Boys basketball roundup: Ridgevue, Bishop Kelly make 4A semis. Valley teams 3-0 in 2A
Seven Treasure Valley boys basketball teams remained in the hunt for a state championship following first-round games Thursday.
Ridgevue and Bishop Kelly advanced in 4A action. Ambrose, Cole Valley Christian and Nampa Christian won their 2A openers, and Cascade and Garden Valley pulled through in the 1A Division II tournament.
Read on to find out how local teams fought their way to victory.
4A STATE TOURNAMENT
RIDGEVUE 57, TWIN FALLS 49
Keegan Randall had to play without a shoe for a brief period in the first quarter when it came off while he was attempting to take a charge.
It was about the only thing that went wrong for the Ridgevue boys basketball team in its state tournament debut.
The Warhawks showed no signs of inexperience, shooting 48.8% from the floor in a first-round win over Twin Falls on Thursday afternoon at Rocky Mountain High School.
In a season already filled with program history, Ridgevue (16-7) will experience another first when it takes on top-seeded Pocatello (20-5) — a 77-42 winner over Sandpoint — in the semifinals at noon Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
“I didn’t feel any nerves from them today,” Ridgevue coach Daniel Vint said. “I think they’re out there with the mentality that they’ve got nothing to lose, and that’s what we’ve been talking about.
“We’ve already done something with this program that they’ve never done before, and they’re just at the point now where they’re just playing with no fear and they’re just playing for each other.”
The Warhawks are guaranteed to finish the season with a winning record, which would be the first for the program since the school opened in 2016. Just last week, Ridgevue beat 4A Southern Idaho Conference rival Bishop Kelly for the first time to claim the first district championship in program history.
“When you suffer with guys and when you succeed with them, it makes it even better,” Ridgevue junior Javonte Boles said. “… When you get a tight group like this, it’s just great. It’s like a family.”
Twin Falls senior Preston Stokes knocked down an early 3-pointer and the Bruins led 8-4 before Ridgevue went on a 12-2 run for a 16-10 lead it would never relinquish.
Twin Falls tried to rattle Ridgevue in the third quarter, pulling within 31-30 with 2:28 on the clock. The Warhawks withstood four 3-pointers from the Bruins in the third, each time responding with a basket of their own to control the momentum.
“They don’t have any doubt in themselves, no matter what the game looks like,” Vint said. “I think that’s why they were able to do it, just so much confidence from these guys and a lot of experience playing together.”
Junior Dawson Phillips paced the Warhawks with 14 points and two assists off the bench. Boles added 13 points and eight rebounds, while junior forward Tucker Tiddens chipped in nine points and Randall had eight.
“Coach said it in the locker room before the game. Nobody knows whose night it’s gonna be,” Randall said. “This year, especially, we don’t care who scores. We are a team and we want to win.”
BISHOP KELLY 54, MINICO 38
Bishop Kelly is aware of its under dog status in Friday’s state semifinal against two-time defending champion Hillcrest.
But if the Knights (19-5) play with the same defensive fire they did Thursday in a first-round victory over Minico, they might just have a chance.
“We’re just going to come in, play loose and have fun,” Bishop Kelly senior Cooper Cammann said. “Everyone kind of thinks we’re gonna lose, but we have nothing to lose. So if we just play free, I think we can do good and surprise everyone.”
BK’s semifinal against Hillcrest (18-6) tips off at 2 p.m. at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
Hillcrest has won 14 straight games and leads the classification in scoring at 71.9 points per game. Senior center Isaac Davis, a BYU signee, is a force inside, but he has a bevy of weapons around him with three other players averaging double figures as well.
“I think it’s what everybody wants, right?” Bishop Kelly coach Ryan Kerns said. “You want to play the champs and see what you can do on that night, so we’re looking forward to going into that game with that mentality. What can we do and how hard can we play? What can happen (Friday) is kind of up in the air, and we think we have a great shot.”
Bishop Kelly put itself in position for a potential semifinal upset with an aggressive approach Thursday against Minico. The Knights attacked the Spartans with a full-court, 2-3 zone the entire night, racking up 11 steals and 14 turnovers.
Kerns kept the Knights’ legs fresh by rotating in 13 different players, with nine of them scoring two points or more. Senior forward Rakeem Johnson, a Michigan State football commit, led the way with 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
“We have about five guys that will average eight points or more, and I think that’s our biggest strength this season,” Kerns said. “If a couple guys have an off night, we have a couple guys that can replace them without a problem. I thought we saw that tonight. It was not one guy getting a ton of shots, but just lots of guys attacking and playing together.”
3A STATE TOURNAMENT
TETON 67, MCCALL-DONNELLY 58
Teton rode a dominant effort on the boards to a first-round win over McCall-Donnelly at Meridian High School.
The Timberwolves (17-7) outrebounded the Vandals 46-23, including 25 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points.
Junior guard Sam Penny (22 points) and senior guard Luke Scott (20 points) each reached double figures for McCall-Donnelly (19-2), which saw its 18-game winning streak come to an end.
The Vandals will play 3A SRV foe Homedale (9-14) in a loser-out contest at noon Friday.
