that will appear in the team's postseason yearbook.

Big finish has Grizz longing for more

Feist, Trompke lead athletic group that showed
a lot of potential for coach Roy’s future teams

By Bruce Smith

Matchup

             The 2011-12 school year meant Rocky Mountain High was in just its fourth season. In boys basketball, traditions were still being learned. The previous summer brought the end of coach Todd Morrison’s era and ushered in Dane Roy.

            A longtime assistant, Roy brought a winning background learned at nearby Mountain View and good genes (he was the son of Centennial legend Emery Roy). The Grizzlies struggled early, but rebounded late in the season only to just barely miss qualifying for the postseason.
            “It was a good start. We built a positive atmosphere and that was the ultimate goal,” said Roy. “My expectations were always high. I wanted to show the kids what it takes to win.”
            The Grizzlies opened the year with impressive wins over Mountain Home and Nampa, but the league offered plenty of competition. In fact, several schools touted “special” teams. Borah had a 23-game win streak and ended up winning the district and state titles with one of its finest groups of players in its history. In the 10-team SIC, two teams didn’t make district, and Rocky was on the wrong side, even after defeating Mountain View in its season finale.
            “We were told before we played that if we won, we would qualify for district,” said Bryce Feist, the team’s leading scorer. “We pulled it together and had a really good game. After the game, we found out we didn’t make district. It was a phenomenal game and the coaches were proud of us. That was the highlight.”
            The players noted that it was a disappointing end, but the team’s improvement was no noticeable that there was no sign of depression. Rocky proved it was better than its record and, in fact, the biggest disappointment was not having a chance to pull off a big upset at district.
            “The thing we did best was push the ball up the floor,” said Roy. “We had a lot of athletes. When we could get a stop and start running, we’d look extremely good. After a while, we made doing that one of our priorities.”
            Feist was one of the team’s fastest players, and he received Rocky’s best postseason award – honorable mention all-SIC. However, the Grizzlies also had other attributes. They had the most players (10) named to the all-academic team with grade-point averages at 3.5 or higher and narrowly missed being the state’s academic champion.
            “We didn’t have much size and, although we played with a lot of heart, sometimes that can’t carry you,” Roy said. “But we had a good group of stable kids.”
            Besides Feist, Rocky also had enterprising athlete David Trompke. He was a three-sport star who came back from an injury suffered during the football season to become one of the team’s best players. Junior Matt Grooms was among the SIC’s best rebounders.
            Nate Bruneel, John Sherle, Garrison Pace and Elijah Slayden also had plenty of good moments and had Roy looking forward to next year. If not for some bad breaks – particularly with injuries – Rocky might have had a chance to show more this year.
            Trompke was named the team’s top defensive player at the postseason banquet. He and Sherle, when healthy, could dominate even the most talented opponent. As a team, Rocky set a school record by holding Vallivue to 29 points
            Offensively, Trompke had some impressive outings late in the season, but Rocky’s offense focused on Feist. One of the best baseball players in the school’s history, Feist was a dangerous three-point shooter. He broke two school records at Eagle, when he lit up the Mustangs for 30 points.
            The team was at its best late in the season when consecutive wins over Timberline, Boise and Capital to put itself into position to challenge for a district bid.
            “We realized we had to start winning to make district and we played a ton better,” said senior Colby Henderson. “We definitely stepped it up.”
            Certainly, the team proved what it could do. Next year, the first-year learning curve under Roy won’t be so large and the goal will be to show it on a nightly basis.