Upsets reign (again) at 6A SIC boys basketball tournament. These 4 teams are moving on
Underdogs pulled another round of upsets Tuesday at the 6A District Three boys basketball tournament, with No. 11 Borah and No. 9 Boise advancing to the tournament semifinals.
The Lions (10-12) and Brave (10-13) each pulled off two more stunners in Tuesday’s first round, becoming the last two teams in the 6A SIC with 10 wins and following a play-in round that saw three of the four lower-seeded teams advance.
Tuesday’s results set the winner-to-state district semifinals Saturday at Timberline: No. 1 Owyhee will face No. 4 Meridian at 3 p.m., followed by Borah and Boise at 4:30 p.m.
Here’s how they got there.
6A SIC BOYS BASKETBALL DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
BORAH 72, CAPITAL 67, OT: Picked to finish last in the 6A SIC for the second straight year, Borah didn’t start the season with many expectations and didn’t finish much better in the regular-season standings.
The Lions lost their final five regular-season games to limp into the district tournament as the No. 11 seed, resuming their well-worn role as an underdog. But no one wants to play that underdog now.
Borah shocked second-seeded Capital (18-4) in the first round Tuesday at Mountain View, scoring its second straight upset to advance to the district semifinals.
“We just want to make our mark,” Borah senior forward Cordell Sparks said. “We belong here. We’ve just got to prove ourselves.”
Borah’s Cinderella run started Saturday when the Lions knocked off sixth-seeded Eagle 57-53 in the win-or-go-home, play-in round. Borah coach Jeremy Dennis said his team needed time to find a new identity after losing emotional leader and senior guard Ayden Melendez to a knee injury in January. But with that first district tournament win under the Lions’ belt, their confidence skyrocketed.
“You just keep grinding and you keep that mindset of we’re never out of it,” Dennis said. “That’s the beauty of basketball and sports.”
Capital throttled Borah by 19 points two weeks ago, penetrating the Lions defense at will and teeing off behind the 3-point line. But the Lions limited their rival’s dribble-penetration game Tuesday, making life behind the 3-point line more difficult while forcing 22 turnovers.
Sparks led the Lions with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds, sinking 9-of-16 shots from the field and owning the paint. He drained a 3-pointer to start the overtime and take the 15th lead change of the game. He limped off the court with a knee injury 21 seconds later, but Borah never trailed again.
“We’ve always known that Cordell has skill and game,” Dennis said. “It’s just a matter of him believing in himself.”
Colton Dennis added 16 points while sinking 4-of-8 3-pointers, and Yohanes Mina racked up 15 points and 13 rebounds for Borah.
Isaiah Telleria led Capital with 15 points, and Quincey and Marcellus Clay each added 14 points.
BOISE 66, TIMBERLINE 59, 2 OT: One by one, Boise’s players marched out of the locker room. And one by one, they all carried the same look — drenched.
The Brave emptied their water bottles in a wild celebration Tuesday after knocking off third-seeded Timberline (13-9). One more win, and Boise returns to the state tournament for the first time since 2021.
Like Borah, Boise needed to win a do-or-die game Saturday just to qualify for the district tournament. But now that the Brave are in the field, Boise can play like a team with nothing to lose.
“Once you’re in, you can throw caution to the wind,” a sopping wet Boise coach Manny Varela said. “Let’s go. It’s all even.”
Boise finally turned the tables of a battle with 18 lead changes in the second overtime, holding Timberline to a single point in the 4-minute frame. Boise finished the night 23-for-46 (50%) from the field but took it to another notch in overtime, sinking 4-of-6 field goals in the two extra periods.
Varela said building that efficient offense took all season after Boise started the year attempting 20 3-pointers a night. But on Tuesday, the Brave went just 4-for-9 behind the arc and instead attacked the basket, earning 29 free-throw attempts to make up for a -16 rebounding differential.
“We have a young group,” Varela said. “We have one senior that starts. So our whole goal was we got to get better every single day in practice, on and off the court.
“... We know we were good once we put it all together.”
Boise sophomore guard Isaac Thacker scored a game-high 20 points while draining 8-of-13 field goals. The Brave also saw Luke Soltau (15 points) and Will Gebert (12 points) break into double figures to pull off the upset.
Collin Morris led Timberline with 19 points, and Alex Ko added 18 points and three assists. The Wolves drop into the district tournament losers’ bracket, where they face Capital in an elimination game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Mountain View.
OWYHEE 80, RIDGEVUE 37: The top-seeded Storm quickly put any thoughts of another upset to bed with a blowout victory, triggering the running-clock mercy run in the fourth quarter.
Boden Howell led Owyhee (18-4) with 18 points and five assists, and Jackson Rogers added 14 points and four assists for the three-time defending district champ.
Jayce Allen (10 points) and Heath Sasser-Gunson (10 points) also reached double figures for Owyhee, which has won eight in a row.
Javonte Boles led 12th-seeded Ridgevue (10-13) with 12 points, while Dawson Phillips added 11 and Tucker Tiddens scored 10.
MERIDIAN 62, KUNA 53: The fourth-seeded Warriors (14-8) won their eighth straight game to advance to the district semifinals. Stats were not reported for either team.
BOISE, IDAHO, HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SCORES
Boys basketball
Owyhee 80, Ridgevue 37
Meridian 62, Kuna 53
Borah 72, Capital 67
Boise 66, Timberline 59
Middleton 64, Emmett 49
Vallivue 59, Caldwell 43
Fruitland 44, Homedale 31
Weiser 64, Payette 34
Rimrock 52, Idaho City 21
Notus 85, Centennial Baptist 51
North Star Charter 76, Gem State 32
Greenleaf 68, Tri-Valley 62
Garden Valley 67, Salmon River 41
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 11:45 PM.
