Rocky Mountain ends Borah’s streak in showdown of state’s top boys basketball teams

Before every game, Rocky Mountain boys basketball coach Dane Roy gives his team one statement that defines the game. The statement for Friday’s game at Borah was simple: “revenge.”

Rocky (9-1, 7-0 5A SIC) got its revenge, handing Borah (8-1, 5-1) its first loss of the season, 62-58.

Last year, Borah beat Rocky Mountain in the 5A District Three championship game and eventually took home the state championship trophy. This year, the state No. 1 Lions hadn’t lost a game leading into Friday’s divisional tilt.

No. 2 Rocky’s Cooper Frith knew how big this win was.

“Borah has a history going way back, they are always one of the best teams in the state,” Frith said. “It feels good to come in here and get a win as a team. We wanted to come in here and make a point that we can play with these guys. They are so good that we have to prove it to ourselves and everyone else.”

With 2 minutes left in the game, Borah’s star athlete, senior forward Austin Bolt, scored a layup to bring the game within two, 57-55, but Rocky widened the gap again on a basket by Townsend Tripple. Tripple made a key free throw moments later to make it a four-point game with only 7 seconds left on the clock. Borah couldn’t pull off the miracle, and its streak of 28 straight home wins was snapped.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know (about the streak),” Tripple said. “Now it feels good to show them that we are going to bring it to them.”

Tripple drew the defensive matchup against Bolt for a majority of the game. He kept Bolt, who signed earlier this month to play football for Boise State, to a quiet 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Tripple scored 12 and grabbed six rebounds, but also walked away with some bumps and bruises after guarding Bolt.

“Tomorrow, I’ll be pretty sore,” Tripple said. “(Guarding him) is a challenge. You have to always be aware of where he’s going to be. You have to be ready to take a hit.”

Borah’s scoring came mostly from senior Isaac Dewberry, who scored 32 points and hit six 3-pointers. Rocky’s leading scorer was Frith, who dropped 20.

Frith knew that while his team played well, there was still improvements to be had.

“It feels good to get a win here, but moving forward we have to keep getting better,” Frith said. “We have to take it one day at a time and keep getting better as a team. We have to bring more intensity, start communicating and move the ball on offense.”

Roy echoed his player’s sentiments.

“The kids played hard, but we have a long way to go and we can certainly play a lot better,” Roy said. “We still have to jell together as a team. I want more assists. I want us to talk on defense. I want us to be tougher. We definitely have things to work on.”

Tripple wanted to come into Borah’s house and make noise in the conference and came away a little disappointed.

“It’s a good feeling to get a win,” Tripple said. “It’s not the win we expected to have. We wanted to make a statement. That’s not what you get with a four-point, barely scraping it out win. We wanted to come out firing and show the state who is No. 1.”

This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 11:22 PM.