‘This is our year.’ How Boise mounted one more rally to make the 6A state title game
The Boise High girls basketball team left the state semifinals the past two years crushed.
On Friday, the Brave left elated.
Boise trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before rallying for a 39-35 victory over Madison, ending its semifinal heartbreak and returning to the 6A state championship game for the first time since 2022.
No. 2 Boise (23-3) will face No. 1 Owyhee (24-2) for the title at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
“I believe that this is our year, and I think we’re ready for this game,” Boise senior Avery Patricco said. “We’ve been prepping for four years.”
[Related: State tournament scoreboard | Title predictions | Scouting reports on all 48 teams]
Patricco, Kaity Haan and Alison Turkce all suited up as freshmen for the Brave’s last trip to the finals. Little did they know how long it would take to get back to championship Saturday. But after back-to-back losses in the semifinals, Boise scratched its way to another shot at its first state title since 2005.
Boise struggled with Madison’s trademark 1-2-2 zone as 6-3 junior guard Mia Walsh built a wall around the top of the key. The Brave mustered only four points in the second quarter and headed into the break down by eight. But Boise started to find crevices in the zone and chipped away at the lead, outscoring Madison 25-13 in the second half for the comeback.
“When we went to the locker room, we knew this was our game and we were going to win it,” Boise junior guard Libby Nelson said. “We just had to be a threat and make them know that we are going to win this, and that there’s nothing they can do to stop us.”
Haan gave the Brave the final lead they’d need, muscling through a pair of defenders for a layup in the paint with 2:30 left. Madison’s zone collapsed on her the next trip down the floor, and she kicked it out to Nelson for a dagger of a 3-pointer and a four-point lead 34 seconds later.
“I can’t compliment our girls and their resiliency enough, especially in that third quarter,” Boise coach Kim Brydges said. “We scored, what, four points in the second? That’s pitiful. That’s horrible.
“So the fact that we were able to put together some points and really surge ahead by the end of that quarter, that was huge.”
Patricco led Boise with 12 points and two steals, sinking 4-of-7 3-pointers. Nelson added 10 points off the bench, and Haan tallied 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks — none bigger than her last one.
Madison earned a last-second 3-pointer to potentially send the game to overtime. Never one to fear the moment, Haan leapt toward Walsh’s shot with 3 seconds left, risking a potential four-point play if she fouled. But the Braves’ do-everything senior instead cleanly blocked the shot, and Boise ran out the clock.
“She’s Kaity,” Patricco said with a shrug. “You don’t know what she’s going to do, but it’s always going to work out.”
Torey Parker topped Madison (17-9) with 10 points and seven rebounds, and Nora Wadddoups added six points and five rebounds. The Bobcats dropped into the third-place game, where they face two-time defending champ Coeur d’Alene (17-8) at noon Saturday at Timberline.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 4:27 PM.
