Lapwai's Kase Wynott breaks all-time career scoring record

Jan. 26—LAPWAI — After a 68-point night against Genesee last Friday to break the Idaho high school single-game scoring record, Lapwai senior Kase Wynott had his eyes on another milestone, the all-time career points record. In Thursday's game against Clearwater Valley, Wynott met, and exceeded, his goal.

The two-time state champion needed six points — just under one-sixth of his points per game this season (37.1) — to break the record.

With 7:47 left in the second quarter of what ended up being a 99-47 win over the Clearwater Valley Rams of Kooskia, the Utah State commit achieved that goal.

The Wildcats' Vincent Kipp attempted a 3-point shot from the right corner, which ricocheted off the rim into the arms of Chris Bohnee, who was standing on the right side of the key.

Rather than go for the put-back himself, Bohnee passed the ball to Wynott, who was stationed on the opposite end of the restricted zone.

Wynott caught the ball in the air and laid it in off the glass for his 2,590th career point, breaking Kamiah alum Jared Mercer's mark of 2,589, set in 1993.

Everyone in the Lapwai High School gym knew the layup was the record-breaker. With a packed crowd and an ongoing ovation, there was a pause in the game for Wynott to celebrate with his teammates and coaches, one of whom included his father, Jeremiah Wynott, and for him to go hug his mother, Melanie, who was sitting with his sister, Kendel, in the crowd.

At halftime, Wynott received a trophy and the game ball — tangible symbols of him breaking a record that stood for a generation.

After the game, Wynott was surrounded by family, friends and fans. A lot of the fans were children who waited to take a picture with the new record-holder.

"I know it's corny and stuff, but time really does fly," Wynott said. "I remember being a little kid, watching (older) kids, watching (Tre Miles-Williams), watching (Ivory Miles-Williams) and just wanting to be in their shoes one day. Now that I'm here and passed that record, it's big time. My advice for kids is just live in the moment."

As much as the night was about breaking the record — a culmination of a lifetime of work for the senior, there was still a game to be played.

Here's how it went:

Clearwater Valley tries to hold off record

The Rams (7-7, 2-7) were not content to let Wynott cruise to the record. Clearwater Valley started the game in a somewhat humorous way. They made two free throws from a technical foul given to the Wildcats (15-2, 10-0) for dunking a ball in pregame, something that isn't uncommon — except for the fact they usually don't get caught.

"We like to get the crowd going and everything," Lapwai coach Zach Eastman said. "So dunking in warm-ups is one of those things that our fans really enjoy, and this time we just happened to have a ref come in and see it when we were dunking."

After the awkward start, the Rams got to business trying to slow down the fourth-year stalwart.

Clearwater Valley took no chances early and double-teamed Wynott on every possession they could and had two people shadow the future Aggie in inbounds and when he got past half court.

Wynott was content through most of the first quarter to let his teammates get their shine rather than force up shots.

Wynott attempted six field goals in the first quarter and made two, putting him two points shy of the record, and assisted on three makes.

Ahlius Yearout, who has emerged as a consistent No. 2 option for the Wildcats this season, benefitted the most from the Rams' focus on Wynott. He had 10 points in the first frame.

Lapwai led 26-8 after the first quarter. And, once Wynott got the record in the second, Clearwater Valley abandoned the double-team.

The visitors still gave their rival his flowers, and the Rams' players were in form with the rest of the audience in clapping and congratulating the new all-time career points leader.

Clearwater Valley sophomore Hyson Scott, who was the Rams' second-leading scorer with 11 points, congratulated Wynott after the game and was complimented on his own play by Eastman.

No 'I' in team

Ferrell Hayes pantomimed crowning Wynott in pregame introductions and did a "raise the roof" gesture after a dunk by the new record-holder in the fourth quarter.

Wynott choosing to defer to his teammates in the first eight minutes and Bohnee giving Wynott the extra pass for the record, foregoing a shot attempt for himself, were examples of that kinship. Another is every player clad in blue and red who got playing time scored.

Yearout, Hayes, Wynott, Bohnee, Joseph Payne and Quenten Kipp are all seniors and have been playing with each other from a young age. In Wynott's words, his success is their success.

That bond prevailed over a slew of offers for Wynott to transfer to some private schools in the offseason, according to his father.

"We really came together this year," Wynott said. "We had a really bad hardship our junior year losing that state championship and we really came together. And my teammates have my back no matter what and I have theirs. So we're going to go out, we're going to play hard every game and we're going to go out and try and win a state championship this year."

Three's the magic number

Wynott checked out with 4:37 left in the game and finished with 29 points.

Now that the all-time points mark is cleared, the number Wynott is looking for is three.

Three is the total thousands of points Wynott can end up finishing his high school career with. But, more importantly to him, it's also the number of high school state championships he's looking to end his time in Lapwai with before beginning his collegiate career in Logan, Utah.

"(Kase) has really dedicated his offseason and this season to that ultimate goal," Jeremiah Wynott said. "We are going to face the defenses like we see now — double-teams, triple-teams, without the ball, with the ball. So ultimately, there'll be a time, I feel, where he is just going to have to say 'Forget it,' and go for it and go through the double and triple-teams. But, if we continue to have guys making shots. ... (teams) can take Kase away at times, but at the end of the day, we have other weapons."

The road ahead is clear for Wynott and the rest of the Wildcats. But the road traveled has been marked with the accomplishments of one of the most decorated high school athletic careers in Idaho state history. And it's not over yet.

Players of the game

Wynott had 29 points (giving him 2,613 career points and counting), 10 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks in his record-setting day. Yearout added 27 points to go with seven assists.

Landon Schlieper led Clearwater Valley with 24 points on 8-for-20 shooting from the floor and 7-for-10 free-throw attempts. He had a highlight off-balance windmill layup off the glass with 6:05 in the fourth quarter.

CLEARWATER VALLEY (7-7, 2-7)

Harvey Wellard 0 0-0 0, Myatt Osborn 1 1-1 3, Matthew Louwien 1 0-0 3, Hyson Scott 4 3-4 11, Josh Gardner 3 0-0 6, Landon Schlieper 8 7-10 24, Timuni Moses 0 0-2 0. Totals 17 11-17 47.

LAPWAI (15-2, 10-0)

Julian Barros 2 0-0 4, Joseph Payne 4 0-0 10, Ferrell Hayes 2 2-3 6, Triston Konen 2 0-0 4, Marcus Guzman 1 0-0 2, Quenten Kipp 1 0-0 2, Vincent Kipp 2 0-0 4, Christopher Bohnee 2 0-0 5, Ahlius Yearout 12 0-0 27, Douglas Pappan 1 0-0 2, LaRicci George-Smith 2 0-0 4, Kase Wynott 14 0-1 29. Totals 45 2-4 99.

Clearwater Valley 8 17 10 12—47

Lapwai 26 27 30 16—99

3-point goals — Louwien, Curtis, Yearout 3, Payne 2, Bohnee, Yearout.

Kowatsch can be reached at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.