STATE BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: St. Maries bounces back for third in 2A tourney
2A
BOISE — The gameplan was simple for St. Maries on Saturday.
Get the posts involved, make the extra pass and contest shots.
Three checks.
Sophomore post Tristan Gentry had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Lumberjacks in a 47-29 win over the Cole Valley Christian Chargers in the state 2A third-place game on Saturday at Capital High.
“I was kind of frustrated with how we played on Friday,” said St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, in his sixth season as boys coach. “We didn’t shoot the ball well (against West Side Friday), so we really stressed making some extra passes and did a better job of getting the posts involved. We got some good early looks, and focused on contesting shots and outrebounding them.”
St. Maries limited Cole Valley Christian to 11 of 60 shooting and outrebounded the Chargers 44-34.
“It’s defintely something to build on,” said Chase, who led the Lumberjacks to a runner-up finish in 2019. “We could have done better in the second game, but we talked about coming back determined next year after getting some games under our belt.”
Randie Becktel scored 11 points for St. Maries, which finishes 19-6 with its fourth trophy in six years at state.
Garrett Smith scored eight points for Cole Valley Christian.
C.V. Christian 8 6 5 10 — 29
St. Maries 16 13 8 10 — 47
COLE VALLEY CHRISTIAN — Wiedmeier 4, Gill 4, Howard 0, Cucchiari 4, Steele 2, Harmon 2, Dwonch 2, Fortin 0, Boyle 1, Baker 0, Smith 8, Krause 0, Fitzgerald 0, Kingery 0, Denmain 2. Totals 11-60 6-16 29.
ST. MARIES — Sands 0, Wicks 0, Ross 3, Becktel 11, Badgett 0, Gentry 13, Stancil 9, Peet 0, Elliott 4, Wolfe 0, Gibson 4, Renner 3, Ledbetter 0, Hill 0, McMaster 0. Totals 16-36 12-23 47.
3A
Snake River 47
Kellogg 42
MERIDIAN — Graden Nearing had 17 points and five rebounds for the Wildcats in a loss to the Panthers in the state 3A consolation championship game.
Kellogg, at state for the eighth time in nine seasons, finishes 17-8.
Michael Ibarra scored 14 points for Snake River (15-10).
Kellogg 11 3 20 8 — 42
Snake River 6 11 19 11 — 47
KELLOGG — Bush 5, R. Luna 2, K. Luna 0, Oertli 5, Groves 0, Nearing 17, Miller 5, Walker 0, Jerome 3, G. Luna 5. Totals 15-43 8-11 42.
SNAKE RIVER — Young 7, Ibarra 13, Watt 7, C. Anderson 3, Coombs 0, Poulter 4, Wray 12. Totals 14-39 15-21 47.
4A
Preston 59
Moscow 43
NAMPA — The Bears, who survived a three-game battle with Lakeland for the Region 1 title just to get to state, finished second in 4A to the Indians, who won their fourth state title in five seasons.
Junior Benny Kitchel scored 12 points to lead Moscow (17-10), which started two seniors, a junior, sophomore and freshman. The Bears, in their first state title game since 2013, were seeking their first state title since 1997.
Cooper Hobson scored a game-high 17 points for Preston (27-1).