Lapwai's Kase Wynott leads the nation in scoring, nears state career scoring record

Jan. 7—Kase Wynott of Lapwai boys basketball has often been called a 'generational talent.'

Lofty as such praise might seem, it could be argued that it actually sells the 6-foot-6 senior a touch short.

With 413 points scored through 11 games so far this season, Wynott leads all active high school basketball players in the United States in average points-per-game at 37.5, according to the statistics aggregated on MaxPreps.com. That furious offensive output has also helped him up his career total 2,404 points — well on course to break Idaho's all-time high school career scoring record, which is now less than 150 points away.

At the rate he has been scoring, Wynott would be expected to take over the scoring mark during either the Wildcats' Whitepine League Division I clash against Potlatch on Jan. 13 or their trip to face Prairie of Cottonwood Jan. 16. However, Lapwai coach Zachary Eastman has noted that it would carry a special symbolic significance — a "passing of the torch" of sorts — if Wynott were instead to take the record a game earlier, against Kamiah on Thursday of next week.

"(It) would be really cool if he could break the record at home against Kamiah, because Kamiah has the person that holds the record," Eastman said, referring to former Kubs star Jared Mercer, who finished with 2,536 high school career points and went on to play for the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College. A record-breaking effort by Wynott that night would fall just two days past the 30th anniversary of Mercer achieving all-time high-scorer status, which occurred on Jan. 10, 1993 in a win against Timberline of Weippe.

Interesting a storyline as that would make, Eastman emphasized that the team will make no special effort to accelerate Wynott's march to the record beyond following its usual winning formula that includes his ample contributions — and indeed, that Wynott himself is actually an unselfish player, often registering statistical triple-doubles with assists among the three fields.

"We don't ever really talk about the record," Eastman said. "We don't talk about how much he's averaging. It's more about what we can do to win that basketball game and get better."

While Wynott is the most prodigious scorer in the Wildcats' storied history, Lapwai has had its share of offensive powerhouses, including Wynott's mentor Titus Yearout, who himself graduated two years ago with more than 2,000 points, and who now plays for the Vandals. Eastman noted that such high-scoring careers were a product of both outstanding individual efforts and of the specific playing style and excellence of his team as a whole.

"The way we play — the fast-paced offense, up-and-down defense, that style of basketball — it correlates to a lot of points being able to be scored in one game," he said. "The past four years, we've averaged over 78 points per game. Having individual players be able to score so much is because as a team, we are able to score so many points in a game."

Even if his scoring should slow enough that he fell short of breaking the record by the end of the Jan. 16 Prairie game, Wynott would have another half-dozen contests through which to make up the needed points in the regular season alone.

Wynott, whose father Jeremiah was once a standout for LCSC, has committed to play for Utah State after he graduates.

Wendt can be contacted at 208-848-2268 or at cwendt@lmtribune.com