Prep basketball recap: Eagle upsets Owyhee. Boise in title game for 5th year in a row
The championship game of the 2025 6A District Three girls basketball tournament is set.
Fourth-seeded Eagle surprised No. 1 Owyhee for a place in the title tilt, while No. 2 Boise returns to the championship game for the fifth year in a row.
The Mustangs and Brave meet at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise.
Read on to find out how they got there.
[Related: 6A to 1A girls basketball district brackets, scoreboard]
6A SIC GIRLS BASKETBALL DISTRICT SEMIFINALS
EAGLE 50, OWYHEE 46: Jeremy Munroe walked out of the locker room wiping his brow, his gray sweatshirt clearly soaked.
His players had just given him a worthy dousing after the fourth-seeded Mustangs upended No. 1 Owyhee in the district semifinals Saturday afternoon at Kuna High School. The win assures Eagle (19-4) a spot in the 6A state tournament, which runs Feb. 20-22 at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
“Everyone came to play. I mean, we wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for the team effort,” Eagle sophomore Berkley Jones said. “Mentally, we came in it knowing that we were the underdog, but we were gonna give it our best shot and we did.”
Eagle shot 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from 3-point range against the Storm, with Jones knocking down 5-of-8 from deep for a team-leading 22 points along with four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Three of Jones’ triples came in the first quarter as Eagle led from start to finish — save for an 8-8 tie in the early going — to advance to the district championship game for the first time since 2019.
The Mustangs have won three district titles in program history, the first coming in 1998 followed by back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018.
“Every game matters. That’s the championship mentality,” Munroe said. “You want to win every game you play and get after it.”
Jones sank her first 3-pointer of the game in the opening minute to help the Mustangs set the tone, and Eagle had connected on 6-of-12 from beyond the arc by halftime for a 26-17 lead.
Owyhee tried to muster a rally in the closing minutes, twice pulling within three points, at 44-47 with 2:36 left and 46-49 with 1:26 to go. The Storm even had a chance to tie the game and force overtime, but a 3-point attempt from the left elbow with under 10 seconds remaining was off the mark.
Sophomore guard Taya Nelson joined Jones in double figures with 11 points, junior guard Bella Thompson contributed 10 points, six assists and five rebounds and senior forward Porter Wood added seven points and six boards.
Saturday’s loss to the Mustangs was just the second of the season for Owyhee (21-2) and first against an Idaho team. The Storm, who had won 12 straight games, can still play their way into the state tournament with a win against Capital (11-12) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Kuna.
Senior Josie Davis was the top scorer for Owyhee with 15 points, while Maiya Hardy and Mikale Roy had 11 points apiece.
BOISE 49, BORAH 44: Senior guard Avery Patricco nailed a 3-pointer with 4:15 on the clock in the first quarter — marking Boise’s first field goal of the game — and suddenly the flood gates opened.
The Brave then scored 15 unanswered points for a 16-2 lead that Borah would never overcome.
“I think from the start we were just focused on wanting it more, doing all the little things and I think we came out and did that,” Patricco said. “We were playing good defense, and then that was translating to our offense. I think it helped push our momentum through the game.”
Boise (20-3) finished with eight made 3-pointers, including three from Patricco for a team-best 15 points, while junior guard Libby Nelson knocked down 4-of-5 from deep to contribute 14 points off the bench.
Borah chipped away at Boise’s lead in the second quarter, using an 11-2 run to pull within 23-20 with 1:31 remaining until halftime. The Lions then got as close as 38-36 at the end of the third quarter, but they could never fully overcome the gap.
“Once we took the lid off the basket, then all of a sudden it felt really, really good,” Boise coach Kim Brydges said. “We turned them over a couple times, hit some big shots and I think everybody was feeling pretty good.
“But then we kind of went to a screeching halt in the second quarter, and that’s a compliment to Borah.”
Boise will now have the opportunity to play for a fourth consecutive district title against an Eagle team that beat them 59-56 in overtime on Dec. 14 in their only meeting of the season.
“The girls wanted to get back to that (championship) game,” Brydges said. “I’m excited to play Eagle. We only got to play them one time, and we lost in overtime. ... I think they’re going to be a formidable foe.”
Borah (18-5), which got a game-leading 16 points from sophomore Kya Davis, can still punch its ticket to state when it faces Timberline (15-9) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Kuna.
SATURDAY’S GAME BALLS
Schools are encouraged to submit scores and stats nightly by emailing sports@idahostatesman.com.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Berkley Jones, Eagle: The sophomore got hot from 3-point range, sinking 5-of-8 attempts, to lift the Mustangs to an upset of No. 1 Owyhee in the 6A District Three Tournament semifinals. Jones also had four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Avery Patricco, Boise: The senior scored nine of her team-leading 15 points in the first quarter to spearhead the Brave’s win over Borah in the 6A District Three Tournament semifinals.
Miriam Stafford, Capital: The Eagles kept their season alive with a 50-20 victory over Rocky Mountain in a loser-out matchup at the 6A District Three Tournament. Stafford, a junior guard, totaled 19 points and seven rebounds.
Danali Aggarwal, Timberline: The senior guard totaled a game-high 11 points with eight rebounds and one steal as the Wolves won a loser-out contest over Ridgevue in the 6A District Three Tournament.
Zoey Blackwell, Middleton: The Vikings cruised into the 5A District Three Tournament championship behind a triple-double from Blackwell, who posted 26 points, 10 assists, 10 steals and six rebounds.
Brooke Hutchinson, Bishop Kelly: The senior guard notched a game-high 15 points with three assists to guide the Knights to a 58-29 victory over Emmett in the 5A District Three Tournament semifinals.
BOISE, IDAHO, HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SCORES
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Eagle 50, Owyhee 46
Boise 49, Borah 44
Timberline 51, Ridgevue 28
Capital 50, Rocky Mountain 20
Skyview 36, Nampa 28
Caldwell 41, Vallivue 37
Middleton 85, Columbia 31
Bishop Kelly 58, Emmett 29
Fruitland 55, Cole Valley Christian 53
McCall-Donnelly 43, Weiser 33
New Plymouth 52, Ambrose 46
Marsing 51, Nampa Christian 30
BOYS BASKETBALL
Caldwell 62, Emmett 52
Butte County 55, Liberty Charter 37
This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM.
