STATE 6A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Colvin a cut above ... Coeur d'Alene sophomore scores go-ahead basket with 41 seconds remaining as two-time defending champion Vikings stop Borah in opener

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

NAMPA — Brookeslee Colvin got the message. 

Earlier on Thursday, then again in the locker room as the Vikings trailed 22-18 at halftime to the fourth-seeded Borah Lions of Boise in the first round of the state 6A girls basketball tournament.

Someone’s going to make a play to affect the game. 

On this night, it was Colvin’s turn. 

Colvin, a sophomore, scored 17 of her game-high 28 points in the second half, and gave the fifth-seeded Vikings the lead for good with 41 seconds remaining on a layup in a 53-47 win over the Lions at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. 

After a timeout, Borah attempted to roll the ball in bounds, but Colvin dove on the ball, forcing a jump ball and giving the Vikings the ball back with 36 seconds remaining. 

“I was just staying back hoping that they’d roll it out there,” Colvin said. “They weren’t paying attention, and I knew we needed a big stop there. It definitely got us going.” 

Coeur d’Alene (17-7), winners of the last two state championships, faces top-seeded Owyhee (23-2) of Meridian today at 1 p.m. PST in the semifinals.

Coeur d’Alene fell to Owyhee in its second game of the season, 50-41 at Viking Court in November. 

“We’ve got to keep stacking games,” first-year Coeur d'Alene coach Stacy Boyd said. “We’re one game at a time. One thing that puzzled us a little bit was being on a 10-game winning streak, so they’re not used to being behind, so we started panicking and they sped us up.” 

Borah led 27-20 midway through the third quarter before Coeur d’Alene went on a 12-2 run to take a 36-33 lead after the third quarter. 

“I just told them to relax, ‘we’re OK,’” Boyd said. “They punched, and we punched back. We locked in toward the end and started trusting each other down the stretch and it paid off.” 

Freshman Lexie Wheeler hit a 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining to increase the Vikings' lead to 45-37, before Borah rallied to tie the game at 47-47 with 51 seconds remaining. 

“It was really a confidence boost,” Wheeler said of her 3. “It gave me more confidence handling the ball and helping my teams out. We worked super hard and played together. It was a good game to get the jitters out going into the game with Owyhee tomorrow. It was a good game to start.” 

“In that first half, we’re a new team with a lot of new faces, so we had to get those jitters out,” Colvin said. “We really knew we had to come out strong in the second half to get it done. Seeing Lexie have that go through, it gave us a lot of energy and we fed through that. It was a really big play for us.” 

Colvin and senior Kelsey Carroll, who had eight points and seven rebounds, are the only two players with significant state tournament experience on the Viking roster. 

“We’re happy,” Boyd said. “This is a young team and they’re excited about this experience. Now, we’re in the Final Four, and a lot of people didn’t think we’d be here. And we’re here.” 

Nakiya Percell had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Borah (19-6), which faces Capital (13-14) of Boise in a loser-out game tonight at Mountain View High in Meridian. 

“Throughout the game, there were small mistakes that we made,” said Borah coach Ebony Norman, who played at North Idaho College. “They’ve never seen a fight like that, so I can’t be disappointed in my team whatsoever. There were small plays here and there, and you can blame reffing all day, or whatever. But we needed to execute on the small plays. We were up by seven (27-20) at one point, and needed to keep our foot on their throat, and we didn’t.” 

Coeur d’Alene    11    7    18    17    —    53 

Borah        9    13    11    14    —    47 

COEUR d’ALENE — Bridge 0, Wheeler 8, Semprimoznik 7, Wallis 0, Colvin 28, Shafer 2, Carroll 8. Totals 14-48 21-33 53. 

BORAH — Hall 7, Hale 0, Defares 2, Gardiner 0, Howington 8, Percell 18, Krasselt 0, Davis 9, Romberg 3. Totals 17-61 9-11 47. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene senior forward Kelsey Carroll drives past Borah's Abi Howington during the fourth quarter of Thursday's state 6A girls basketball tournament game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene junior guard Natalie Semprimoznik and Borah's Abi Howington tie up for the ball during the fourth quarter of Thursday's state 6A girls basketball game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.