Tripple Double Trouble Highland Star Hurts Lake City From Both Lines In 70-61 Win

Line up Tennison Tripple with four non-athletes and it’s not likely a person would pick him out as the basketball player.

The 6-foot-2 Highland High School senior is no ordinary player, as the Lake City Timberwolves could attest Friday night.

Tripple led the Rams to a second straight victory over a No. 1-ranked team, ending LC’s title hopes 71-60 in a State A-1 Tournament semifinal viewed by 5,500 in Idaho State University’s Holt Arena.

“He can ball,” said Lake City forward Scott Hoover, showing respect through basketball slang.

Deadly from NBA-length 3-point range and flawless from the free-throw line, Tripple made 8 of 8 foul shots in the final 1:38 and 13 of 13 for the game to secure Highland’s appearance in the championship game tonight.

Highland (19-6) meets Rigby (20-6), last year’s state runner-up, in the nightcap of the four state title games at Holt Arena. Rigby downed Blackfoot 58-52 in the other semifinal.

Lake City (19-5) will square off with Blackfoot (20-7) in the game for third place this morning at 10 PST.

In loser-out games earlier Friday involving four teams from the Boise area, 1995 champion Centennial (20-5) pulled away from Meridian (15-11) 69-53, while first-year school Eagle (14-11) tripped Capital (16-11) in a thriller, 53-52.

Centennial, which shared the final top ranking with LC, will tangle with Eagle in the consolation game.

Highland 71, Lake City 60

Tripple, who has had hardly a sniff from college recruiters, scored a game-high 32 points, hitting 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and usually with a hand in his face. He also had 11 rebounds.

“(He’s) just a great player,” LC coach Jim Winger emphasized. “And we did about as good a job as we possibly could defending him.”

It was LC’s box-and-one defense on Tripple in the second quarter that helped the Timberwolves tighten the game.

LC got off to a slow start for a second straight night, and the T-Wolves trailed by 10 on three occasions in the first half. But from the 7:34 mark of the second quarter until halftime, LC guard Jerid Keefer, his team’s top defensive player, chased Tripple from one side of the baseline to the other, holding him to 1 of 3 shots during that stretch.

The T-Wolves got within 31-27 at intermission as Mike Asper hit a 3 and stole the ball in the waning seconds, finding Jon Chatfield for a layup.

LC tied Highland at 34 and 36, the final tie coming with 2:47 left in the third quarter. But the Rams took a 44-39 advantage into the fourth. The teams traded baskets much of the fourth quarter. LC trimmed Highland’s lead to 56-53 when Chatfield made two free throws with 2:12 remaining.

That’s when the Rams spread the court and forced LC to foul. The T-Wolves also squandered opportunities.

Down four, Hoover was fouled in the act of shooting a 3 with 1:53 left. He missed two of three foul shots.

“I just wish we could have played them for another quarter,” said Hoover. “We gave it our all; things don’t always go the way they’re planned.”

Winger said he was disheartened more than disappointed.

“To come back like we did was impressive,” Winger said. “We started off slow, but I thought we played a pretty inspired ballgame. We have absolutely zero to be ashamed of.”

Chatfield loosened up considerably after playing very tight Thursday. He finished with 29 points and six rebounds while Hoover added 18 and seven, respectively.

Highland made 22 of 28 free throws; LC hit 10 of 20.

Highland 71, Lake City 60

Lake City 13 14 12 21 - 60

Highland 20 11 13 27 - 72

LAKE CITY Thompson 2, Keefer 0, Chatfield 29, Hoover 18, Beadell 6, Asper 5.

HIGHLAND Frasure 4, Green 3, Bell 7, Griggs 10, Tripple 32, Maw 9, Mickelson 0, Higgins 6.

Centennial 69, Meridian 53

Jon Harris scored 38 points for Centennial.

Eagle 53, Capital 52

Clint Hordemann scored 17 for the Mustangs.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo