STATE BOYS BASKETBALL: St. Maries goes out in two in 2A; Bonners Ferry back in 3A title game

BOISE — Sometimes, the step forward requires a step back.

Eighth-seeded St. Maries, with two seniors — Wyatt Holmes and Seth Swallows — bowed out in two games at state, falling 52-31 to the fourth-seeded North Fremont Huskies in a state 2A boys basketball loser-out game at Capital High on Friday.

“Our seniors led us from beginning to end,” said St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, who’d led the Lumberjacks to the semifinals in each of his seasons before Thursday’s loss to Cole Valley Christian. “For them to get us here, I’m super proud of them.”

St. Maries led 5-4 after the first quarter, but was 10 of 44 for the game.

“I knew they played good defense, and so do we,” Chase said. “It was a pretty physical game and the refs down here are great at letting the kids decide the game. Sometimes, those bumps, they let you play and we’re kind of used to that. But it’s young kids learning to play with contact, we’re still getting used to it.”

Swallows scored 11 points and Holmes had seven points and seven rebounds for St. Maries, which finished 15-9.

North Fremont (18-5) will face Firth (15-12) in the consolation championship game today.

St. Maries    5    5    11    10    —    31

North Fremont    4    13    15    20    —    52

ST. MARIES — W. Holmes 7, Garcia 1, Sexton 0, J. Barta 5, Yearout 4, Gustaffe 0, B. Barta 0, L. Holmes 3, Riberich 0, Defoort 0, Ceja-Grimaldo 0, Sloper 0, Swallows 11, Smith 0. Totals 10-44 7-10 31.

NORTH FREMONT — Allen 0, Wynn 5, Je. Hill 9, Bohn 11, Ja. Hill 13, Anderson 0, Schuldberg 1, Nedrow 0, Grant 4, Jorgensen 0, Salinas 9. Totals 23-46 5-14 52.

Bonners Ferry 64

Marsh Valley 57

MERIDIAN — Junior Asher Williams, the reigning state 3A Player of the Year, notched his second straight 30-point night, leading the second-seeded Badgers past the sixth-seeded Eagles in a semifinal game, advancing to the title game for the second straight year.

Bonners Ferry (21-3) will face fifth-seeded Teton in the championship game today at 2:50 p.m. at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Teton upset top-seeded and defending champion Snake River 66-59 in the other semifinal.

Thomas Bateman had 15 points and six rebounds for Bonners Ferry.

Marsh Valley    9    16    16    16    —    57

Bonners Ferry    14    21    14    15    —    64

MARSH VALLEY — Hansen 6, Dunn 7, Hadley 2, T. Whitworth 6, P. Belnap 15, K. Belnap 0, J. Whitworth 7, Bullock 14. Totals 19-44 11-14 57.

BONNERS FERRY — Blackmore 6, Rice 1, Smith 0, Hinthorn 2, Williams 31, Th. Bateman 15, Tr. Bateman 9, Abubakari 0. Totals 24-48 12-17 64.

Twin Falls 75

Sandpoint 56

MERIDIAN — The eighth-seeded Bulldogs (12-14) bowed out in two games, falling to the fifth-seeded Bruins in a loser-out game at Rocky Mountain High.

Senior Parker Childs and junior Emerik Jones scored 18 points each for Sandpoint, which swept Moscow in the best-of-3 game 4A Region 1 championship series to advance.

Sandpoint    19    11    17    9    —    56

Twin Falls    12    29    16    18    —    75

SANDPOINT — Leavitt 0, Williams 0, Chamberlain 9, Leisy 6, Roos 3, Gion 2, Childs 18, Jones 18. Totals 20-45 8-13 56.

TWIN FALLS — Mix 22, Parker 2, Plew 0, Swensen 0, Rex 0, Hess 25, Quigley 2, Jones 0, Stokes 0, Thompson 2, Pittard 22. Totals 25-54 15-20 75.

Rockland 63

Clark Fork 46

CALDWELL — The eighth-seeded Wampus Cats, at state for the second straight year, bowed out in two games, falling to the fourth-seeded Bulldogs at Caldwell High.

Seth Caven scored 13 points for Clark Fork, which finished 13-8.

Clark Fork    15    15    8    8    —    46

Rockland    13    21    12    17    —    63

CLARK FORK — Yanik 0, W. Caven 1, Montgomery 6, Ch. Sanroman 0, Co. Sanroman 8, Stevens 0, E. Howard 8, Holderman 0, Cruz 0, O. Howard 8, S. Caven 13, Christofferson 2. Totals 17-55 11-18 46.

ROCKLAND — A. Held 11, I. Held 0, Radford 8, Libberton 0, Garner 0, Matthews 15, E. Permann 0, Z. Permann 0, Parish 0, Lowder 18, E. Hendrickson 5, Smith 0, I. Hendrickson 0. Totals 25-62 6-12 63.