5A Championship | Borah 65, Post Falls 56

“Legendary.”

Borah Head Coach Jeremy Dennis had no other words to describe the play of senior Austin Bolt in the 5A State Championship.

Arguably the best athlete to pass through the halls of Borah High School, Bolt finished with 35 points, capping off a historic career. 

The future Boise State tight end took over the second half, scoring 26 points in the final two quarters of his Lion tenure. 

“Nothing really changed,” said the always nonchalant Bolt.

Borah's defense kept a normally dominant Colby Gennett in check, keeping him to a personal tournament-low 8 points. 

The Lions jumped out to an early lead, which never changed for all 40 minutes of regulation. But Borah’s lead never felt safe until Isaac Dewberry took a quick inbound pass up the lane, slamming it down to essentially seal the deal.

Dewberry, who along with Austin served as the holdovers from last year’s championship squad, said he couldn’t be prouder of how well his team bonded together after early-season adversity and doubts on the Lions’ legitimacy.

“Starting this year, we had a lot of issues with chemistry,” he said. “It was really satisfying to see where we came from to now, coming together as well as we do.”

The title marks Borah’s 13th, a state record. For Bolt, this year's trials of challenges made his second championship that much sweeter. 

“I felt like this meant more to me, and the team, than last year’s,” he said. 

4A Championship | Preston 59, Moscow 43

Nine overtime points separated the Preston Indians from history just a year ago. 

The Indians were on the hunt for a fourth-straight state championship to cap off the 2019 season, a feat accomplished just three times before in the history of Idaho high schools. The first to earn the four-peat? Moscow High School in 1920.

But to the deafening tune of "Take it back, take it back," from the Preston student section, coupled with the Indians finishing the third quarter ahead 42-22, it became painfully obvious Preston would indeed avenge its 2019 loss. 

“That’s the best thing about Preston,” Ty Hyde said. “We’ve got two stoplights in town, and when we get here, we’ve got the whole city of Preston. When we look out there and see a sea of blue, it feels amazing. This one’s for Preston.”

Hyde finished with 12 points and five rebounds, one of three Indians to reach double digits. Luke Smellie recorded 13 and eight rebounds and off the bench, Cooper Hobson grabbed the team-high 17 points.

“Our four years here, we’ve played in three state championship,” Hyde said. “Not many kids can even say they’ve played in one.”

3A Championship | Sugar-Salem 72, Kimberly 54

Midway through the second quarter of Saturday’s 3A State Championship, Crew Clark took a step-back 3, sinking it with ease.

Twenty-five minutes of regulation still remained, but the shot seemed like a dagger in the Bulldogs’ chance at a title. Clark, at that moment, had scored 19 points. The entire Kimberly team had just 21.

Clark finished with 21 himself, closely followed by Hadley Miller with 20. Clark and Miller both said the Diggers’ 43-28 halftime lead seemed too good to be true against a Kimberly squad that hadn’t lost since Jan. 9.

“It shocked us, but we expected it at the same time,” Clark said. “Those guys are a good team, so we had to keep pushing.”

Miller said in order to lock up Sugar’s second straight title, the Diggers couldn’t take their eyes off the defensive end of the court after halftime. And Kimberly’s Dawson Cummins, who finished with 19 points, kept the Bulldogs competitive in the fourth quarter. Sugar-Salem outscored Kimberly by just three points in the second half.

“Kimberly can score a lot of points in a short amount of time,” Miller said. “We just had to put our heads down and go to work.”

The 70-point performance was a return to form for the Diggers, who had scored 60-plus in three of their last five matchups. 

“That whole sequence, it was fun,” Miller said. “Yesterday’s game against Filer wasn’t what we wanted, and we knew we had more in us.”

The title caps off a dominant two-year stint by Sugar-Salem, which also earned its second-straight championship in football back in November. 

2A Championship | North Fremont 42, West Side 37

In a thrilling shot-for-shot duel between the Pirates and Huskies, it seemed only fitting the 2A State Championship come down to a pair of last-second free throws.

With five seconds left and the Huskies up by a single point, Jordan Lenz took to the line with the fate of North Fremont’s potential back-to-back titles resting on his shoulders.

“I just said two more shots,” Lenz said. “I’ve shot thousands and I needed just two more.”

Lenz, who’s known nothing but state titles during his two years with the Huskies, sunk them ease. The sophomore standout finished with 20 points.

West Side rebounded from a slow first-quarter start, outscoring the Huskies in the second quarter and matching with 11 points in the third. With a tied halftime score of 15-15, it was anybody’s game. 

