Boys roundup: Middleton’s 4A repeat hopes fall short. McCall-Donnelly, Melba make finals
Middleton High’s hopes of a championship repeat ran into a brick wall — also known as Hillcrest sophomore Isaac Davis — on Friday afternoon at the Ford Idaho Center.
Davis recorded a double-double of 23 points and 15 rebounds to carry the Knights to a 50-41 victory over the Vikings in the 4A semifinals in Nampa.
Top-seeded Hillcrest (24-2) will face Pocatello (23-3), a 75-72 winner over Jerome, for the state championship at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Idaho Center.
Though Middleton fell short, two area teams punched their tickets to title games on Friday: McCall-Donnelly in 3A and Melba in 2A. Council lost in the 1A Division II semifinals.
In the first game of the day at the Idaho Center — where the 4A and 5A semifinals were played — Hillcrest converted 19-of-23 free throws compared to a 4-for-10 performance for the Vikings. The Knights have won 23 games in a row.
Davis, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound center, drew seven fouls and finished 9-for-11 from the line, including a trio of three-point plays.
“Here’s my perspective on Isaac: great player, really good player,” Middleton coach Nate Hartman said. “He shot more free throws than our entire team shot. That’s a tough way to play basketball.”
In a disjointed first quarter where the teams combined for just two field goals, Davis went to the line three times as the Knights took a 9-3 lead. But he took a seat on the bench after picking up his second foul with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter, and stayed there until the start of the second half. Hillcrest went into the locker room with a one-point lead, 20-19.
“When we came in at halftime, you could see it in his eyes, because he was a little disappointed that he didn’t get to play as much in the first half when he got into foul trouble,” Hillcrest coach Dave Austin said. “He felt like he was letting his teammates down, but they all pumped him up and said you’re not. You’re here, we trust you.
“We just saw it in his eyes. So as a coaching staff, we said we’ve got to get it to him in the second half, and you saw what happens when he takes over.”
Still, Middleton led 38-37 with 3:57 to play in the game after a pair of free throws from Talmage Stucki, but the Vikings went 1-for-3 at the line the rest of the way, missing the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities. The Knights had a 7-for-9 effort over the same span.
Davis put the Knights ahead 40-38 on a three-point play with 3:40 to go. It was the first of seven straight points for Davis, highlighted by a one-handed dunk that sent the Hillcrest student section into a frenzy.
“I want to get a state championship,” Davis said. “I promised my players we’re going to get one, and we’re going to get one tomorrow.”
Although the Vikings won a state championship last year, they had to replace coach Andy Harrington after he took the head coaching job at Owyhee High School.
“We had a little bit of experience, but we also had basically seven guys that came in and hadn’t played big minutes,” Hartman said.
Even with the new faces, the Vikings (24-3) set the program record for most wins in a season. They have a chance to add more hardware to the trophy case when they take on Jerome (23-3) in the third-place game at noon Saturday at Rocky Mountain High.
“Our seniors — Tyler (Medaris), Owen (Graviet) and Marshall (Short) — it’s their last chance to take the floor in a Middleton jersey,” Hartman said. “I want them to do it with some pride, have some fun and end their career on a win.”
Pocatello 75, Jerome 72: The Thunder and Tigers traded offensive punches throughout the entire game, but Pocatello (22-3) came out on top after shooting 52% from the field. Julian Bowie led Pocatello with 24 points, and Ryan Payne added 19.
Scott Cook led the Tigers (23-3) with 34 points.
Bishop Kelly 41, Vallivue 32: The District Three title game rematch went in the Knights’ favor in the consolation bracket, and BK (20-6) will face Moscow in the consolation final at Rocky Mountain High at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Down three points heading into the fourth quarter, the Knights blanked the Falcons (14-12) in the final eight minutes. Senior Blake Hawthorne was the lone double-digit scorer in the game, with 15 points.
Moscow 56, Burley 52: Burley (11-14) had four double-digit scorers and nearly pulled off the upset, but Moscow (16-10) got 17 points from Jamari Simpson and 15 from Bryden Brown to win.
5A STATE TOURNAMENT
Lake City 62, Eagle 53: The No. 1 seed Timberwolves (23-2), upset by Centennial on Thursday, used their three-headed monster of Nathan Hocking, Kolton Mitchell and Zach Johnson to advance to Saturday’s consolation final against Madison at Columbia High.
