State roundup: Parma, pair of 2A teams among 6 Treasure Valley schools in semifinals
The first round of the Idaho high school girls basketball state tournaments tipped off Thursday all across the Treasure Valley, and six Boise-area teams advanced to the semifinals. Read on for the key highlights and a recap of how local teams fared.
You can see all the latest scores and updated brackets here.
5A STATE TOURNAMENT
Two of the four Southern Idaho Conference teams won to advance to the semifinals, and they could meet in the championship game Saturday.
Behind a perfect shooting game from Ashley Banks, Boise scored a 52-38 win over Post Falls, and Timberline beat SIC rival Borah 42-39 by using a risky late strategy to protect its narrow lead.
Boise will face top-seeded Lake City in Friday’s semifinals. The Timberwolves held off Rocky Mountain, which put up a fight before losing 44-39. Borah will play Rigby, a 62-47 victor over Thunder Ridge.
4A STATE TOURNAMENT
Blackfoot 53, Bishop Kelly 35: The Broncos, defending champions, showed why they’re the No. 1 seed, running their record to 25-0 and their school winning streak to 29.
After a 21-point first quarter by Blackfoot, Bishop Kelly (20-8) rallied, using a 16-3 run to cut the lead to three late in the third quarter. But the duo of Esperanza Vergara and Kianna Wright combined for 36 points, and were too much for the Knights to overcome.
Vergara had 19 points and four steals, with Wright adding 17 points and nine rebounds. Riley Walker led Bishop Kelly with 10 points off the bench.
Blackfoot will take on Skyline in the semifinals. The Knights will face Mountain Home in the consolation bracket Friday at 5 p.m.
Skyline 55, Mountain Home 47: A game-high 23 points from freshman Shay Shippen helped the Grizzlies (14-13) advance to tomorrow’s semifinals.
Mountain Home (18-7) kept the score close but was done in by 22 turnovers.
Unranked in the final state media poll, Skyline will look to continue a late-season run as it tries to reach the state championship game for the first time in program history.
Preston 42, Sandpoint 24: The hot streak continued for the Indians (17-7), who have won 10 of their past 11 games.
Akazia Knapp, Riley Ward and Hailey Meek had 10 points apiece for the District Five champion, which has held opponents to 40 points or less in 11 of its past 12 games. Preston will face Burley in the semifinals.
Burley 50, Middleton 39: For the second straight year, Burley (22-1) knocked off the Vikings (18-7) in the opening round.
Junior Amari Whiting, the reigning 4A All-Idaho Player of the Year and a verbal commit to Oregon, had 35 points and 19 rebounds as Burley ended Middleton’s 13-game winning streak. The Bobcats had a 36-20 rebounding advantage and their defense, top-ranked in 4A (30.4 ppg), held the Vikings to their lowest-scoring game since Dec. 10.
3A STATE TOURNAMENT
Parma 54, Weiser 38: Austyn Harris was on the Parma girls basketball team when the Panthers advanced to the state championship game in 2019.
She didn’t play much then, but the experience is paying dividends now.
Harris scored Parma’s first nine points and tallied a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Panthers to a win over Weiser on Thursday in the first round at Eagle High.
“Austyn’s a mismatch for a lot of teams,” Parma coach Michael Calkins said. “She can play inside and outside, which puts a ton of pressure on the defense. We really go as Austyn goes. When Austyn plays well, our team plays well, and when she doesn’t, sometimes we get into a little bit of a funk.
“You hate to put that much pressure on a senior’s shoulders, but she carries herself awfully well.”
The Panthers (14-10) will take on top-ranked Sugar-Salem (20-2) — a 59-35 winner over Filer — in a 5 p.m. semifinal Friday at Eagle. It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Diggers topped the Panthers 47-32 on Dec. 3 in Sugar City.
“We went up to Sugar and lost to a great team and a great coach,” Harris said. “We know it’s gonna be a good challenge for us, but it’s definitely not impossible.”
Thursday’s tournament opener had a familiar feel for both 3A Snake River Valley teams, who had already met three times prior.
As they have all season, the Panthers dialed up the defensive pressure with a full-court press that resulted in 28 Weiser turnovers. Parma entered its sixth straight state tournament with the stingiest defense in the 3A classification, at 36.4 points per game.