Just a single possession separated the two teams for the entire fourth quarter, as West Side’s Bryler Shurtliff led the Pirates with 16 points, 10 of which coming in the second half. 

But a narrow one-point lead forced the Pirates to foul, sending Lenz to the line to ice the game.

“I can’t believe this happened again,” Lenz said. “I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”

1ADI Championship | Ambrose 49, Grace 27

The Archers lived up to their name, with impeccable aim giving Ambrose a dominant halftime lead the Grizzles just couldn’t overcome. 

Ambrose’s Ben Blyth finished the first half missing just one of his six shots, going a perfect four-for-four from inside the arc. 

And Paul “Lumpy” Yenor, who came alive in the second half, finished with a game-high 17 points and 17 rebounds just a day after hitting the game-winning overtime layup in the semifinals.

Conversely, the Grizzlies struggled to hit baskets all game long, shooting 10-for-49. Gage Stoddard pulled Grace out of hibernation in the third quarter, recording 13 points and six rebounds on the game. But a scoreless fourth quarter put an exclamation point on an impressive showing by the Ambrose defense. 

“Our defense was awesome,” Yenor said. “We were really gutsy there in the end. I think we came out with a lot of jitters, but as soon as we calmed down and got to our game, we really pushed through and ground out the win.”

2020’s championship marks the second for the Yenor family, as Yenor’s brother Travis earned the Archers a trophy in 2016. As for which Ambrose team — 2016 or 2020 — could win in a showdown, Yenor said that wasn’t even a debate worth having.

“I don’t know if I can go on record and say this, but I’m pretty sure we could take them,” he said. “I’ve seen my brother grab (a state trophy). It made me a little mad that other people were grabbing it, and I think that fueled me.”

1ADII Championship | Lakeside 74, Cascade 57

Just two days after breaking the 1ADII tournament record for points in a game with 95, the Lakeside Knights continued their offensive hot streak against Cascade, going up by 15 at the half and refusing to take their foot off the gas.

“We practice, we go hard every day,” said Kenyon Spotted Horse. “We’ve got that speed and just run through our opponents."

Spotted Horse finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, leading a Lakeside team that averaged 81 points through three tournament games. 

The Ramblers made the most of their championship appearance, but a 7-point opening quarter in which the Knights doubled that count doomed Cascade from the start. From Vander Brown’s no-look dishes to Day Day Higgins’ cat-like rebounding reflexes, the Knights left little doubt who deserved this year’s state title trophy.

The undefeated Lakeside season finishes a story that began with tragedy after Tyler Ambro died by suicide just days before the year’s first practice. 

“(Tyler) kept pushing us to do our best,” Spotted Horse said. “He’s still in our hearts.”

Lakeside earns it’s second state title since Head Coach James Twoteeth served as a player in 1997. Twoteeth said he couldn’t think of a better way to honor Ambro, who's jersey rests on the Lakeside bench during every game, than capping off a historic season in his honor. 

“I didn’t know what to think,” Twoteeth said of the start of the season. “I didn’t think (the team) would show up. But they said they were going to do it for him. He’s with us every time we step on the floor.”

Round 2

5A

Post Falls 73, Rocky Mountain 66
Player of the Game: Cole Rutheford (17 pts, 5/6  fg)
Championship Matchup
Post Falls vs. Borah (8 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

Borah 47, Eagle 43
Player of the Game: Austin Bolt (18 pts, 7 reb, 3/5 fg)
Championship Matchup
Borah vs. Post Falls (8 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

4A

Preston 51, Middleton 50
Player of the Game: Ty Hyd (21 pts, 8 reb)
Championship Matchup
Preston vs. Moscow (6 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

Moscow 63, Kuna 60
Player of the Game: Brayden Decker (17 pts, 6/9 fg)
Championship Matchup
Moscow vs. Preston (6 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

3A

Kimberly 55, Fruitland 37
Player of the Game: Dawson Cummins (30 pts, 9 reb)
Championship Matchup
Kimberly vs. Sugar-Salem (3:50 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

Sugar-Salem 48, Filer 36
Player of the Game: Tanner Harris (10 pts, 12 reb)
Championship Matchup
Sugar-Salem vs. Kimberly (3:50 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

2A

West Side 62, St. Maries 41
Player of the Game: Byler Shurtliff (17 pts, 6/8 3-fg)
Championship Matchup
West Side vs. North Fremont (1:40 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

North Fremont 69, Cole Valley 64
Player of the Game: Jordan Lenz (23 pts, 8 reb, 11/12 ft)
Championship Matchup
North Fremont vs. West Side
(1:40 p.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

