It used to be an ‘easy W.’ Now Eagle is knocking off state powers at 5A tournament
Rematches will rule the semifinal round at the 5A boys basketball state tournament Friday.
No. 1 Rocky Mountain (24-1) gets a chance to avenge its loss to Post Falls (21-3) at last year’s state tournament in the first semifinal at 6:15 p.m. Friday at the Ford Idaho Center.
And then Eagle (16-8) will try to avenge a pair of regular-season losses to Borah (20-5) at 8 p.m. as the two conference rivals battle for a spot in the championship.
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EAGLE 51, RIGBY 43
A former regular at the state tournament, the Mustangs had fallen on hard times recently. But Eagle announced its return by upsetting No. 2-ranked Rigby (23-2) with a furious fourth-quarter comeback.
Eagle trailed by five points entering the final quarter. The Mustangs then mounted a 15-2 run to start the quarter and outscored Rigby 22-9 in the frame to rally to its first state semifinal since 2010.
“Everyone kind of looks at Eagle as a basketball program and says, ‘Oh, that’s an easy W,’ and pencil it in on the schedule,” Eagle senior Tanner Hayhurst said. “We’re out to prove that we’re not that team. I think we proved that out there. And hopefully, we can keep it going tomorrow.”
Hayhurst led the comeback, scoring 14 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. Rigby frustrated the 5A SIC’s two-time leading scorer the first three quarters. But he heated up in the fourth quarter and took over on the defensive end.
He manned up on Rigby’s top weapon, Britton Berrett, holding him to two points in the second half after he scored 13 in the first half.
He picked Berrett’s pocket at the top of the key for an easy layup that gave the Mustangs their first lead since 3-2. He did it again on the next possession, leading to an easy layup for Donovan Jones that put the Mustangs up four with 3:41 left.
They never trailed again.
“Usually when people talk about me, they’re just like: ‘Oh, he scores a lot. But he doesn’t do anything else.’ I really pride myself this year on trying to affect the game in other ways — scoring, rebounding, assists, getting steals,” Hayhurst said.
He added six rebounds, four steals and three assists to his 24 points.
Rigby started the game on fire, hitting 50 percent of its shots from the floor in the first half for a 29-20 lead at the break. But Eagle shut down the Trojans in the second half, holding them to 3-for-22 (14 percent) shooting to set the stage for the comeback.
“I told them at halftime we got them where we want them,” Eagle coach Dennis Kerfoot said. “They think they’re gonna win. Now all we have to do, when they relax, we go after them. And that’s what they did.”
BORAH 58, LAKE CITY 38
If the Lions need any extra motivation this weekend, they can look at Austin Bolt’s right hand.
The Borah senior star typically keeps his state championship ring locked away for safekeeping. But the defending state champs’ only returning starter broke it out this week to remind his teammates what’s at stake.
“I’m expecting one on the same hand. I’m expecting two,” Bolt said. “But I’m expecting all these other guys to get a ring because everyone on this team deserves that. We put in the work, the hours every day — day in, day out — just to get another one of these.”
Borah made quick work of its opening-round opponent, jumping out to a 14-3 lead and never trailing. The Lions dominated the boards, outrebounding Lake City 48-24. And they held the Timberwolves to 28% shooting to cruise into their third straight semifinal.
Bolt led the way again, racking up a double-double in the first half and finishing with 20 points and 15 rebounds. The future Boise State tight end shot 8-for-14 from the floor.
“He’s one of a kind,” Borah coach Jeremy Dennis said. “It’s too bad he’s a senior. I’m proud of him. He gives it his all all the time. He’s kind of a generational player.”
But he wasn’t alone. Junior guard Luke Hoetker put up 14 points, and a host of Lions suffocated Lake City’s offense.
Lake City (16-9) dropped into the consolation bracket, where it faces Rigby at 3 p.m. Friday at the Idaho Center.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 81, MERIDIAN 52
Briggs Ranstrom turned to the Grizzlies’ bench and could only shrug.
The senior drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key as part of Rocky Mountain’s blistering start to its opening game at the 5A state tournament against city rival Meridian. The Grizzlies made their first six shots from the floor, including five behind the 3-point line, to jump out to a 17-2 lead just 2 minutes, 38 seconds into the game.
“It’s disrespectful to not guard the perimeter,” Ranstrom said. “They weren’t guarding a lot of us. So when they’re backing off, we’re going to hit shots.”
Rocky Mountain never cooled off, building an 18-point lead after the first quarter, a 23-point lead after the second and a 38-point lead after the third before the reserves came in for mop-up duty.
The state’s top offense gave the rims at the Idaho Center a workout. Ranstrom rattled home a two-handed dunk in the second half. And Townsend Tripple threw down a monster dunk on an alley-oop from Straton Rogers.
But the dunk was waived off due to a charge call on Rogers. With 3:21 left in the second quarter, it was Rocky Mountain’s first turnover of the afternoon.
“I’ll take that any day,” Rogers joked. “I’ll take a dunk.”
Rogers scored a game-high 19 points on 9-for-10 shooting, Cooper Frith and Ranstrom each had 14 points, and five players finished in double figures as the Grizzlies shot 65 percent from the floor.
Rocky Mountain entered the state tournament after one of the most dominant regular season’s in recent history. Thursday marked the Grizzlies’ 21st straight win, and their only loss came in double overtime to Utah’s Wasatch Academy, the No. 4 team in the country.
Rocky Mountain was the state’s top-ranked team last year, too, only to get upset in the first round by Post Falls. The Grizzlies put any chance of repeating that disappointment to rest in the opening minutes. And they’ll get another shot at Post Falls at 6:15 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
“The paper says we’re No. 1,” Rocky Mountain coach Dane Roy said. “But until we beat Post Falls, they’re better than we are.”
Meridian (20-5) fell into the consolation bracket, where it will face Timberline (11-16) at 1:15 p.m. Friday at the Idaho Center.
POST FALLS 39, TIMBERLINE 30
No. 3 Post Falls survived an upset scare, pulling away from a heavy underdog in the second half of a slow-paced game.
The Trojans (21-3) used a 13-3 run in the third quarter to build an eight-point cushion, one that Timberline (11-16) couldn’t overcome in a game with eight lead changes and three ties.
“We’ve been down here a few years, and sometimes you’ve got to win ugly,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “There are no style points in the postseason.”
Senior forward Colby Gennett carried Post Falls, racking up game highs in points (17), rebounds (nine) and steals (two). He shot 6-of-13 from the floor in a methodical game that saw the fewest combined points (69) at the 5A state tournament since Pocatello beat Skyline 32-25 in a 2000 semifinal.
“We’re playing tomorrow morning (in a consolation game) if we don’t have Colby today,” McLean said. “I’m a big believer in experience, and Colby is a four-year varsity starter. I don’t think he wanted his season to end on the first night. He wanted to do a little more.”
Timberline cut the deficit to three points late in the fourth quarter, but after a foul call with 55 seconds left, Wolves sophomore Wade Zenner slammed the scorer’s table with both hands, resulting in a technical foul.
Post Falls’ Caden McLean drained the two technical free throws, and then Cole Rutherford drove the lane for a layup 17 seconds later to put the game away.
Nick Zenner and Jake Stranzl each scored eight points to lead Timberline, which made only 11 field goals in the game, seven of which were 3-pointers.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