Shooting 49% from the field, Lake City used a 22-point fourth quarter to end Eagle’s season. Hocking, Mitchell and Johnson combined for 46 points.
Donovan Jones led the Mustangs (20-6) with 16 points.
Madison 43, Mountain View 42: A fourth-quarter comeback fell just short for the Mavericks (15-11), who saw their season end.
The Bobcats used a 16-4 second-quarter surge to take control, and then held on. Nate Ojukwu had 19 points and seven rebounds for Mountain View.
3A STATE TOURNAMENT
McCall-Donnelly 54, Snake River 52, OT: Snake River escaped Homedale in double overtime Thursday. On Friday, the Panthers were unable to come through in extra time again.
No. 2 seed McCall-Donnelly (20-2) had a 52-45 lead with just over a minute to play in overtime, but a five-point trip for Snake River made it 52-50. Ryan Anderson scored and was fouled; he missed the free throw, but the Panthers got the rebound, leading to a 3-pointer from Conner Fitzgerald.
The teams traded free throws after that, and sophomore Danny Wray had a 3-point attempt to win it for Snake River, but it was off the mark.
DJ Green led all scorers with 30 points for the Vandals, who are back in the state championship game after losing in the final last year. Green, the reigning 3A All-Idaho Player of the Year, was 13-for-13 from the free throw line.
McCall-Donnelly, which erased a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter Friday to force OT, will meet Kimberly at the Idaho Center at 3:50 p.m. Saturday in the title game.
Bonners Ferry 70, Fruitland 62: The Badgers (14-9) got points from eight different players to down the Grizzlies (18-9).
Braeden Blackmore led Bonners Ferry with 15 points and seven rebounds, with Riley Petesch (12) and Asher Williams (11) helping put Fruitland away. The Grizzlies had four double-digit scorers, headlined by Tyler Capps’ 15 points.
Homedale 50, Sugar-Salem 46: Homedale’s Jaxon Dines scored 23 for the second consecutive game, helping the Trojans (15-10) get their first state tournament win since 2014 and advance to the consolation final against Bonners Ferry.
The Diggers (12-13) trailed by 10 at halftime and were done in by 16 turnovers.
2A STATE TOURNAMENT
Melba 61, North Fremont 52: Three Mustangs scored in double figures to help Melba (23-2) extend its winning streak to 14 games and book its spot in Saturday’s title game at 1:40 p.m. at the Idaho Center.
North Fremont (21-3), 2A’s No. 1 team in the final state media poll and in the tournament bracket, couldn’t keep up with Melba’s on-target offense. Joe Reiber scored 20 points, Tucker Lowber added 15 and Braden Volkers had 11. The Mustangs shot 62% from the field (24-of-39) and made 6-of-13 3-pointers, building a lead of as many as 19 points.
Jordan Lenz led the Huskies with 19 points.
Melba, the No. 4 seed, will face third-seeded St. Maries in the final.
Ambrose 61, Valley 38: Senior guard Hudson Hughes scored 25 points and added 11 rebounds as the Archers (21-5) dismantled Valley to advance to the consolation final against Bear Lake.
Ambrose never trailed and darted out to a commanding 29-7 halftime lead.
1A DIVISION I STATE TOURNAMENT
Rimrock 52, Liberty Charter 46: After falling to the Patriots in the District Three title game, the Raiders (18-5) got revenge to end their conference rival’s season in the consolation bracket.
Senior center Gus Black had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and helped Rimrock finish the game on a 26-16 run. Dallin Criddle led the Patriots with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
1A DIVISION II STATE TOURNAMENT
Camas County 62, Council 40: There will be no local team in the small-school championship game, after the Mushers dominated Council with strong defense and efficient offense.
Camas County, the No. 1 seed, held the Lumberjacks to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters, putting the game away. The Mushers shot 50% from the field and limited Council to 33%, while also getting 10 steals. They entered the fourth quarter with a 45-24 lead.
Camas County’s Breken Clarke (23) and Troy Smith (17) combined to score as many points as the Lumberjacks (19-5), who were led by Josh Gipe and Macen Glenn, each with eight points.
Council will face Carey at noon Saturday in the third-place game at Caldwell High School. Camas County will take on Rockland in the championship game at the Ford Idaho Center at 9:30 a.m.
North Gem 64, Cascade 48: North Gem (18-6) used a 52-30 rebounding edge to take care of business against Cascade (14-11). Senior forward Ransom Cooper had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Cowboys, and Chayce Low scored 23 points.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 3:44 PM.