“They’ve seen our pressure, but when you get to the state tournament, everybody’s working a little harder and everybody’s trying a little harder,” Calkins said. “I really thought that our pressure caused them some turnovers, and a lot of that was momentum-shifting stuff.”
Parma closed out the first half on a 6-2 run to take a 24-20 lead into the locker room.
Weiser’s Jasi Yraguen cut the deficit to 24-22 on a jumper in the key to start the second half, but it was as close the Wolverines would get.
Parma snatched up 17 steals to help overcome 24 turnovers and outscored the Wolverines 30-18 over the final 16 minutes to move into the semifinals for the fourth year in a row.
“We never take it for granted. I think this is our sixth year in a row coming to state, and we’ve never gone two and out,” Calkins said. “These girls are always playing for state trophies. They always have the desire in them to just work their tails off. We know from the very beginning what our end goal is, and it’s always to get that state trophy, so it’s so awesome to watch these girls come out and get a win on the first night.”
Freshman guard Rylie Calkins joined Harris in double figures with 14 points, and added six steals, five rebounds and two assists. Kaidance Kaiser added nine points, six steals, five assists and six rebounds.
“I’ve been the water girl since I was in kindergarten,” said Rylie Calkins, whose dad coaches the Panthers. “I’ve grown up on the bench, and I’ve always wanted to play at state. Now that I get the chance to play, it’s like a dream come true.”
Junior Mattie Shirts paced the Wolverines (19-8) — who play Filer in a loser-out match at noon Friday — with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Teton 50, Fruitland 38: The Timberwolves (18-10) took an early lead and held on, as senior Kinley Brown dropped in a game-high 20 points.
Fruitland (17-6) dominated the second quarter to pull within 17-15 at halftime, but Brown and sophomore Reese Kunz, who had 13 points, sparked a big second half for Teton.
Fruitland junior Abbi Roubidoux scored 17 points and senior Graycie Huff added 14. The Grizzlies now will take on Kellogg in a consolation game Friday.
Teton will face Snake River in a semifinal game.
2A STATE TOURNAMENT
Cole Valley Christian 48, Soda Springs 37: The unanimous No. 1 team in the final state media poll lived up to the hype, with the Chargers (19-5) knocking off the state play-in winner.
Cole Valley Christian, a Meridian school, started the game on a 16-0 run and held Soda Springs to 25 percent shooting. Sisters Ellie and Hadley Frass scored 14 points each to help the Chargers in their quest to get to the state final for the second time in three years. They will play fellow Treasure Valley school Melba in Friday’s semifinals.
Melba 47, North Fremont 44 (OT): Melba (20-3), the defending state champion, extended its winning streak to seven games to advance, but not without some anxious moments.
The Mustangs raced to a 14-1 lead, but their defense, the second-best in all of 2A (31.4 ppg), couldn’t prevent a North Fremont rally that sent the game to overtime tied at 40-40.
Sophomore Brooklyn Dayley led the Mustangs with 15 points and five steals. Sophomore Emrie Lenz led the Huskies with 15 points and seven rebounds.
1AD1 STATE TOURNAMENT
Lapwai 70, Liberty Charter 19: Lapwai (19-3) led by as many as 52 points in a rout. The state’s top offense (64.3 ppg) continued its dominance with a 25-point second quarter. All players on the Wildcats scored, with senior Grace Sobotta’s 24 points leading the way.
Prairie 65, Notus 28: The defending state runner-up, Prairie (19-4) had no trouble running by Notus (16-4). Kristin Wemhoff, Laney Forsmann and Ali Rehder all scored in double figures for the winners.
1AD2 STATE TOURNAMENT
Council 58, Tri-Valley 38: Undefeated Council (17-0) is in the state tournament for the first time since 2016 and got off to a great start, recovering from a one-point deficit after one quarter to roll past Tri-Valley.
The Lumberjacks hit their scoring average of 57.3, tops in 1A Division II, by shooting 48 percent from the field. Hope Zollman led Council with 13 points and Sydney Nichols added 12.
Council will face Richfield in Friday’s semifinals. Rockland will play Deary in the other semi.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 11:23 PM.
