Boys basketball: Borah’s underdog run continues with state tourney berth. Meridian wins
State tournament tickets were handed out in boys basketball district tournament action Tuesday night across the Treasure Valley.
Find out who’s moving on in the 6A tournament, get caught up with all the nightly scores, and see who earned our daily game balls for their clutch performances below.
[Related: 6A to 1A boys basketball district brackets, scoreboard]
6A SIC BOYS BASKETBALL DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
MERIDIAN 48, TIMBERLINE 43: After trailing by 18 points at halftime, the fourth-seeded Warriors outscored the No. 3 Wolves 32-9 in the second half to rally for a state tournament berth Tuesday night at Mountain View High School in Meridian.
Eight different players scored for Meridian (15-9), led by senior guard McKoy Thompson with a team-best 12 points, to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore guard Drake Hope scored 10 points off the bench, and seniors Tristan Fortin and Hunter White added seven points apiece.
Timberline (14-10) got 12 points from senior Jacob Heyne, including a 3-for-4 performance from 3-point range. The Wolves hosts No. 12 Ridgevue at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the district’s fifth-place game. The winner advances to the state play-in game.
BORAH 42, RIDGEVUE 40: Senior guard Ramos Tshishiku sank a putback with 1 second left to lift the 11th-seeded Lions to a victory over the Warhawks and an improbable state tournament spot.
Borah (11-13), which finished second-to-last in the conference during the regular season, upset No. 6 Eagle in a district play-in game, then upended No. 2 Capital in the quarterfinals before falling to Boise in the semifinals. The Lions then rallied for a win over Ridgevue to keep their postseason run going.
Senior guard Colton Dennis paced the Lions with 12 points, senior guard Yohanes Mina added eight points and seven boards, and sophomore Hendrix Castro and senior Cordell Sparks had six points each. Tshishiku’s basket was his only shot attempt of the game in a little more than 3 minutes of playing time.
Senior forward Tucker Tiddens led all scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds for Ridgevue (11-14).
3A WIC BOYS BASKETBALL DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
NEW PLYMOUTH 57, AMBROSE 49: The Pilgrims and Archers split their regular-season series, with each team winning on the road.
In neutral territory Tuesday at Caldwell High School, New Plymouth (17-7) won the rubber match, securing its first district championship since 2017. Both teams advance to next week’s state tournament.
Mark Yenor notched a double-double for Ambrose (15-8) with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Tristen Trevino totaled 15 points, five assists and three steals, and Lincoln Mathis added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Stats were not reported for New Plymouth.
TUESDAY’S GAME BALLS
Schools are encouraged to submit scores and stats nightly by emailing sports@idahostatesman.com.
BOYS BASKETBALL
McKoy Thompson, Meridian: Shot 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line to lead the Warriors’ come-from-behind 48-43 win over Timberline in the 6A District Three Tournament. Thompson totaled 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Colton Dennis, Borah: Playing all but 56 seconds of the Lions’ 42-40 win over Ridgevue in the 6A District Three Tournament, the senior guard was 5-for-9 from the floor for a team-best 12 points along with one rebound, one assist and one steal.
BOISE, IDAHO, HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SCORES
BOYS BASKETBALL
Borah 42, Ridgevue 40
Meridian 48, Timberline 43
Weiser 73, Homedale 50
Fruitland 69, Payette 40
Marsing 57, Nampa Christian 52
New Plymouth 57, Ambrose 49
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM.
