STATE 5A GIRLS SEMIFINALS: Fight for the Title ... Lake City tops Rigby, faces Coeur d'Alene in title game tonight in Nampa

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer 

NAMPA — Lake City wouldn’t take a setback on Friday night.

Not trailing 53-49 with 4:14 remaining.

Not even with a 54-53 lead with 9.6 seconds left.

“One stop. One rebound.”

Won the game.

Senior Sophia Zufelt scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the second half for the second-seeded Timberwolves (25-2), who held off third-seeded Rigby 56-53 in a state 5A semifinal game on Friday, advancing to the championship game for the first time since winning their second state title in 2007.

Lake City will face defending champion Coeur d’Alene for the fourth time this season. The Timberwolves won the two games in the regular season (54-45 in Fight for the Fish spirit game on Jan. 12 and 59-47 on Jan. 22 at Coeur d’ Alene High), with the Vikings claiming the regional title on Feb. 6 with a 50-31 win at Lake City.

Rigby (23-3) faces Boise (23-2) in the third-place game today at Bishop Kelly High in Boise.

“We just said we refused to lose,” Zufelt said. “We were making it to the championship game no matter what.”

Senior KaLiah Frazey had 12 points and five rebounds for Lake City.

“It’s huge for me,” said Frazey, who did not play when Lake City qualified in 2021 after having to sit out after transferring from Post Falls. “Not getting my sophomore year, it’s huge to be back in the state tournament. It’s everything. To get to play in the chip, it’s amazing.”

Senior Kamryn Pickford scored 12 points for Lake City, hitting two 3-pointers.

“It’s wild,” Pickford said. “We’ve been working for this our entire high school career. It’s exciting to be in the championship game.”

“People are going to key on Avery and Soph, and we’ve had other people step up,” Lake City coach David Pratt said. “Sadie (Zimmerman) hit a big shot for us as well. We just had some shots that didn’t go in that typically do. At thls level, it just comes down to grinding out stuff and getting on runs.”

Pratt, who coached at Mt. Spokane the past eight seasons, took over this season for James Anderson, who took over the boys program at Lake City.

“This is what I came here for,” Pratt said. “This is what these girls expected. When we got together in the preseason, this was the No. 1 goal was getting to the title game and getting that trophy. I think they’re excited for it, and we’re excited for it. I’m just so proud of these kids.”

Lake City played its starters the entire second half. 

“I didn’t sub at all in the second half, so those kids all played 16 minutes,” Pratt said. “And we needed that to keep up with their height. The resilience, they just kept coming back. We just kept coming back and battling.”

“We knew our game plan and had to come out and stay aggressive,” said Frazey, who has committed to NAIA Langston University in Oklahoma. “And that’s what we had to do.”

Kambree Barber, a BYU signee, had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Rigby.

“It was a great game,” third-year Rigby coach Todd Barber said. “That’s why there were a lot of people here tonight. Two great teams going at it. It was a fun game to watch. Unfortunately, we just came up one point short.”

In a game with nine lead changes, Lake City took the lead for good on a steal and layup by Avery Waddington 1:51 remaining.

“That was just some good defense there,” PIckford said of Waddington’s steal. “She just does a great job of reading the defense and really helped our team a lot.”

Prior to that, Zufelt hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 53-52 at the 2:14 mark of the fourth.

Zufelt hit two free throws to make it a three-point game with 1.9 remaining. Rigby was unable to get up a final shot.

“She was what we expected,” Barber said of Zufelt. “Unfortunately, we let her have too many good looks. We knew who she was, and we let her do what she did tonight. She’s a great player, and same with Waddington. Lake City came out and played the way we knew they would. They just happened to get one more point than us.”

Rigby    16    14    11    12    —    53

Lake City    15    15    15    11    —    56

RIGBY — Larsen 7, Scott 5, Dansie 3, Graham 13, K. Barber 16, B. Barber 0, Berrett 0, Togiai 10. Totals 19-44 10-13 53.

LAKE CITY — Murphey 0, Frazey 12, Pickford 10, Kolden 0, Zufelt 22, Waddington 6, Zimmerman 6. Totals 20-47 8-14 56.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lake City junior Sadie Zimmerman, left, passes the ball against Rigby in a state 5A semifinal Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lake City players celebrate after beating Rigby in a state 5A semifinal Friday night at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Lake City plays Coeur d'Alene in the championship game tonight at 7 PST.