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District III Fruitland scored one of the major upsets of the opening day, beating top-ranked Snake River, but it was last-second drama in the tournament’s nightcap that stole the show at the 3A tournament at Meridian High School.
South Fremont’s Alec Pope drove the length of the court and sank a 15-footer at the buzzer to cap a furious rally and beat Emmett, 42-40. Pope’s heroics came after DJ Crump had tied the game for Emmett with a twisting layup with just six seconds left in regulation a game Emmett led by five points late in the fourth quarter.
Pope had 15 points, while Blake Bartschi had 13 points and 14 rebounds for South Fremont. Crump led all scorers with 17 for Emmett.
Fruitland simply overwhelmed the 20-win Panthers in the fourth quarter, outscoring Snake River, 18-6, over the game’s final eight minutes for the upset. Many had Snake River pegged as a pre-tournament favorite in the 3A bracket.
Tyler Eiguren led Fruitland with 12 poitns, who also got ten points each from DaMetri Weatherall and Wyatt Dennison. Dennison also contributed a team-high eight rebounds.
In the classification’s other quarterfinals, the Buhl Indians and Shelley Russets both overcame slow shooting starts in a tight, tough quarterfinal matchup won by Buhl, 56-52, and Parma’s defense locked down on Kellogg in the second half of a 48-35 win.
Buhl scored the game’s first eleven points, which had Shelley battling back the rest of the way.
Michael Lively had 25 points and ten rebounds to lead the Indians, who shot 48 percent from the field in the second half. Shelley’s Brennon Wattenbarger played the entire game, leading the Russets with 17 points. Shelley, as a team, scored 32 of its 52 points after halftime, but could not get over the hump as Buhl wound up leading from start to finish.
Kellogg and Parma were tied, 16-16, at the half, but Parma held Kellogg to 7/34 shooting in the second half (21 percent) and pulled away in the fourth quarter to reach the state semifinals.
Parma’s Tanner Kramer, like Wattenbarger, played the entire game and put in a complete performance with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assist and three steals in the win. The Wildcats got ten points and ten rebounds from Chase Jerome in defeat.
Both teams struggled from three-point range, going a combined 4/27.
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