1ADI

Grace 57, Lapwai 48
Player of the Game: Gage Stoddard (30 pts, 6 reb)
Championship Matchup
Grace vs. Ambrose (11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

Ambrose 39, Potlatch 37 (OT)
Player of the Game: Paul Yenor (14 pts, 6 reb, game-winning layup)
Championship Match
Ambrose vs. Grace (11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

1ADII

Cascade 73, North Gem 68
Player of the Game: Blake Thurston (36 pts, 5 reb)
Championship Matchup
Cascade vs. Lakeside (9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

Lakeside 76, Dietrich 59
Player of the Game: Talon Twoteeth (24 pts, 6 reb, 5/5 ft)
Championship Matchup
Lakeside vs. Cascade (9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center)

Consolation Games

5A

Meridian 59, Timberline 37
Player of the Game: Brody Rowbury (12 pts, 9 reb)
Next Game
Meridian vs. Rigby (10 a.m. Saturday at Columbia High School)

Rigby 72, Lake City 53
Player of the Game: Britton Berrett (18 pts, 5 reb)
Next Game
Rigby vs. Meridian (10 a.m. Saturday at Columbia High School)

4A

Idaho Falls 58, Bishop Kelly 52
Player of the Game: Bylan Seeley (18 pts, 11 reb, 6/6 2-fg)
Next Game
Idaho Falls vs. Minico (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Borah High School)

Minico 53, Blackfoot 44
Player of the Game: Kasen Carpenter (18 pts, 6 reb)
Next Game
Minico vs. Idaho Falls (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Borah High School)

3A

Snake River 66, Marsh Valley 60 (OT)
Player of the Game: Treyton Young (20 points, 7 reb)
Next Game
Snake River vs. Kellogg (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Meridian High School)

Kellogg 56, Homedale 48
Player of the Game: Graden Nearing (22 pts, 6/8 ft)
Next Game
Kellogg vs. Snake River 
(9:15 a.m. Saturday at Meridian High School)

2A

New Plymouth 59, Melba 50
Player of the Game: Matt Hall (18 pts, 6/8 3-fg)
Next Game
New Plymouth vs. Malad (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Capital High School)

Malad 51, Grangeville 37
Player of the Game: Davis Larsen (12 pts, 8 reb, 5/6 2-fg)
Next Game
Malad vs. New Plymouth (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Capital High School)

1ADI

Oakley 49, Liberty Charter 37
Player of the Game: Payton Beck (12 pts, 8/8 ft)
Next Game
Oakley vs. Kamiah (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Vallivue High School)

Kamiah 49, Riverstone 46
Player of the Game: Jace Sams (18 pts, 9 reb)
Next Game
Kamiah vs. Oakley (9:15 a.m. Saturday at Vallivue High School)

1ADII

Carey 57, Timberline 42
Player of the Game: Brigham Parke (24 pts, 3/3 3-fg, 7 reb)
Next Game 
Carey vs. Mackay (9:15 p.m. Saturday at Caldwell High School)

Mackay 97*, Garden Valley 80
*1ADII state tournament single-game scoring record, previously set by Lakeside (95) Thursday, also against Garden Valley.
Player of the Game: Kyle Peterson (34 pts, 12/19 3-fg)
Next Game 
Mackay vs. Carey (9:15 p.m. Saturday at Caldwell High School)

Round 1

5A

Post Falls 39, Timberline 30
Player of the Game: Colby Gennett (17 pts, 9 reb, 2 stl)
Next Game 
Post Falls vs. Rocky Mountain (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Timberline vs. Meridian (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Rocky Mountain 81, Meridian 52
Player of the Game: Straton Rogers (19 pts, 6 reb, 9/9 2-fg)
Next Game
Rocky Mountain vs. Post Falls (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Meridian vs. Timberline (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Eagle 51, Rigby 43
Player of the Game: Tanner Hayhurst (24 pts, 18 in 2nd half)
Next Game
Eagle vs. Borah (8 p.m. Friday)
Rigby vs. Lake City (3 p.m. Friday)

Borah 58, Lake City 38
Player of the Game: Austin Bolt (20 pts, 15 reb)
Next Game
Borah vs. Eagle (8 p.m. Friday)
Lake City vs. Rigby (3 p.m. Friday)

