STATE 1A BOYS BASKETBALL: Coeur du Christ bows out in two in debut
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Coeur du Christ freshman guard Grant Clemens drives to the basket during the first half of Friday's state 1A boys basketball loser-out game at Caldwell High. Coeur du Christ lost 64-57 in double overtime to finish the season 14-10.
CALDWELL – It will go down as a learning trip for the Coeur du Christ boys basketball program.
For both the coaches and players alike.
Despite 22 points each from senior Ben Connelly and freshman Grant Clemens, the eighth-seeded Saints bowed out after a 64-57 double-overtime loss to the fourth-seeded Cascade Ramblers in a state 1A loser-out game at Caldwell High on Friday night.
“I just told the guys, they won this game,” first-year Coeur du Christ coach Chris Kiefer said. “The coaching lost us this game. That’s what you get with a first-year coach. We had some critical, lack-of-awareness errors — not knowing how many team fouls they had at the end of the game. And we didn’t check to see who had four fouls. Ben (Connelly) had four, and we thought he had three, so simple things like that. Those are unfortunate, but the team played super hard.”
Coeur du Christ, which finished 14-10 in his first season as a full member of the Idaho High School Activities Association, led 36-33 after three quarters.
“They had multiple opportunities,” Kiefer said. “They were just some situational calls that I wasn’t thinking of in advance.”
Connelly had 22 points in Thursday’s 69-56 loss to top-seeded Dietrich.
“They’ve worked super hard,” Kiefer said. “It’s been an honor to coach Ben. He’s just a fighter and been the leading scorer on the team. Both him and Grant have been the cornerstones of the team. It’s a bummer that we feel like we won the game, outside of a few shots at the end. We missed some free throws that hurt, but it was a hard-fought game.”
Cole Olson scored 22 points for Cascade (18-7), which faces Watersprings (21-4) in the consolation championship game today at Caldwell High.
“You never want to end the season on a loss,” Kiefer said. “But I’d take the one we just had.”
Coeur du Christ 10 12 14 13 3 5 – 57
Cascade 10 13 10 16 3 12 – 64
COEUR du CHRIST – Clemens 22, Connelly 22, Clute 0, Hayes 3, Je. Cools 8, O’Neil 0, Denke 2. 20-61 10-17 57.
CASCADE – Taylor 6, Olson 27, L. Huckaby 2, Barker 0, Wilkins 11, Hull 10, W. Huckaby 8. Totals 24-61 9-14 64.