‘We proved all the haters wrong.’ Owyhee girls basketball locks in for first state title
Four years led to one opportunity, and Owyhee didn’t let it go to waste.
The Storm rode a veteran group to a 38-33 victory over Boise in the 6A girls basketball state championship Saturday, turning four years of trials, adversity and hard-earned lessons into the first title in the young program’s history.
“It’s been the ultimate goal to finally get a state title, to finally prove to everyone we’re the school that gets it,” Owyhee senior point guard Josie Davis said. “We wanted to prove everyone wrong, and here we are as a champion.”
[Related: Pocatello tops Middleton for 5A title | Parma captures first state championship]
Owyhee (25-2) opened four years ago with a girls basketball team made up of freshmen and sophomores. Six of the Storm’s eight seniors Saturday were on the varsity squad as freshmen, and they took Owyhee one step further each season.
A trip to the play-in round that first year turned into a state tournament appearance as sophomores. That experience led to the consolation trophy last year. And that battle-hardened group put the cherry on top Saturday.
“Every year, we’ve just gotten tougher,” said Owyhee senior forward Riley Beck, another four-year starter. “Freshman year, we were tiny. We were little and would get bodied around. We were always on the floor.
“But every year we could tell we were getting stronger and stronger. We just knew that this is our year.”
Owyhee showed that with another dominant defensive performance on the state’s largest stage. Few shots fell for the Storm, who finished 12-for-42 (29%) from the field. But Owyhee’s state-leading defense limited Boise (23-4) to a season-low 33 points, four field goals in each half and an even worse shooting night: 8-for-35 (23%).
“We stuck to our guns defensively and made a couple buckets when we needed to,” Owyhee coach George Rodriguez said. “I talked … a couple nights ago about execution. It just wasn’t right there. So when you get to these types of tournaments, you gotta win with a little bit of heart, you gotta have a little bit of luck, and the ball has got to bounce your way a couple times.
“And it did.”
Riley Beck broke a defensive stalemate to open the second half, scoring five of her team’s eight points in the third quarter after both teams went scoreless for the first 3:16. She split two defenders in the post for a layup, then took a lob from Maiya Hardy and laid it up for a three-point lead.
That finally took the lid off the hoop as Adelynn Wright and Mikale Roy followed with 3-pointers, spotting Owyhee an eight-point lead, its largest of the night, heading into the fourth quarter.
Those two buckets marked Beck’s only two field goals, but she led the Storm with 11 points and seven rebounds. Davis made her presence felt all over the floor with nine points, five steals and four rebounds. And Roy added six points and seven rebounds.
That trio formed the backbone of a team that entered the season with sky-high expectations despite never winning a first-round game at the state tournament. The Storm started the season as the preseason favorite in the 6A Southern Idaho Conference, and they went wire-to-wire as the No. 1-ranked team in the state media poll. But that didn’t always bring positive attention.
Davis said Owyhee heard the whispers all season. That it was overrated. It would choke. It wasn’t ready for prime time.
Those whispers went into overdrive when Eagle knocked off the Storm in the district semifinals, Owyhee’s only loss to an Idaho team all season. But that only refocused the Storm.
“We had a lot of people that just didn’t like us this year,” Davis said. “That just really fueled us, and fueled our fire to want it more.
“We proved all the haters wrong this year. That’s all we could ask for.”
BOISE TAKES HOME SECOND PLACE
The loss capped Boise’s sixth straight season bringing a trophy home from the state tournament, and the program’s 12th trophy in coach Kim Brydges’ 20 seasons.
Avery Patricco capped her four-year varsity career with 10 points, Libby Nelson added nine points off the bench, and Kaity Haan totaled six points, eight rebounds and two blocks while battling foul trouble.
But the rest of Boise’s lineup scored only eights points as Boise had to scratch and claw for every shot.
“They sped us up a little bit with some of their full-court press, three-quarter-court press,” Brydges said. “Offensively, that was our weakness, and usually that’s one of our strengths.”
Brydges said the loss stung but that she was proud of her team for adding more hardware to the school’s crowded trophy case. She lets the captains of each team decorate the trophies with Barbies, and Saturday’s runner-up trophy will sit alongside one for the fourth straight district title the Brave captured last week.
“These girls have a lot to be proud of,” Brydges said. “These seniors have left their mark on our program.”
MADISON 49, COEUR D’ALENE 47: The Bobcats dominated the boards, finishing with a 38-22 advantage on the glass to bring home the third-place trophy from Timberline High.
Junior Mia Walsh led the Madison (18-9) assault, racking up 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Senior Nora Waddoups added 15 points and six rebounds as the No. 6 seed rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter for its first state tournament trophy since 2012.
Coeur d’Alene (17-9) sophomore Brookeslee Colvin led her team with 14 points to finish the tournament averaging 26 points per game.
BORAH 56, RIGBY 50: The Lions brought home hardware from the state tournament for the first time since 2006, beating Rigby in the consolation final at Timberline High School.
Borah finished 10-for-17 (59 percent) from 3-point range as four different players connected from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Nakiyia Percell led the charge, going a perfect 5-for-5 and scoring 18 points.
Sophomore Kya Davis notched a double-double of 19 points and 10 boards, and junior Abi Howington chipped in 10 points as the Lions finished the season 21-5. It marked Borah’s first season with more than 20 wins since 2005-06.
Junior guard Bailey Barber paced the Trojans (17-9) with 21 points and five rebounds.
This story was originally published February 23, 2025 at 12:27 AM.
