Idaho’s only Division I commit led a beatdown at the 5A boys basketball state tournament
Two weeks ago, Borah senior Ellis Magnuson verbally committed to a full-ride scholarship from Eastern Washington. Now the point guard has his eyes set on a state championship.
Magnuson helped the Lions’ boys basketball team take the first step toward that goal Thursday, scoring 12 points and spearheading the offense as Borah routed crosstown rival Capital 61-41 in the first round of the 5A state tournament.
Borah (22-3) advances to face Rigby (20-6) at 8 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center.
[Related: 5A to 1A state brackets]
Magnuson had plenty of time to rest his legs as the Lions built a 30-point lead after three quarters. That would trigger the running clock mercy rule during the regular season, but the mercy rule doesn’t kick in at state.
Magnuson took a seat on the bench with the rest of Borah’s starters and cheered on the Lions reserves as they performed mop-up duty.
“We are definitely a mature team, so we handled it well,” said Magnuson, Idaho’s only Division I commit this season. “We were taking care of it. It’s a business trip, that’s all.”
[Related: Fruitland, Vallivue advance; full results from 4A to 1A]
Magnuson also had preferred walk-on offers to play football at Boise State, Washington State, Idaho, Montana State and Weber State but chose his only Division I scholarship offer to remain on the hardwood.
Capital (11-17) and Borah traded blows early as Capital took a 10-9 lead on Andre Treadwell’s 3-pointer with 2:59 left in the opening quarter. But the Lions responded with a 16-0 run and never looked back, holding a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
“We got a little bit loose defensively and lost a couple guys,” Borah coach Jeremy Dennis said. “So we backed off the press and decided to man them up in the half court and stayed in front of them.”
Magnuson put on his trademark display of no-look passes, behind-the-back dribbles and sharpshooting. He formed an unstoppable tag team again with junior forward Austin Bolt, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Neither played a second in the fourth quarter against Borah’s traditional rival, which the Lions beat for the third time this season.
“It was kind of cool watching the other guys get in there because that means the starting five did their job,” Bolt said. “But it’s great to beat the team across town.”
RIGBY 55, MOUNTAIN VIEW 50
Rigby built a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter, and the Trojans needed every one of those points as Mountain View mounted a furious comeback.
The Mavericks (11-14) cut the deficit to two points twice late in the fourth quarter, including Austin Smart’s two free throws with 1 minute left. But Rigby held on to secure its first 5A state tournament win since 2001.
“We stick together in those tough times,” said Rigby junior Britton Berrett, who scored a game-high 18 points. “They made a good run there, and credit to them, that was a huge run on their part. On our part, there was just confidence in each other that we can withstand that.”
The Trojans made 7-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter to stave off the comeback after going 0-for-2 the previous three quarters.
Meanwhile, Mountain View finished 10-of-20 at the line. It tried to use its balanced lineup to make up the deficit as Dallen Perrin, Josh Gillespie and Jaxon Gentry each scored nine points. But the Mavericks fell one shot short of clawing their way back into the game.
“One of the really cool parts about this group of young men is they don’t give up,” Mountain View coach Jon Nettleton said. “We’ve kind of talked about it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. It’s that no-quit, all-grit type of stuff.”
Mountain View falls into the consolation bracket, where it will face Capital at 3 p.m. Friday at the Idaho Center.
POST FALLS 54, ROCKY MOUNTAIN 50
Idaho will have a new 5A state champion this season.
Post Falls upset two-time defending state champion Rocky Mountain in the first round, sending the No. 1-ranked Grizzlies into the losers’ bracket.
Post Falls (18-6) advances to face Madison (24-3) at 6:15 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at the Ford Idaho Center.
“I know Rocky has had a lot of success. They have a great program, a great tradition,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “But we were going to take the fight to them. We weren’t afraid to lose. We were going to go out and do what we wanted to do. If that didn’t work out, no regrets. But we were going to go right at the giants.”
Rocky Mountain (21-4) got off to a horrid start, missing its first 10 shots and finishing the first quarter 2-for-16 from the field.
The Grizzlies recovered and entered the fourth quarter with a two-point lead. Briggs Ranstrom put Rocky Mountain back up by two when he converted a fastbreak layup and the and-one free throw with 2:12 left.
But No. 4 Post Falls held Rocky Mountain scoreless the rest of the way, taking the lead back for good when sophomore Caden McLean drained a corner 3 for his only points of the game with 1:46 left.
“I thought it was the first shot Caden had all game where he had his feet set,” Mike McClean said of his son. “If he can get his feet set, we’re pretty happy with him shooting.”
Trailing by three with 38.8 seconds left, Rocky Mountain forced a turnover under the Post Falls basket. But the only shot the Grizzlies could muster was a desperation, step-back 3 from Cooper Frith, which rimmed out.
Rocky Mountain continued to dominate the glass, out rebounding Post Falls 41-29. But the Grizzlies’ size advantage couldn’t hold off the hot-handed Trojans, who shot 45 percent from the floor.
Gavven Desjarlais led the way, scoring 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. And Colby Gannett added 15 points, 13 rebounds and three steals.
“Gavven had it rolling,” Mike McLean said. “You don’t have to be the smartest guy in the world, which I’m far from, to go with the guy that’s having some success.”
MADISON 55, EAGLE 45
Madison made a surprise run to last year’s state tournament under a first-year head coach. But the Bobcats have expectations of contending for a title this time, and they wasted no time showing why.
Second-ranked Madison led from the opening whistle to the final buzzer to end two years of first-round heartbreak at the state tournament. The Bobcats held Eagle to four points in the first quarter and 14 in the first half to build a lead they never surrendered.
“Our theme last year was prove them wrong. This year, our theme is prove them right,” said Madison second-year coach Travis Schwab, who returns 10 players from last year’s state consolation champ.
The Bobcats locked down 5A SIC-leading scorer Tanner Hayhurst in the first half, holding him to two points on 0-for-2 shooting as it rotated a cast of defenders to face-guard the Mustangs’ top weapon and deny him touches on the offensive ends.
Hayhurst broke loose in the second half to finish with 16 points and lead Eagle’s comeback. The Mustangs cut the lead to four points twice in the third quarter and again early in the fourth. But Madison answered each time and pulled away in the final 4 minutes.
“In games like this, there’s just such a small margin for error,” Eagle coach Jeff Ranstrom said. “You play a great team like Madison and you don’t capitalize on every opportunity you have, it makes it hard to close that gap. I’m proud of the guys for fighting and cutting it down to four a couple times.”
The loss sends Eagle into the losers’ bracket, where it will face Rocky Mountain for the fourth time this season at 1:15 p.m. Friday at the Idaho Center. Rocky Mountain has won all three of the previous meetings by 10 or more points.
This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 3:07 PM.
