STATE 2A BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Rugged revenge

BOISE — After a loss to Soda Springs in the state semifinals last year, the St. Maries Lumberjacks were plenty motivated for the rematch Thursday afternoon.

But perhaps no one was more motivated than junior guard Jake Sieler.

Last year, he said, he made some mistakes — which earned him a benching from his coach, Bryan Chase.

This year? Despite feeling a little under the weather — though he said it didn’t affect him during the game — Sieler hit two big 3-pointers late in the third quarter, the second one putting St. Maries ahead to stay, and the Lumberjacks went on to knock off the Cardinals 45-42 in the first round of the state 2A boys basketball tournament at Capital High.

“I was looking to get some revenge on this team,” said Sieler, who finished with 14 points, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range.

St. Maries (21-3) will play Firth (22-2) in the semifinals tonight at 5:15 PST at Capital. Firth defeated Nampa Christian 47-33. Soda Springs (18-9) plays Nampa Christian (15-9) in the consolation bracket.

Sieler finished 5 for 12 from the floor, and that was one of the better shooting percentages in a game known more for bodies crashing to the floor, a few elbows flying and at least one glare, and a total of 43 fouls called.

St. Maries shot 26.8 percent (11 of 41) from the field, and that was actually the better shooting night of the two teams. Soda Springs started the game 1 for 16 in the first quarter, and finished 13 for 54 (24.1 percent).

The Lumberjacks — perhaps taking advantage of one Soda Springs post out with an injury — and another slowed following an appendectomy, owned a 50-35 edge on the boards, led by junior post Kiefer Gibson’s 11 rebounds.

“Kinda like Jimmy V said, survive and advance,” Chase said. “It wasn’t great basketball, but we gutted one out, and that’s what this team’s about — playing hard and never giving up.”

“These games down here are always fun to play in,” added Gibson, who also scored seven points and had three assists. “It was definitely a good, physical game.”

St. Maries scored the game’s first seven points and led throughout the first half, though Soda trimmed the lead to 22-20 at halftime. Soda took a 32-28 lead midway through the third quarter before Sieler went to work from behind the arc with two 3s, the second sending the Lumberjacks into the fourth quarter with a 36-33 lead.

Soda pulled within 44-42 on a putback by sophomore Henry Workman. Soda got the ball back after a turnover, but missed a 3-pointer and had to foul. Sieler hit the second of two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, Soda fumbled the ball away trying to advance it up court, and Lumberjacks point guard Dakota Wilson grabbed the ball as time ran out.

“Our press slowed ‘em down a little bit early, but then in the second quarter it seemed like we let some 3-point shooters get loose, and then we decided in the second half to buckle down with our man defense, and not give them so many open looks,” Chase said. “Drake Lounsbury took three charges. Those were at times when they had chances to get back into the game. I thought Kiefer Gibson came in and got some loose balls, and Nate Masterson had to play a lot of minutes tonight, with Brady (Martin) getting in foul trouble.”

Senior guard Josh Balls scored 13 points for Soda Springs, 11 of those coming in the second quarter.

“I know we shot the ball horrible and I’m not sure they shot a ton better,” Soda Springs coach Greg Bergholm said. “I thought both teams played hard, played really good defense. They made a few more plays than we did, and I thought the last minute, we didn’t execute well at all.”

Soda Springs 3 17 13 9 — 42

St. Maries 9 13 14 9 — 45

SODA SPRINGS — Meyers 9, Balls 13, Kress 0, Brown 1, Thompson 4, Olson 0, Workman 2, Harris 5, Downs 4. Totals 13-54 12-20 42.

ST. MARIES — Lounsbury 1, Sieler 14, Gibson 7, Wilson 7, Asbury 3, Truscott 2, Masterson 4, Martin 7. Totals 11-41 20-37 45.