Treasure Valley reigns again, setting up all-SIC semifinals at girls state basketball
The 5A Southern Idaho Conference proved itself as the state’s toughest league yet again, dominating the first day of the high school girls basketball state tournament to ensure an all-SIC semifinal round for the second year in a row.
No. 1 Mountain View (22-2) faces Eagle (16-11) in a rematch of last year’s championship game at 6:15 p.m. Friday at the Ford Idaho Center. No. 2 Timberline (22-3) and Rocky Mountain (16-9) follow in the second semifinal at 8 p.m.
Mountain View coach Connie Skogrand said it’s no coincidence the Treasure Valley-based league rolled through the first round of the state tournament.
“Every game you’re playing in our league, especially in the top six, you have to be prepared,” Skogrand said. “And you’re so used to playing tough games, tight games, what to do in those tight games.
“… You build confidence winning those close games, knowing how to take care of the ball, what to do in those situations. You can’t practice that.”
[Related: Updated brackets from all six tournaments; Caldwell stays hot in 4A tournament]
EAGLE 50, COEUR D’ALENE 49
Facing a 12-point halftime deficit, Eagle turned to Betsey King.
Needing a spark in the fourth quarter, Eagle turned to King.
And down to its last shot, Eagle turned to — who else? — King.
The only returning starter from last year’s state championship team came up clutch time and time again, including a game-winning layup with 10 seconds left to cap the Mustangs’ upset of North Idaho champ Coeur d’Alene.
“I’ve got this whole sheet of plays,” Eagle coach Cody Pickett said, pulling out a paper from his pocket. “And they all go to Betsey. So, yeah, we’re confident in her.”
Eagle (16-11) struggled to handle Coeur d’Alene’s full-court press in the first half, trailing by 12 points at halftime as the Vikings (18-5) locked down and face-guarded King, the Mustangs’ top scorer.
But King heated up in the second half, finishing with a game-high 23 points. She scored 16 in the second half, including 11 in the fourth quarter. And she grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
King gave Eagle its first lead since the opening quarter with a deep 3-pointer with 3:16 left. She then completed an old-fashioned three-point play, sinking a 5-foot runner and the and-one free throw to cut the Vikings’ lead to one with 40 seconds left.
And after the Mustangs forced a turnover on the inbound, they drew up one more play for King.
Analynn Bohner found her on the left wing, then King knifed through three Coeur d’Alene defenders to sink the game-winning layup off the glass.
“I know our team had to get the basket,” King said. “Time was ticking. It’s just a big game, big moment.”
The come-from-behind upset continues Eagle’s underdog run. Heavy graduation losses tamped preseason expectations outside of Eagle. And a fifth-place finish at district forced the Mustangs to earn their sixth straight trip to state via a play-in game.
But King said the underdog role fits Eagle just fine, alluding to last season’s upset of Mountain View in the state championship.
“Sometimes it’s nice to be an underdog, as we’ve seen in the past,” King said. “The favorite isn’t always the favorite.”
MOUNTAIN VIEW 64, BOISE 51
After watching a state championship slip through its fingers a year ago, Mountain View entered the state tournament on a mission. And the No. 1-ranked Mavericks showed it, steamrolling a conference rival to win their 17th straight game.
“Last year, that was an upset for us,” junior guard Trinity Slocum said. “We knew that we could have finished it, but we’re here to finish it this year.”
Mountain View took the game’s first lead and never surrendered it, shooting 50 percent from the floor. Teams typically struggle on the first day at the Idaho Center, adjusting to the depth perception of the arena. But not the Mavericks.
Slocum and senior guard Laila Saenz led the way, both shooting 50 percent from the floor. Slocum finished with 25 points, six steals, five rebounds and five assists. Saenz added 22 points.
“These two just step up when we need them,” Mountain View coach Connie Skogrand said of her two captains. “And that’s what veteran players do.”
The Mavericks also received a boost in the return of sophomore forward Naya Ojukwu. The reigning first-team All-Idaho pick missed the last two games at district with a sprained ankle. But she returned in time to score nine points and battle inside against Boise’s Peyton McFarland.
The 6-4 Utah signee still finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. But the Mavericks kept her from taking over the game, pulling her outside of the paint often enough to run their blistering offense.
“We had Naya, but we still knew that we needed to have other people step up to help guard her,” Saenz said. “I can say that we’re confident going into these next few games. But we’ve just got to focus to finish it out.”
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 53, RIGBY 49
After four straight losing seasons, no one expected much from Rocky Mountain.
The Grizzlies were on their third coach in three seasons. They finished sixth in their 10-team league’s preseason coaches poll. And they didn’t crack the state media poll once all season.
But Rocky Mountain continued its Cinderella run Thursday, holding off several late comeback attempts to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2015.
“There’s probably not one person outside of that locker room that believed or thought that we’d be in the position we are right now,” Rocky Mountain coach BJ Humphreys said. “… But the way that we play for each other, our bench and our energy, those things win games and get you better through the year. And we’ve continued to get better each week.”
Rigby (19-6) took a short-lived lead at 29-27 with 3:37 left in the third quarter. But the Grizzlies quickly took it back and never gave it up.
The Trojans pulled within a single possession four times in the fourth quarter. But Rocky Mountain had an answer each time, sinking 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to hold on and prove it is no longer the same pushover.
“We just come out with a chip on our shoulder,” said Jada Reed, a four-year varsity member. “We know that we’re like the team that’s like: ‘Hey, it’s Rocky. It’s an easy win.’
“Now this year is a little different. We’re winning more games. We’re working as a team. And I think we’re here to show everybody what we’re really made of.”
Jada Reed, Marli Reed and Annagail Smith all had 11 points for Rocky Mountain, showcasing its season-long depth. Smith also added 10 rebounds.
The win earns the Grizzlies another matchup with No. 2 Timberline, which blew out Rocky Mountain by 30 points a month ago. But after winning six of its past seven games and reaching a stage no one thought possible, Rocky Mountain is playing with house money.
“People should not count us out going into that game,” Jada Reed said.
TIMBERLINE 50, POST FALLS 29
Fresh off a 21-point win that sent the Wolves to a second straight semifinal, Timberline coach Andy Jones didn’t see much reason to celebrate. His team has larger goals ahead.
“We had 17 turnovers. We gave up more offensive rebounds than we probably should have. We had I don’t know how many two-on-one breaks that we didn’t finish that you’ve got to finish. We missed free throws. We left a lot out there,” said Jones, a winner of six state championships.
But the 5A classification’s top defense did come to play Thursday, holding Post Falls to 11-for-48 shooting (23 percent) and a season-low 29 points as the Wolves dominated from the opening whistle to the final horn.
Timberline center Sophie Glancey won the opening tip ahead to Emma Ellinghouse, who touch-passed it to a streaking Ava Ranson for a lead 3 seconds into the game. The Wolves built a double-digit lead 2:32 into the second quarter and held it the rest of the way.
Ranson, the two-time 5A SIC leading scorer, finished with a game-high 13 points. Glancey added 12 points, Audrey Taylor scored 10 and Ellinghouse rounded out the balanced effort with eight points and eight rebounds.
Timberline racked up a series of firsts a year ago, qualifying for its first state tournament appearance in 14 years and winning its first state trophy in 15 years. But the Wolves are no longer happy with those goals, instead setting their eyes on the second championship in program history.
“We’re happy to be here, of course,” Glancey said. “But today’s just one game. There’s more to come, and we can’t get too ahead of ourselves.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 4:15 PM.
