St. Maries gets angry, blows past Melba
2A
BOISE — St. Maries traveled south a little angry.
And it showed in its state 2A basketball tournament opener on Thursday at Meridian High.
Jake Sieler had 20 points and Brady Martin added 16, leading the Lumberjacks to a 72-43 win over the Melba Mustangs.
“The kids have been great and really excited to get on the floor,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “We’ve really been focused on Ririe, Bear Lake and Firth, and haven’t been getting a lot of respect, and that just made them a little bit mad. I think they had a point to prove, and they did it.”
St. Maries blew the game open with a 29-0 run in the first half to a take a 37-11 halftime lead. Both Sieler and Martin finished 8 for 9 from the field.
“They literally shot the lights out,” said Chase, whose team finished 30 of 45 from the field. “The boys just put the foot on the gas and didn’t let up. Inside and outside, it was really going well for us tonight.”
St. Maries (13-4) will face Ririe (21-2) in the semifinals tonight at 5:15 p.m. PST. Ririe rolled past Nampa Christian 70-35 in the opening round.
Justin Trappet scored 11 points for Melba (9-15).
Melba 3 8 13 19 — 43
St. Maries 20 17 18 17 — 72
MELBA — Bromgard 6, Trappet 11, Bodily 1, Orr 3, Bangerter 9, Goetz 2, Hansen 8, Phillips 3. Totals 14-52 9-18 43.
ST. MARIES — Sampson 8, Lohman 2, Gibson 4, Pritchard 2, Martin 16, Green 0, Sands 0, Howard 5, Buell 0, McGregor 0, Flach 0, Wilson 4, Hammond 6, Sieler 20, Asbury 5. Totals 30-44 7-15 72.
1A Division II
Genesis Prep 81
Butte County 55
CALDWELL — Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert didn’t think his team did a good job of taking care of the basketball in the Jaguars opening round game against Butte County at Caldwell High.
But when they had it, they made the most of it, finishing the game 33 of 62 from the field, and the Jaguars beat the Pirates.
“We played well,” Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert said. “But I thought we didn’t take care of the ball tonight. But that’s something we can clean up. Basketball isn’t a perfect game, and you have nights when you take care of the ball, but give up too many offensive rebounds. Overall, we played really well.”
Junior Willias had 19 points, Stephane Manzi 16 points and nine rebounds and Jonny Hillman 17 points, six rebounds and five assists for Genesis Prep (19-4), which faces Carey (16-9) in the semifinals today at 2 p.m. PST.
“Junior and Stephane are both really good basketball players,” Colbert said. “I don’t think they get the credit they deserve. Junior can score, but he’s our point guard and gets everyone else involved. He picks his spots, but when he does, he’s effective. Stephane, it just comes down to having one basketball and getting everyone involved.”
Landon Garnett scored 13 points for Butte County (18-8).
Butte County 12 8 20 15 — 55
Genesis Prep 17 20 24 20 — 81
BUTTE COUNTY — Garnett 13, Waymire 8, Waddoups-Hamm 3, Twitchell 0, Isham 0, S. Hansen 0, Hawley 2, Beard 11, McAffee 4, McAlvey 4, Berrett 5, B. Hansen 1, Cummins 4. Totals 18-54 10-15 55.
GENESIS PREP — Shelton 3, Birch 0, Reidt 7, Mwinuka 1, Williams 19, Schroeder 9, Hillman 17, Schultz 6, Manzi 16, Gonzales 3. Totals 33-62 5-8 81.
3A
Kellogg 54
Shelley 53
MERIDIAN — Tyler Gibbons made a pair of free throws with 27 seconds remaining, sending the Wildcats past the Russets in an opening round game at Meridian High.
Chase Jerome scored 23 points for Kellogg (19-2), which faces Snake River (20-3) in a semifinal game tonight at 7.