From heartbreak to elation: Mountain View rallies for 5A girls basketball state title
The Mountain View girls basketball team left the Ford Idaho Center stunned and dejected a year ago.
Not this time.
The Mavericks rallied in the fourth quarter Saturday to beat Timberline 55-49 in the 5A state championship game, erasing the painful memories from a year ago and sending Mountain View home with the state’s largest prize in its hands.
“To be back this year and getting the title, it’s just (nothing) but smiles,” Mountain View junior point guard Trinity Slocum said. “You couldn’t stop smiling because it was just a happy feeling that you came all this way and fought all this way. Through all this adversity, you came this far.”
The No. 1 Mavericks (24-2) entered as the heavy favorites, sporting a 3-0 record against No. 2 Timberline (23-4) this season. But they held the same record against Eagle before falling in last year’s state final, and Saturday night started as a disaster.
The Mavericks didn’t score their first points until 3 minutes, 57 seconds of the game clock expired. Slocum rolled an ankle less than 3 minutes into the game, forcing her to miss the rest of the first quarter back in the trainer’s room. And Slocum and senior guard Laila Saenz battled foul trouble all night.
But Mountain View’s potent offense roared back to life in the fourth quarter, starting the frame on a 12-1 run. The run erased a four-point deficit and permanently turned the tide as the Mavericks won their third state championship in program history.
Mountain View rolled through the first two rounds of the state tournament, shooting 50 percent from the floor in a 13-point win in the first round, then 48 percent in a 24-point victory in the semifinals.
But the Mavericks struggled from the outside all night. They sank just 2-of-12 3-pointers and went scoreless again for the first 5:50 of the second quarter, allowing Timberline to build an eight-point lead.
Slocum was exiled to the bench after picking up her third foul during that scoreless stretch. But desperate for a spark, Mountain View coach Connie Skogrand trusted in her hobbled point guard and turned her loose.
The gamble paid off as Slocum had a hand in the next six points. She sank two free throws, freed Naya Ojukwu for a fastbreak layup and then drained a 15-foot, pull-up jumper before turning to the Mountain View crowd and twirling her finger. The 88-second flurry put the Mavericks back in the game.
“We had to change the momentum,” Skogrand said. “We needed that lift, and she gave us that lift.”
But as Mountain View continued to struggle against the 5A classification’s toughest defense, Ojukwu came to the rescue.
The 6-foot sophomore forward sprained her left ankle in the first round of the district tournament, forcing her to miss two games. She returned as a limited version of herself at state. But she broke loose when her team needed her the most, battling Timberline’s size inside the paint and finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
“She was playing very smart, and without her, that’s not a ‘W,’ ” Slocum said. “Without anybody on this team, it’s not a ‘W.’ ”
Slocum finished with 14 points and Saenz added 11 as the trio scored 49 of the Mavericks’ 55 points.
The three all started last year and felt the sting of the Mavericks’ upset loss in the state final, when Eagle spoiled Mountain View’s shot at a perfect season. Skogrand admitted it took her team a long time to recover from that loss. But she said it only made Saturday’s championship even sweeter.
“We had a chip on our shoulder,” Saenz said. “Everyone expected us to win last year, then we didn’t. It’s a terrible feeling. So those of us that were in that game last year and experienced that feeling, we all were just really motivated by that.”
The redemption title extended Mountain View’s torment of Timberline. The Mavericks are the only team to beat the Wolves this season, and they’ve won 18 in a row against Timberline dating back eight years.
Timberline fell just short of the second title in program history. But the second-place finish is still the Wolves’ best since 2004.
Montana State signee Ava Ranson racked up a game-high 24 points for Timberline, and Santa Clara signee Emma Ellinghouse added 10 points and seven rebounds.
BONNEVILLE COMPLETES PERFECT SEASON: The Bees (27-0) pulled away in the second half to beat Century 54-39 in the 4A state championship and complete the first perfect season in program history.
Bonneville and Century (21-4), which hadn’t lost to an Idaho team since the 2018 state final, entered halftime tied at 23. But the Bees forced nine turnovers in the second half to run away with a 31-16 advantage in the final 16 minutes.
Senior point guard Sadie Lott poured in 24 points, and senior guard Makayla Sorensen added 11 points and six assists for Bonneville.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 9:37 PM.
