STATE BOYS BASKETBALL: Lumberjacks solve Melba, set to face North Fremont in 2A semis

• 2A

EAGLE — Once the nerves settled, St. Maries turned to its posts to stabilize things going forward.

Forwards Tristan Gentry and Randie Becktel combined for 31 points for the Lumberjacks, who shot 25 of 57 to move past the Melba Mustangs 63-52 in the opening round of the state 2A basketball tournament at Eagle High on Thursday.

St. Maries (21-1) will face North Fremont (21-0) in the first semifinal today at 4 p.m. PST at Eagle High. North Fremont defeated St. Maries in the 2019 2A championship game 45-37 in overtime.

"It's going to be one of our toughest tests in program history," said St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, who has led the Lumberjacks to district titles and semifinal games in each of his seven seasons. "If we can find ways to get the ball inside, that could be the key. North Fremont is well-coached and disciplined on both sides of the court. It's going to be a good game."

Gentry scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half for St. Maries.

"That was the biggest thing for us tonight was getting the ball inside," Chase said. "Tristan was 9 of 19, and Randie was 5 of 9, so our posts played really well."

St. Maries outrebounded Melba 42-28 and forced 12 Mustang turnovers.

Melba led 11-6 early, but St. Maries closed the first quarter on an 8-3 run. With the game tied at 20 in the second quarter, the Lumberjacks used an 18-4 run with the game to pull away.

"That first quarter, I think we had some nerves and missed some bunnies and 3's and just got out to a slow start," Chase said. "It was good to have that run and we got 34 (Henry Clark) and 35 (Joe Reiber) into foul trouble."

Reiber, who averages 17 points per game, was held to six points for Melba, which has not advanced to the semifinals since 2011. Josh Leavitt led the Mustangs with 16 points.

"They made a bit of a run late, but our kids still did a good job of attacking the basket," Chase said.

St. Maries 14 20 10 19 — 63

Melba 13 9 10 20 — 52

ST. MARIES — Ross 7, Becktel 11, Gentry 20, Stancil 2, Gibson 7, Sands 6, Elliott 0, T. Wicks 0, C. Wicks 0, T. Renner 0, Ledbetter 2, C. Renner 6. Totals 25-57 9-16 61.

MELBA — Beus 0, Leavitt 16, Volkers 13, Clark 5, Reiber 6, Stosich 4, Lowber 5. Totals 17-53 7-10 52.

• 3A

McCall-Donnelly 59

Priest River 42

NAMPA — Trentyn Kreager had 14 points and six rebounds for the Spartans (14-9), who fell to the Vandals (10-2) in the opening round of the state 3A tournament at Columbia High.

Priest River will face Fruitland (16-7), which lost to Snake River 86-76 in overtime, today in a loser-out game at 1 p.m. PST.

DJ Green had 20 points for McCall-Donnelly.

McCall-Donnelly 12 17 15 15 — 59

Priest River 7 9 11 15 — 42

MCCALL-DONNELLY — A. Johnson 15, C. Johnson 6, Speirs 4, Wallace 0, Ova 2, Green 20, Tinney 12, Wyman 0, Stokes 0. Totals 24-57 4-10 59.

PRIEST RIVER — Mathews 4, Butler 2, J. Nortz 8, Kreager 14, Marinello 5, Barrett 6, D. Nortz 0, Thompson 0, Yount 3. Totals 15-45 9-14 42.

Teton 84

Bonners Ferry 73

NAMPA — Ridge Williams had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Badgers, who fell short to the Timberwolves in the opening round of the state 3A tournament at Columbia High.

Bonners Ferry (11-9) plays Kimberly (12-11) in a loser-out game today at 11 a.m. PST.

Teton (19-4) advances to the semifinals to face Marsh Valley (20-5), which beat Kimberly 38-35 in the opening round.

Bonners Ferry 16 17 14 26 — 73

Teton 22 16 22 24 — 84

BONNERS FERRY — Williams 21, Petersen 6, Rice 13, Henslee 13, Stockton 6, Hubbard 5, Mai 2, Beazer 3, B. Bateman 0, Blackmore 8. Totals 26-60 11-19 73.

TETON — Wartig 0, H. Heuseveldt 6, J. Heuseveldt 23, Nelson 2, Vontz 8, Hess 2, Kunz 7, Thompson 24, Johnson 0, Nelson 9, Al. Castro 3, Kinzie 0. Totals 32-66 14-21 84.

• 1A Division II

Carey 68

Clark Fork 31

CALDWELL — The Wampus Cats went 0-2 at state in their first appearance since 2008, falling to the Panthers in a loser-out game at Caldwell High.

Carter SanRoman and Cole Reuter scored nine points each for Clark Fork (4-14).

Hunter Smith scored 31 points for Carey (13-6), which faces North Gem (22-3) in the consolation championship game today.

Clark Fork 4 3 13 11 — 31

Carey 17 15 22 14 — 68

CLARK FORK — Garcia 8, Car. SanRoman 9, Reuter 9, Barnett 4, Howard 0, Mayorga 0, Shelton 1, Wade 0. Totals 11-37 4-8 31.

CAREY — Parke 8, Simpson 11, Drage 2, Smith 31, Mecham 5, Villanueva 1, Sparrow 3, Carrillo 0, Bennion 1, W. Mecham 4. Totals 25-60 7-13 68.