Sandpoint teams could meet in Hoopfest final

SANDPOINT — Among the intriguing local storylines for this year’s Hoopfest is the potential meeting of two local teams in one of the many brackets. But first things first.

Joel Aispuro, who coaches the Kootenai Thunder boys basketball team, has won five Hoopfest championships over the years, many with teammates Blake Mahler and Stefan Buratto.

Buratto, a scoring machine at Sandpoint who played briefly at Carroll College, fielded his own team this year, grabbing former Bulldogs Brandon Lawrence, Mat Lawrence and Cole Fuhrman.

Aispuro grabbed Mahler, and locals Darren Laiche and his son Austin Laiche. Darren played in college at the University of New Orleans.

As fate would have it, the two teams wound up on different sides of the same bracket. If each handles their business, no easy task on the city streets of Spokane, they could meet in an all-Sandpoint final.

Are you from Bonner County and playing in Hoopfest? Send in a picture next week for publication in the Bee sports page.

Email pics, with team name, player’s names and final results, to eplummer@bonnercountydailybee.com.

And one.