Girls basketball team makes history with 1st district title. ‘It is an amazing moment.’
As far back as the records go, the Caldwell High girls basketball team hadn’t won a 4A District Three championship.
But on Thursday night, the Cougars got their first opportunity to hold the trophy and cut down the nets after they defeated Middleton, the reigning champion, 47-37.
Coming into the game, Middleton (17-6, 15-1 SIC) was an obvious favorite. The Vikings had won seven of the last 11 district championships and dominated the most recent matchup by 30 points. Going into halftime, Middleton held a 19-18 lead, but Caldwell stood its ground and outscored the Vikings 13-6 in the third quarter.
“We knew coming in that we had to play good defense,” Caldwell coach Ashley Green said. “We never lost our composure. This was just us finally putting a game together and beating Middleton. It’s a big deal.”
Caldwell (21-3, 14-2) hadn’t beaten Middleton since Jan. 25, 2018, a five-game losing streak. Going into the fourth quarter, all Caldwell had to do was protect the lead. A basket by senior guard Xiana Campos gave the Cougars a double-digit lead with 4 minutes left and, after that, it was just a matter of making free throws. And nobody did better at the line than senior forward Aaliyah Kennedy.
“Honestly, nothing,” Kennedy said about what goes through her mind at the free-throw line. “Our three R’s are repetition, relaxation and routine. That’s how we base our free throws, and that’s what I did.”
Kennedy shot 11-for-12 from the free-throw line in the game, including 9-for-10 in the last 3 minutes. Middleton got a couple of 3s from senior guard Zoey Moore, who finished with 12 points, but couldn’t pull closer than eight points.
“We worked really hard to get to this moment,” Kennedy said. “I’ve dreamt about this since my freshman year. We’ve all dreamt about this, and it is an amazing moment.”
After the game, Caldwell’s players and coaches got to help cut down the nets, and they each carried their piece of net around with them afterwards.
“I’m just ecstatic,” Green said. “It’s hard to express in words. It’s a lot of hours put in the gym, and I’m so happy for the girls. They worked hard to get here.”
Caldwell will move on to play the winner of the play-in game between Kuna and Preston next Thursday in the first round of the state tournament, but this achievement isn’t to be forgotten.
“It’s amazing to be able to make my mark,” Kennedy said. “Ever since I was little, I wanted to make some change in one form or another. I wanted to set the bar for people to climb to. For people to look up to.”
“This doesn’t happen to a lot of teams,” Green said. “We want to enjoy this experience, but we are also going for a state title. That’s our ultimate goal.”
Kennedy finished the game with 15 points and nine rebounds. Katrina Vallejo added 12 points, while Jade Martinez put up nine points, six rebounds and three assists. Middleton’s Moore had four rebounds with her 12 points, and Abby Grooms was next in scoring for the team with eight points. Middleton will play Bonneville in the first round at state.
Kuna 47, Bishop Kelly 40
Kuna’s Gracee Gustin finished with 19 points and three rebounds, while Darby Avery added eight points and five rebounds in the third-place game. Kuna will face off against Preston in the state tournament play-in game. The winner will advance to play Caldwell.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 11:25 PM.