SNAKE RIVER 76, HOMEDALE 36
Four Panthers scored in double figures to overwhelm Homedale in a first-round game at Meridian.
Top-ranked Snake River held the Trojans to just 24.1% shooting and took advantage of 20 offensive rebounds that resulted in 25 second-chance points. Junior post Marcus Coombs led all scorers with 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go with seven rebounds.
The Panthers (22-2), who draw Teton in Friday’s semifinals, have won 19 straight games.
Homedale (9-14) was led by sophomore forward Lukas Hall with nine points and four rebounds.
2A STATE TOURNAMENT
COLE VALLEY CHRISTIAN 56, ST. MARIES 35
Cole Valley led from start to finish, and by as many as 23 points, in a dominant first-round win over St. Maries at Capital High School in Boise.
The Chargers (24-2), who earned the tournament’s No. 1 seed, will play West Side (16-9) at 5 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
Ten players scored for Cole Valley, led by senior guard Eli Kingery with 11 points. He added four rebounds and four steals. The Chargers forced 23 St. Maries turnovers, which they converted to 22 points. Cole Valley also knocked down nine 3-pointers.
AMBROSE 70, FIRTH 45
The second-seeded Archers have 2A’s second-best scoring offense, and they wasted no time putting it on display Thursday evening at Capital High.
In a game that was effectively over at halftime, Ambrose (19-6) used a pair of 20-point quarters, 11 3-pointers and big efforts from three starters to overwhelm the Cougars. Tristen Trevino scored 18 points, Ty Hughes 17 and Eli Sugarman 15 for the Archers, who led 39-19 at the half. Their largest lead was 29 points.
Levi Robbins was the only double-figure scorer for Firth, with 12 points. The Cougars shot just 28.6% for the game (14-for-49) and turned the ball over 19 times.
Ambrose will get another shot at district rival Nampa Christian in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Capital. The Trojans defeated the Archers in last week’s district championship game.
NAMPA CHRISTIAN 64, DECLO 50
The Trojans (16-7), the 2A tourney’s No. 3 seed, broke away from a halftime tie with hot shooting and good defense to advance to the rematch with Ambrose.
It was 31-31 after two quarters, with both teams shooting better than 50%. While Nampa Christian kept that up in the second half, going 12-for-18 from the floor, Declo faded against the Trojans’ D, shooting 33% (8-for-24).
That allowed Nampa Christian to build a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. Donovan Wiles scored 20 points and Landon Mills 19 to lead the Trojans, and shot 17-for-25 between them. Dylan O’Brien added 14 points.
Emmett Gibby and Max Snedaker each scored 14 to lead the Hornets (15-8), who shot 61% (14-for-23) in the first half.
1A DIVISION I STATE TOURNAMENT
LAPWAI 89, VICTORY CHARTER 44
Utah State signee Kase Wynott was way too much for the Vipers to handle.
Lapwai’s standout senior guard dropped 31 points with eight assists, six rebounds and two steals to lead the Wildcats (20-5) to an easy first-round victory at Vallivue High School in Caldwell.
Victory Charter (18-7), which shot just 25% from the field, got 14 points and seven rebounds from junior guard Cody Luce. The Vipers will play Oakley (17-7) in a consolation bracket game at noon Friday.
LAKESIDE 60, LIBERTY CHARTER 51
In a matchup that pitted the classification’s top offense (Lakeside) vs. its top defense (Liberty Charter), offense won out.
Although the Knights (16-3) were held well below their 81.4-points-per-game average, they shot 49% from the floor to advance to the semifinals against Potlatch (19-5) on Friday.
Liberty Charter (19-6), which got a game-leading 18 points and seven boards from senior post Luke Starner, will play Valley (17-7) in the consolation bracket at 2 p.m. Friday at Vallivue.
1A DIVISION II STATE TOURNAMENT
CASCADE 55, ROCKLAND 49
Two-time 1A Division II All-Idaho Player of the Year Teague Matthews notched a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds for Rockland, but Cascade prevailed with a balanced team effort.
The Ramblers had three players score in double figures, including junior guard Cole Olson (15 points), senior point guard Tyler Thurston (12 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds) and senior forward Samuel Huckaby (12 points, 9 rebounds).
Cascade (18-6) advances to the semifinals, where it will face No. 1 Camas County (21-3) at noon Friday at Caldwell High School.
GARDEN VALLEY 50, WATERSPRINGS 45
The Wolverines (22-2) made their way into the 1A Division II semifinals by clamping down on Watersprings late to overcome a one-point deficit.
Seeded No. 3, Garden Valley survived in a tight game with its defense. The score was 22-all at halftime and Watersprings erupted for 17 third-quarter points to take a 39-38 lead, but the Wolverines held them to six points in the fourth quarter.
Madix Miller led Garden Valley with 12 points and Maxon Yearsley added 11. Trevor Corn didn’t score but grabbed 12 rebounds.
The Wolverines will face No. 2 seed Kendrick at 2 p.m. Friday at Caldwell High School in a semifinal game.
This story was originally published February 29, 2024 at 5:10 PM.
