After her team had taken high-percentage shots inside most of the evening, Destry Osburn caught the Centennial High defense off guard when she fired off a 3-pointer with about 5 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The Vallivue junior forward’s shot was on the mark, and it opened the floodgates for the Falcons as they raced away to a 49-41 victory over the Patriots in the 5A District Three Tournament’s championship game in girls basketball Friday night at Borah High.
“It was freaking crazy,” said Osburn, who played 18 minutes off the bench and finished with a team-high 10 points. “I wasn’t really thinking, I just kind of shot.”
Vallivue, which ended the Patriots’ run of three consecutive district championships, will be the district’s No. 1 seed at next week’s state tournament.
The Falcons (16-7) open play at 1:15 p.m. Thursday against defending state champion Lewiston (19-4) at the Idaho Center in Nampa.
It is Vallivue’s first trip to state since the 2008-09 season and first district championship at the 5A level. The Falcons last won a state championship as a 4A school in 2006.
Centennial (18-5), meanwhile, earns the district’s No. 2 seed and a first-round game against the winner of Saturday's play-in game between Rocky Mountain (15-9) and Skyline (13-10).
Meridian (15-8) and Eagle (13-9) secured state berths earlier this week. Rocky Mountain (15-9) can earn a spot with a win over Skyline (13-10) in a state play-in game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Burley High.
Osburn’s wide-open 3 gave the Falcons their first lead of the second half at 40-37. She followed it up with an assist on a Hannah Byerly layup, then hit another trey with 3 minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the game. Senior teammate Gigi Rodriguez kept the pressure on with a 3-pointer of her own for a 48-41 lead with about 3 minutes to play.
“Centennial plays really hard in-your-face-pressure defense,” Vallivue coach Katie Holmes said. “We had a tough time running our offense in the first half, so we changed things a little bit at halftime.”
Centennial led 30-22 at the break, but Vallivue stepped up its defensive pressure while outscoring the Patriots 27-11 in the final two quarters.
“I think we came out in the second half ready to make a comeback,” Osburn said. “... I thought that we pumped ourselves up in the locker room. We didn’t hang our heads. We came out ready to play and make that change.”
Seven of the eight Falcons who saw playing time managed to score. Maddi Osburn — Destry’s young sister — and Byerly each had nine points, and Rodriguez and Gabby Barker added eight apiece.
Centennial was paced by senior Sierrna Short — who was playing in her fourth district championship game — with 11 points, and junior Sherise Porchia contributed 10 points and six assists.
