Last time’s the charm. Cole Valley holds off Melba for 2A girls basketball district title
The calendar may change. The rosters may vary. But the matchup remains the same.
Cole Valley Christian and Melba girls basketball battled for the eighth straight year in the 2A District Three Tournament championship Tuesday. And Cole Valley Christian got the last laugh, holding on for a 50-47 victory at Caldwell High.
The Meridian private school’s growing enrollment will push the Chargers up a classification next year, marking the end of one of Idaho’s greatest conference rivalries. But the final chapter — barring a rematch at state next week — served as a fitting and dramatic ending.
“It means so much. I wanted this so bad,” said Cole Valley Christian forward Hadley Fraas, a four-year starter who won district titles as a freshman and a senior against Melba. “I know the team wanted this more than anything.”
Cole Valley Christian (17-6) took the lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it in a battle of the past three state champions. But the Chargers couldn’t put away their rival until the final 17 seconds, when sophomore Trinity Holsinger sank 4-of-4 free throws.
Holsinger nearly opened the door for a Melba (16-6) comeback when she was called for a charge nursing a two-point lead with 51 seconds. But teammate Tessa Orcutt came up with a steal on the other end, giving the Chargers the ball back and earning Holsinger a chance at redemption.
She never batted an eye, calmly sinking each free throw to finish with a team-high 19 points.
“Trin has had a couple ups and downs with her shooting confidence this year,” Cole Valley Christian coach Matt Beglinger said. “But the truth is, she’s an automatic free-throw shooter when she can clear her mind and just go through the motion.
“I saw that look in her eye tonight of just, ‘No problem.’ So when she got the foul and we got the ball in her hands, it was like, ‘That’s two points.’”
Melba senior point guard Brooklyn Dayley, another four-year starter, nearly single-handedly willed the Mustangs to a third straight district crown with a game-high 26 points. She drained a pair of 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds, including one with 7.1 seconds left to make it a one-point game.
But Melba couldn’t force one last steal, Holsinger proved unflappable at the free-throw line and the Chargers stormed the court with one last district championship over the Mustangs.
“It’s just super exciting, super awesome,” Holsinger said. “I’m really proud of my team. It was a high-emotions game, but it was really, really fun.”
The Mustangs fell to 5-3 against Cole Valley Christian in their district championship matchups. But Melba still holds a 17-10 overall record against the Chargers in the past eight years, with another rematch likely on tap.
Idaho’s state tournaments are seeded by MaxPreps.com rankings. And Melba coach David Lenz pointed out that unless the rankings change between now and Sunday, the two will meet again in the first round next week at Kuna High.
“I think when fully healthy, they have the capability of winning the whole thing,” Lenz said. “So for them to be a four or a five seed, I think, is a joke.
“... I think it would be good for us (to play again) because I kind of felt like we let this one get away tonight. We didn’t play our best. Give them credit because some of it has to do with what they did to us.
“But we weren’t really locked in and doing things the way I thought we would tonight.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 11:18 PM.
