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 ORDER GAME PHOTOS
District Tournament Brackets Here
No time to waste! Let's get right to all of the district tournament highlights from Thursday, February 22nd
POKY DEFENDS THE PIT
For at least five seasons, the three-team Class 4A District 5 Tournament has featured more than one team worthy of inclusion at state. Sadly, it's been a one-bid league the entire time, and so, when Preston and Pocatello met at The Pit Thursday night, the Indians knew they would need to beat the Thunder twice to steal the district title.
Pocatello held on, though, for a 58-46 victory, leaving a top-three ranked Preston team stuck at home for the second year in a row. The Thunder were led by Julian Bowie's 23 points. Kesler Vaughn added 17 and Gage Ontiveros chipped in 12.
SEVERAL DISTRICT CHAMPS CROWNED
In addition to Pocatello's triumph over Preston, several other district championships were decided last night. Here's a rundown:
4A District 4: Hillcrest 75, Shelley 45
3A District 1: Bonners Ferry 79, Tiimberlake 47
3A District 3: McCall-Donnelly 51, Homedale 35
1AD1 District 1: Lakeside 83, Genesis Prep 46
1AD2 District 1: Clark Fork 80, Kootenai 26
1AD1 District 3: Liberty Charter 51, Victory Charter 42
1AD2 District 2: Kendrick 61, Deary 28
1AD2 District 5-6: Rockland 60, Watersprings 55
All of the district champions advance to state, with the exception of Lakeside and Clark Fork. Those two still have to earn their way in via a Play In Game.
Also, even though they fell last night in district title action, Homedale, Victory Charter and Watersprings all advanced to state, due to playing in large leagues with 2.5 bids.
As for the other district championship game losers, they fall into win-and-in scenarios that will play out over the next two days across the state.
That leads us to......
WIN-AND-IN PREDICTIONS
There are 16 elimination games taking place Friday and Saturday that will determine the remaining bids to state.
There are a few additional contests, as well, such as the district championship games in Class 4A, District 3 (where I'm projecting Bishop Kelly to win) and Class 1AD2, District 3 (where I'm projecting Garden Valley).
But the 16 games listed below are true lose-and-your-season-is-over contests. After going 4-8 picking these games on the girls basketball side two weeks ago, I'm again lining up for public humiliation to see if I can do a little better on the boys side. Here's officially what I think will happen over the next two days.
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT GAMES
Class 4A, District 3 Third Place Game: Ridgevue over Vallivue
Class 4A, District 4 Third Place Game: Twin Falls over Canyon Ridge
Class 4A, District 6 Third Place Game: Blackfoot over Shelley
Class 1AD1, District 2 Third Place Game: Potlatch over Kamiah
Class 1AD1, District 5-6 Championship: Butte County over Grace
Class 1AD2, District 2 Third Place Game: Highland (Craigmont) over Deary
Class 1AD2, District 3 Third Place Game: Cascade over Horseshoe Bend
Class 1AD2, District 4 Championship: Camas County over Dietrich
STATE PLAY-IN GAMES
Class 5A: Highland over Eagle
Class 5A: Centennial over Lake City
Class 3A: Kimberly over Fruitland
Class 3A: Marsh Valley over Sugar-Salem
Class 2A: Firth over Bear Lake
Class 2A: Cole Valley Christian over Orofino
Class 1AD1: Lakeside over RIverstone
Class 1AD2: Clark Fork over North Gem
UPDATED BRACKETOLOGY
As always, until a team officially clinches a spot, these are my best guesses at how things will shake out. Once a team officially clinches, I'll start listing teams in bold font.
CLASS 5A
District 1-2 (1.5 bids)
District 3 (4.5, .5 bids)
District 5-6 (1.5 bids)
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
Coeur d'Alene (20-3)
Owyhee (20-3)
Madison (22-2)
AUTO BIDS
Timberline (20-3)
Capital (17-8)
Middleton (15-9)
PLAY-IN GAMES
Highland (11-14) over Eagle (16-9)
Centennial (16-9) over Lake City (15-9)
CLASS 4A
District 1-2 (1 bid)
District 3 (2 bids)
District 4 (2 bids)
District 5 (1 bid)
District 6 (2 bids)
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
Moscow (8-13)
Bishop Kelly (17-4)
Minico (13-10)
Pocatello (19-5)
Hillcrest (17-6)
AUTO BIDS
Ridgevue (14-7)
Twin Falls (14-10)
Blackfoot (10-13)
PLAY-IN GAMES
None
CLASS 3A
District 1 (1 bid)
District 3 (2.5 bids)
District 4 (1.5 bids)
District 5 (1.5 bids)
District 6 (1.5 bids)
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
Bonners Ferry (19-3)
McCall-Donnelly (19-1)
Filer (17-5)
Snake River (21-2)
Teton (16-7)
AUTO BIDS
Homedale (9-13)
PLAY-IN GAMES
Kimberly (15-8) over Fruitland (9-15)
Marsh Valley (14-10) over Sugar-Salem (10-15)
CLASS 2A
District 1-2 (1.5 bids)
District 3 (2.5 bids)
District 4 (1 bid)
District 5 (1.5 bids)
District 6 (1.5 bids)
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
St. Maries (15-7)
Nampa Christian (15-7)
Declo (15-7)
West Side (15-9)
North Fremont (17-4)
AUTO BIDS
Ambrose (18-6)
PLAY-IN GAMES
Cole Valley Christian (22-2) over Orofino (9-12)
Firth (14-11) over Bear Lake (12-12)
CLASS 1AD1
District 1 (0.5 bids)
District 2 (2 bids)
District 3 (2.5 bids)
District 4 (2 bids)
District 5-6 (1 bid)
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
Lapwai (22-2)
Liberty Charter (19-5)
Valley (17-6)
Butte County (18-6)
AUTO BIDS
Potlatch (17-5)
Victory Charter (18-6)
Oakley (17-6)
PLAY-IN GAMES
Lakeside (15-3) over Riverstone (16-7)
CLASS 1AD2
District 1 (0.5 bids)
District 2 (2 bids)
District 3 (2 bids)
District 4 (1 bid)
District 5-6 (2.5 bids)
DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
Kendrick (19-4)
Garden Valley (20-2)
Camas County (19-3)
Rockland (19-4)
AUTO BIDS
Highland (15-8)
Cascade (16-5)
Watersprings (19-5)
PLAY-IN GAMES
Clark Fork (12-6) over North Gem (17-8)
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