Spartans feast on Salmon, take home 3A championship

NAMPA - When the clock ticked down its final seconds, Priest River junior guard Eric Holbrook tossed the ball high in the air, hugged a teammate - then ran over and gave Ryan Bodecker a big bear hug, and lifted his coach off the floor.

For the first time in school history, the Priest River boys basketball team was state champs.

"It feels awesome; we finally got it," senior forward Jake Weimer said after the top-ranked Spartans defeated Salmon 79-65 in the championship game of the state 3A boys basketball tournament Saturday afternoon at the Idaho Center.

"It feels great; it's awesome," Holbrook said. "The juniors have been together since fifth grade, and when we got the seniors (in ninth grade), then we got the big guys."

For the second time in three weekends, Priest River has a state title. Two weeks ago on the same floor, the Spartan girls basketball team celebrated its first state title with a victory over Kellogg.

"It still really hasn't set in; it's kind of a surreal feeling right now," said Bodecker, a 2000 Priest River grad and in his third season as Spartan coach. "I'm just so proud of the kids, how they came to compete. They definitely worked hard. They're definitely a team; it's not a bunch of individuals."

The 6-foot-4 Weimer carried the state title banner off the court and into the locker room for Priest River (22-3), which was fitting. The smooth, efficient Weimer poured in 28 points, doing much of his damage just inside the foul line, in the middle of Salmon's zone defense.

He scored 18 points in the second half. In the first half, Holbrook hit 3 of 5 3-pointers and had 13 points at the break.

"Early in the year we had troubles against the zone, so people would go zone a lot on us," Holbrook said. "We just worked on getting it inside, and by the end of the year we were getting it inside to our big guys."

And in the second half on Saturday, the Spartans found Weimer often. He made all six of his field goal attempts after intermission, and finished 8 of 11 from the floor, 12 of 13 from the line.

Weimer, who had drawn interest from Walla Walla Community College but hopes to walk on at Montana State, averaged 24.0 points in the Spartans' three state tournament games.

Holbrook finished with 23 points, hitting 9 of 14 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. This despite having to guard the top player for Salmon (20-6), senior guard Trey Infanger. Infanger, a 21.1 point-per-game scorer coming into the state tournament, scored 17 and 18 in the Savages' first two games at state. He had just eight points in the first half Saturday and finished with 23, shooting 8 for 23 from the field, including 3 for 11 from 3-point range.

Junior guard Max Salesky added 15 points for Priest River, which shot 49.1 percent (26 of 53) from the field. The Spartans also hit 21 of 25 from the line. Also, after getting outrebounded 22-9 by Salmon in the first half, Priest River outrebounded the Savages 22-18 after intermission.

Holbrook sank three of his 3s in the first quarter, and Priest River held a slim lead for much of the half. Salmon took a brief lead late in the half, but Weimer scored on a jumper in the lane for a 33-32 halftime lead.

Priest River started to pull away late in the third quarter, and Holbrook's 3 made it 54-42 with a minute left in the quarter. Salmon pulled within six points in the fourth quarter, but Weimer hit back-to-back jumpers in the lane and the Spartans were back in control.

Senior forward Chad Yount added six points, 10 rebounds and three assists for Priest River.

Riley Sessions had 16 points and nine rebounds for Salmon, in its first trip to state since 2001.

Last year, with much the same cast, Priest River lost to Shelley in the semifinals, then lost to Sugar-Salem in the third-place game and finished fifth. This year, the Spartans exacted some revenge by beating Shelley 56-49 in the semis.

"Last year Shelley kinda beat us on the boards, and I think we looked around and thought, we've got to get bigger," Weimer said. "We spent a lot of time in the weight room this offseason."

"It motivated our kids to work hard in the offseason," Bodecker said of last season. "You could see the work they put in. They lifted, they ran, they did all the things they needed to do."

And besides, they couldn't afford to go back to Priest River without a state title - and have to hear about it from the Spartan girls basketball team.

"There was a lot of pressure," Holbrook said with a laugh.

Priest River 17 16 21 25 - 79

Salmon 14 18 13 20 - 65

PRIEST RIVER - Barrett 0, Simpkins 0, Douglas 5, Salesky 15, Collins 0, Holbrook 23, Weimer 28, Willig 0, Yount 6, Payment 2. Totals 26-53 21-25 79.

SALMON - Smith 0, Olson 4, Bills 6, Conrad 6, Holmes 0, Infanger 23, Sessions 16, Wimbish 0, Nooner 10. Totals 21-59 17-24 65.