Wildcats, Badgers Bow Early

A-2

A pair of upsets, pure and simple.

The Intermountain League boys basketball co-champions, Kellogg and Bonners Ferry, came to the State A-2 Tournament touted as possibly the two best teams in the state field.

But their first-round opponents Thursday obviously didn’t believe what they heard or read.

No. 1-ranked Kellogg fell first, losing 74-67 to two-time defending champion Sugar-Salem, before Bonners Ferry blew a 12-point halftime lead as the Badgers bowed to Weiser 76-67 in the nightcap at Idaho State University’s Reed Gymnasium.

In other openers, Marsh Valley had an easy time with Payette 76-67, while Bear Lake handled Jerome 57-42.

In the semifinals tonight, Weiser (19-5) will meet Bear Lake (16-8), while Sugar-Salem (16-9) takes on Marsh Valley (17-6).

In loser-out games, Kellogg (19-4) meets Payette (18-6) at 1 PST, followed by Bonners Ferry (18-6) taking on Jerome (6-18), the worst team in the tourney, at 2:30.

Sugar-Salem 74, Kellogg 67

The Diggers’ win was nothing short of a shocker.

Emotionally charged, Sugar-Salem pushed the intensity from the opening tip. Much shorter than Kellogg, the Diggers forced their offense in the key.

Then after softening up the foul -plagued Wildcats inside, Sugar-Salem dined from the perimeter during the critical moments of the fourth quarter.

“Defensively we played a fairly poor game,” Kellogg coach David Roberts said. “They got anything they wanted. “Defense and rebounding is a matter of intensity and desire. We apparently weren’t able to get our intensity level up where it needed to be.”

It was a tight game throughout. The Diggers took a 32-31 lead at halftime. The game remained tight until the final 3 minutes of the third quarter.

A 3-pointer and two free throws by Clarke Miyasaki, coupled with a basket in the key by Brian Robert, gave Sugar Salem a 53-46 advantage going into the final quarter.

But Kellogg got hot to open the fourth, hitting three straight baskets highlighted by a 3-pointer by Travis Fulton that tied the score at 53 at the 6:30 mark.

A driving bucket by Cody Jensen put the Diggers ahead 66-61. Then Kellogg was forced to foul.

Miyasaki proceeded to make 10 of 10 free throws in one-and-one situations in the final 1:28 to put the Wildcats in the losers’ bracket.

“They’re the two-time state champion, they’re still hungry and they had a tough season,” Roberts said.

Roberts was alluding to Diggers leading scorer, senior Shawn Dexter, who died in a car accident in early January.

“They played loose and they went out and played hard,” Roberts said of the Diggers.

“It’s a rewarding tournament victory, one of the most rewarding in a lot of ways,” Diggers coach Glenn Romney said. “It means a lot to us. We’re playing for a little more than ourselves.”

Romney said school was in session back in Sugar City on Friday, but “I don’t think anybody was there,” he said smiling.

Derek Jennings had a hot first half for Kellogg, scoring 13 of his team-high 19 points.

Fulton added 17, but he made just 4 of 18 shots from the field. Casey Fisher added 12.

Miyasaki led Sugar with 24 points. Teammate Robbie Harris picked a fine time to break out of a shooting slump as he made 6 of 14 3’s for 20 points.

KELLOGG (67)

Fulton 19, Behm 7, Jennings 19, Fisher 10, Nielsen 8, Bircher 4.

SUGAR-SALEM (74)

C. Miyasaki 24, Harris 20, Meyers 9, Edwards 9, Lusk 2, Robert 6, Jensen 4.

Halftime-Sugar-Salem 32, Kellogg 31.

Weiser 76, Bonners Ferry 67 Badgers coach Dick Hollenbeck didn’t mince words with his team afterward.

“Raise your hands right now if you want to go home with your parents and not play tomorrow,” Hollenbeck could be heard screaming up to 75 feet from the locker room.

None of the Badgers emerged before their coach. Which was a good sign.

But they disappeared in the second half, especially on the boards - where Weiser continually got second and third opportunities for baskets.

Bonners Ferry started tentatively, but the Badgers picked up the intensity late in the first quarter, rallying from a 14-8 deficit to take an 18-17 lead after 8 minutes.

The Badgers appeared on the brink of collapse in the first quarter, but they rode their new-found energy to a 38-26 lead by intermission.

Bonners Ferry was clearly the better team, but it didn’t hold in the second half.

Fouls began to plague the Badgers, and they were forced to play tentative and soft.

The Wolverines sensed it and gradually clawed back. Still, the Badgers clung to a 54-47 lead going into the final period. A free throw by Kris Gravelle put the Badgers ahead by 11 points at 54-43 with :41 left in the quarter before Weiser tightened the margin.

Weiser finally pulled even at 62 when Danny Walker made two free throws at the 2:45 mark.

A basket by Jeff High and two free throws by Jesse Holeski pushed the Badgers up by four at 66-62.

But a three-point play by Walker with 1:14 to go put Weiser ahead 68-66.

Bonners Ferry scored just one point in the final 2:11.

“I just asked them who wanted it worse at halftime,” Weiser coach Lyle Bayley said of his chat at intermission.

Hollenbeck’s analysis was simple.

“We just disappeared on the boards in the second half,” he said. “You can’t give them second and third shots and foul them on the third shot. We were boarding OK in the first half and it was going our way.”

Hollenbeck didn’t expect his team to collapse.

“We had a great shoot-around at 1. We felt good,” he said. “We have 47 A-2 teams (in Idaho) and 33 or so are at home putting their gear away. I just told them we can have two more games or quit.”

BONNERS FERRY (67)

Meeker 1, Stewart 8, LaRue 13, Hubbard 2, High 2, Holeski 9, Glindeman 13, Cravelle 19.

WEISER (76)

Lindsey 14, N. Walker 11, Vouckton 4, Boettcher 10, Dan Walker 14, Fouch 15, Derrel Walker 8.

Halftime-Bonners Ferry 38, Weiser 26. Bear Lake 57, Jerome 42 Junior forward Chet Keetch hit 23 points, while center Brady Carlsen supplied 13 and 10 rebounds, pushing Bear Lake to victory over Jerome.

Marsh Valley 76, Payette 67 Senior guard Kent Howell hit a recordtying six 3-point field goals and scored 27 points to lift No. 5 Marsh Valley over No. 4 Payette.

Marsh Valley trailed Payette 36-34 at halftime, and the Pirates still led 43-42 heading into the fourth quarter. But Howell led the way as the Eagles outscored Payette 24-16 down the stretch.