Dominant? That only begins to describe the red-hot run for Boise girls basketball
The No. 1-ranked Boise High girls basketball team has faced few challenges the past two months, posting a list of jaw-dropping scores in its run through the 5A Southern Idaho Conference.
No. 5 Rocky Mountain loomed on the road Thursday. And to make the sledding even tougher, Boise made the trek without first-team all-conference forward Kaity Haan, who stayed home with a sprained ankle.
But the Brave machine continued to roll Thursday, riding USC signee Avery Howell and a host of role players to a 55-36 win — their 14th in a row.
Boise (17-1, 9-0 5A SIC) had won eight straight by 30 or more points entering Thursday, and their average margin of victory in conference games stood at 38 points.
Rocky Mountain (12-4, 5-2) gave Boise its first competitive second half in weeks. But Boise pounced in the third quarter as the Grizzlies slipped into a zone, draining four 3-pointers in a three-minute span to turn a 10-point lead into an 18-point cushion and put the game out of reach.
“I’ve been doing this 19 years, and this is one of my best shooting teams, if not our best shooting team,” said Boise coach Kim Brydges, whose team finished 10-for-24 behind the arc. “In practice, we’re constantly having to come up with these insane numbers on different shooting challenges we have. And the kids are just wanting to beat it every single time, so we just keep raising the margin.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that can score. Obviously, Avery (Howell) is a dynamic player and an incredible leader. But when she facilitates that ball, we’ve got other kids that will step up and knock it down, too.”
Howell finished with 25 points, 17 rebounds and six steals for her 10th double-double of the season. She also sank 5-of-10 3-pointers and kick started the Brave’s decisive run with her long-range shot.
Rocky Mountain’s Cianna Legaspi blocked a Howell 3-pointer early in the third quarter. But the state’s reigning player of the year calmly collected the ball and drained a second attempt from the top of the key.
She added another 3-pointer from the same spot before junior guard Avery Patricco heated up. Patricco (14 points) turned one Howell assist into a 3-pointer from the wing. Then on the next trip down the floor, she drained another 3 from the corner to force Rocky Mountain to call a timeout and change tactics.
But it was too little, too late.
“We had a lot of people step up, and we can hit shots,” Howell said. “Definitely, when teams slip into zones, it just opens the 3-point line for us driving and kicking. I think we kind of executed from that line.”
Boise continued to mix and match players defensively to fill the Haan-sized hole in the interior. Junior point guard Presley Binder was tasked with guarding Rocky Mountain’s 6-foot forward Anna DaBell. Alex Gustavel, the reigning state high jump champ, came off the bench to patrol the paint. And the Brave’s 2-2-1 press helped them force 19 turnovers.
The Grizzlies are the first 5A SIC team to stay within 20 points of Boise in its victories this season. All those blowouts mean Boise — whose one loss came 49-43 to No. 2 Lake City on Nov. 16 — often has to create its toughest competition in practice. But Brydges said her team has used those intense sessions to keep its edge as the postseason approaches.
“We’re lucky that our depth allows us to really promote a lot of challenges in practice,” Brydges said. “We have some very physical contests in practice.
“So I think that’s a credit to our team as a whole — that they’re willing to accept that and hold each other accountable, and push each other at practice so that we can be better prepared for games.”
DaBell led Rocky Mountain with 12 points as the only scorer in double figures. Legaspi added eight points, and Logan Sailors chipped in seven.
This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 11:36 PM.
