STATE 2A BOYS BASKETBALL: Turnovers plague St. Maries in rare first-round loss

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

BOISE — That’s the thing about streaks — they’ve got to end sometime.

And one of the more impressive ones in Idaho high school basketball came to an end Thursday afternoon, with eighth-seeded St. Maries’ 56-35 loss to top-seeded Cole Valley Christian in the first round of the state 2A tournament at Capital High.

It’s St. Maries’ 10th straight trip to state, all under 10th-year head coach Bryan Chase, and the first time the Lumberjacks have lost in the first round.

“I feel bad, because of our coach, every time he comes to state he wins his first game, so it’s kinda rough on us, but it’s hard being the 8 seed going against a 1,” St. Maries senior Wyatt Holmes said.

St. Maries (15-8) will play fourth seed North Fremont (17-5) today at 11 a.m. PST in a loser-out game. North Fremont lost to No. 5 West Side 59-48.

The bigger problem for St. Maries on Thursday was dealing with Cole Valley Christian’s (24-2) half-court pressure. The Chargers extended its zone defense nearly to midcourt, and with its quickness and length made it difficult for the Lumberjacks, particularly their smaller guards, to get into their offense. 

St. Maries finished with 23 turnovers.

“It’s kind of a matchup 2-3, looks like a 1-3-1 initially, then it turns into a 2-3,” Chase said. “We practiced for it for the last 10 days, and I thought we were prepared, but I don’t think we ndled their pressure well, obviously.”

“We had some older guys come in and play some defense (at practice),” said Holmes, who finished with four points and 11 rebounds. “Our goal was to get that ball middle to break it, and every time we went middle we got a bucket.”

Cole Valley Christian jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but St. Maries answered with the next seven points. The Chargers shot OK (40%) from the field, but the Lumberjacks shot just 31.8%, and could never make a run at the top seeded team.

“I felt like if we got some shots dropping and got some open looks, that we could make a run, and it just never seemed to happen,” Chase said. “We were just trading baskets, and we never seemed like we had enough traction to make a Lumberjack run like we’re used to.”

JJ Yearout, one of seven sophomores on a team with just two seniors, led St. Maries with 10 points.

Senior Eli Kingery scored nine of his 11 points in the first half for Cole Valley Christian.

St. Maries     7    8    8    122    —    35

Cole Valley    12    15    15    14    —    56

ST. MARIES — W. Holmes 4, Garcia 0, Sexton 3, J. Barta 0, Yearout 10, Gustaffe 5, B. Barta 2, L. Holmes 2, Riberich 0, Defoort 4, Ceja-Grimaldo 0, Sloper 3, Swallows 2, Smith 0. Totals 14-44 4-7 35.

COLE VALLEY CHRISTIAN — Russell 3, Ashmead 8, Holsinger 4, C. Graham 0, H. Graham 9, Krogh 5, Berlinger 6, Overton 6, Kingery 11, Long 1, Coleman 3, Sautebin 0. Totals 21-52 5-6 56.

    MARK NELKE/Press St. Maries sophomore Xavier Sloper shoots against Cole Valley Christian in the first round of the state 2A boys basketball tournament Thursday at Capital High in Boise.