Notebook: Mountain View’s Slocum nearing 2,000 career points
In her fourth season as a starter for the Mountain View High varsity girls basketball team, point guard Destiny Slocum is 42 points away from scoring her 2,000th career point.
Slocum, the reigning 5A All-Idaho Player of the Year and a Maryland signee, is averaging nearly 23 points per game, and the Mavericks have games Friday and Saturday.
At her current pace, Slocum could hit the milestone Saturday at Boise, or almost certainly at home next Friday against Vallivue.
On Sunday, Slocum also will find out if she is one of 24 players selected to play in this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game. The teams will be chosen live on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m.
ROCKY’S LEE EXPECTED TO RETURN
A stress fracture in his foot sidelined junior Kolby Lee for the Rocky Mountain boys basketball team’s first 10 games. But Grizzly coach Dane Roy said the 6-foot-10 center should return to the court this weekend.
Rocky Mountain (7-3, 4-2 5A SIC) hosts Boise on Friday before traveling to Vallivue on Saturday.
Lee entered the season with scholarship offers from Boise State, Utah State and Portland, according to Roy.
EX-BSU GREAT IS FIRST RIDGEVUE COACH
The Vallivue School District Board of Trustees named the fall sports coaches for Ridgevue High on Tuesday, highlighted by former Boise State offensive lineman Tom DeWitz becoming the school’s first football coach.
DeWitz was an Associated Press First-Team I-AA All-American for Boise State in 1987 and a second-team All-American in 1986. The guard also earned a spot on the Bronco Stadium 35th Anniversary team in 2005.
DeWitz returns to the Treasure Valley after spending 11 years as an assistant coach at Washington’s Hanford High. He previously was an assistant at California’s Palm Desert for 15 years.
Ridgevue opens this fall in Nampa, splitting Vallivue High into two schools. Both will compete at the 4A level.
Ridgevue’s other fall coaches include:
▪ Volleyball: Michelle O’Connell returns after a season away from Vallivue. She led Vallivue to state in all four of her years as the head coach, earning a trophy three times.
▪ Boys soccer: Alex Lozano, the director of coaching for the Nampa-based National West Soccer Club the past two years, brings 15 years of coaching experience.
▪ Girls soccer: Ernesto Soto, the Vallivue boys soccer coach the past two years, moves to the new school. The Falcons went 19-18-6 under Soto.
▪ Cross country: Jon Wright, a cross country and track coach at Caldwell for 19 years, will head both programs at Ridgevue.
BOISE SKIER HEADED TO WORLD FINALS
Boise High junior Brooke Dunnagan will compete as one of six women for the U.S. at the Cross Country World Junior Championship on Feb. 21-29 in Estonia.
The Bogus Basin-based Nordic skier qualified for the event by finishing fifth at the U.S. National Championships in Michigan last week. Sun Valley’s Peter Wolter also qualified for the men’s event.
LONGTIME LAKE CITY COACH RETIRES
Van Troxel resigned last week after 22 years as the head football coach at Lake City in Coeur d’Alene.
Troxel, 61, has led the Timberwolves since the school opened in 1994, posting a record of 142-85-1 and taking Lake City to the playoffs for 16 straight years from 1997 to 2012. He won state championships in 2002 and ’06 and added runner-up finishes in 1999 and ’01.
Troxel’s father, Ed, erected a powerhouse program at Borah from 1958-66 before eventually taking over at the University of Idaho. Troxel’s son Matt is the offensive line coach at Idaho State.
This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Notebook: Mountain View’s Slocum nearing 2,000 career points."