4A

Middleton 49, Bishop Kelly 44
Player of the Game: Tyler Robinett (16 pts, 8 reb, 5/8 fg)
Next Game
Middleton vs. Preston (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Bishop Kelly vs. Idaho Falls (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Preston 58, Idaho Falls 47
Player of the Game: Ty Hyd (26 pts, 14 reb)
Next Game
Preston vs. Middleton (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Idaho Falls vs. Bishop Kelly (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Moscow 56, Minico 47
Player of the Game: Benny Kitchel (22 pts, 8 reb)
Next Game
Moscow vs. Kuna (8 p.m. Friday)
Minico vs. Blackfoot (3 p.m. Friday)

Kuna 57, Blackfoot 50
Player of the Game: Sean Austin (21 pts, 4/4 2-fg)
Next Game
Kuna vs. Moscow (8 p.m. Friday)
Blackfoot vs. Minico (3 p.m. Friday)

3A

Fruitland 71, Snake River 59
Player of the Game: Hyrum Lindsey (20 pts, 8 reb)
Next Game
Fruitland vs. Kimberly (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Snake River vs. Marsh Valley (1:15 p.m. Friday) 

Kimberly 77, Marsh Valley 64
Player of the Game: Peyton Bair (22 pts, 8/11 fg, 5 reb)
Next Game
Kimberly vs. Fruitland (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Marsh Valley vs. Snake River (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Sugar-Salem 63, Kellogg 48
Player of the Game: Tanner Harris (19 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast)
Next Game
Sugar-Salem vs. Filer (8 p.m. Friday)
Kellogg vs. Homedale (3 p.m. Friday)

Filer 40, Homedale 37
Player of the Game: Miguel Perez (12 pts, 6 dreb)
Next Game
Filer vs. Sugar-Salem (8 p.m. Friday)
Homedale vs. Kellogg (3 p.m. Friday)

2A

West Side 55, Melba 45
Player of the Game: Bryler Shurtliff (22 pts, 3/3 2-fg)
Next Game
West Side vs. St. Maries (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Melba vs. New Plymouth (1:15 p.m. Friday) 

St. Maries 48, New Plymouth 40
Player of the Game: Eli Gibson (13 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast)
Next Game
St. Maries vs. West Side (6:15 p.m. Friday)
New Plymouth (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Cole Valley 64, Malad 46
Player of the Game: Haydon Harmon (17 pts, 8 reb)
Next Game
Cole Valley vs. North Fremont (8 p.m. Friday)
Malad vs. Grangeville (3 p.m. Friday)

North Fremont 45, Grangeville 35
Player of the Game: Jordan Lenz (14 pts, 6 reb)
Next Game
North Fremont vs. Cole Valley (8 p.m. Friday)
Grangeville vs. Malad (3 p.m. Friday)

1ADI

Lapwai 52, Oakley 44
Player of the Game: Titus Yearout (20 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast)
Next Game
Lapwai vs. Grace (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Oakley vs. Liberty Charter (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Grace 63, Liberty Charter 51
Player of the Game: Gage Stoddard (17 pts, 4 reb)
Next Game
Grace vs. Lapwai (6:15 p.m. Friday)
Liberty Charter vs. Oakley (1:15 p.m. Friday)

Potlatch 64, Riverstone 41
Player of the Game: Brayden Hadaller (26 pts, 6 reb, 2/2 3-fg)
Next Game
Potlatch vs. Ambrose (8 p.m. Friday)
Riverstone vs. Kamiah (3 p.m. Friday)

Ambrose 56, Kamiah 49
Player of the Game: Paul Yenor (29 pts, 12 reb, 14/16 2-fg)
Next Game
Ambrose vs. Potlatch (8 p.m. Friday)
Kamiah vs. Riverstone (3 p.m. Friday)

1ADII

Cascade 62, Carey 47
Player of the Game: Michael Onaindia (28 pts, 15 reb)
Next Game
Cascade vs. North Gem (1:15 p.m. Friday)
Carey vs. Timberline (6:15 p.m. Friday)

North Gem 79, Timberline 50
Player of the Game: James Bodily (37 pts, 6 reb, 5/7 3-fg)
Next Game
North Gem vs. (1:15 p.m. Friday)
Timberline vs. Carey (6:15 p.m. Friday)

Lakeside 95*, Garden Valley 69
*1ADII state tournament single-game record
Player of the Game: Kenyon Spotted Horse (26 pts, 10 reb, 11/13 2-fg)
Next Game
Lakeside vs. Dietrich (3 p.m. Friday)
Garden Valley vs. Mackay (8 p.m. Friday)

Dietrich 78, Mackay 71 (OT)
Player of the Game: Jett Shaw (34 pts, 18/19 ft)
Next Game
Dietrich vs. Lakeside (3 p.m. Friday)
Mackay vs. Garden Valley (8 p.m. Friday)