Moscow Grabs State A-2 Title With A Blowout

A 25-point margin of victory, and the winning coach in the State A-2 boys basketball championship game didn’t mince words about the key.

Moscow coach Don Dudley has stressed defense all season and the Bears were at their smothering best Saturday night as they caused Snake River to dry up in a 69-44 decision at the Idaho Center.

“It was strictly our defense and rebounding,” said Dudley, whose team opened the season 0-3 before winning their final 20. “We had the depth to play tough defense. I don’t think you saw a moment where Snake River could relax on offense.”

The Bears’ offense took advantage of the defensive intensity, too.

Snake River (22-3) committed 23 turnovers, most of them caused by Moscow, and the Bears turned the Panthers’ mistakes into 18 points. Snake River scored just three points off Moscow turnovers.

It was redemption for Moscow, which fell to Bear Lake last year in the state title game. The Bears joined A-4 Lakeside as the first state title winners in North Idaho since 1989.

Intermountain League champ Moscow, picked to finish fourth in league, returned just one starter off last year’s team. Two starters expected to return were lost because of expulsion and transfer.

Dudley found chemistry and he centered it around senior do-everything point guard Adam Miller. He scored a game-high 24 points. Eight of the 10 players Dudley used scored.

Late in the first quarter, Dudley had his starters on the bench while the reserves widened the lead to 14-9.

The Bears’ defense began to take its toll in the second quarter. Moscow led 31-20 at halftime. An 11-0 run to close out the third period extended Moscow’s lead to 51-30. The biggest lead came at 66-39.

Moscow 69, Snake River 44

MOSCOW - Brown 2, Strobel 2, Rinaldi 7, Miller 24, Curtis 5, Powell 2, Cosgrove 7, Stewart 2, Richards 8, Johnson 5, Owen 3, Gilmore 2.

SNAKE RIVER - Reader 6, Cox 5, Seeley 14, Hansen 4, Daw 7, Ogden 8.

Halftime-Moscow 31, Snake River 20.

Bishop Kelly 65, Kellogg 58 (OT)

For the second day in a row, Kellogg fell in a heartbreaker.

The Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime before No. 1-ranked Bishop Kelly (23-2) pulled out a 65-58 win for third place at Meridian High School.

BK outscored Kellogg 10-3 in overtime. A 55-54 loss on Friday kept Kellogg (16-10) from advancing to the state championship game.

Dan Bruce led BK with 18 points and Abe Jackson added 17. Both players had seven rebounds. Kellogg was led by Nathan Corkill’s 14 points.

BK committed just seven turnovers to Kellogg’s 16.

Kellogg received the state tournament sportsmanship honor for a third straight year.

BISHOP KELLY - McCormick 3, Horras 5, Simonds 4, Bruce 18, McCarthy 11, McMahon 3, Asumendi 2, Jackson 17, Zimmerman 1, Geier 1.

KELLOGG - Co. Lewis 4, Mercado 9, Corkill 14, C. Merek 8, Ch. Lewis 2, Rice 8, Carlson 10, H. Merek 3. Halftime-Bishop Kelly 26, Kellogg 24.

Regulation-Bishop Kelly 55, Kellogg 55.

A-1

Highland’s bid for a second straight championship came up short.

Madison captured its first A-1 title since moving up from A-2 in 1986 as the Bobcats held off the Rams 48-41 before a crowd of 3,000 at the Idaho Center.

The Bobcats (22-6) made 6 of 6 free throws in the final 38 seconds to seal the victory.

Highland (20-6) had taken the lead at 38-37 when Joe Green made a 13-foot jumper with 2:47 left. But after David Dalling tied it with a foul shot, Dallas Stevens gave the Bobcats the lead for good, 40-38, with a driving bucket with 1:57 remaining.

Boise (19-7) captured third place with a 55-37 victory over Capital (19-7).

A-3

In the most tightly contested of the four championships, Teton prevailed over Potlatch 52-49.

Teton (22-3) was led by Josh Kunz and Aaron McKee. They scored 17 and 15 points, respectively. Potlatch (21-5) was led by Jerry Nicholson’s 18.

It was Teton’s second title in three years and sixth overall.

TETON (52) - Kunz 17, Nead 14, Brower 4, Douglass 2, McKee 15.

POTLATCH (49) - B. Nicholson 13, J. Nicholson 18, Lovell 12, Loveall 4, Strong 2.

Halftime-Potlatch 21, Teton 20.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: STATE RESULTS Results Saturday from the boys Idaho state basketball tournament:

A-1 State Tournament Championship Madison 48, Highland 41 Consolation Post Falls 75, Eagle 66 Third Place Boise 55, Capital 37

A-2 State Tournament Championship Moscow 69, Snake River 44 Consolation Preston 53, Emmett 41 Third Place Bishop Kelly 65, Kellogg 58 (OT)

A-3 State Tournament Championship Teton 52, Potlatch 49 Consolation Declo 68, West Side 61 Third Place Parma 74, New Plymouth 57

A-4 State Tournament Championship Lakeside 44, Troy 34 Third Place Shoshone 52, Dietrich 40 Fourth Place Nampa Chr. 62, Cascade 43 Consolation Oakley 54, Hagerman 41