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The Kimberly Bulldogs, routinely an afterthought when discussing the 3A basketball hierarchy this season, got the last laugh Saturday with an all-time defensive performance in a 40-22 win over McCall-Donnelly in the championship game. The 22 points allowed is a new 3A State Tournament record.
All year long, teams like Marsh Valley, Snake River and McCall-Donnelly were mentioned first in discussions amongst fans about the best team in 3A hoops. After defeating the defending champs from Marsh Valley in Friday's semifinal round, they erased all doubts as to who the classification's best team truly was in 2021-22 with a smothering defense that held McCall-Donnelly to single digit point totals in three of the four quarters.
Believe it or not, Kimberly actually trailed the Vandals 10-6 after one quarter of play. The Bulldogs outscored McCall-Donnelly 32 to 12 the rest of the way. The Vandals shot just 7-of-39 overall (17.9%) and 3-of-22 from three (13.6%). Conversely, Kimberly shot 13-of-32 (40.6%) from the field and 3 of 10 (30%) from three.
Gatlin Bair earned IdahoSports.com Player of the Game honors after collecting a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ethan Okelberry netted eight points, while Jackson Cummins and Jake Lloyd each added seven points for Kimberly.
McCall-Donnelly was paced by Alex Johnson's ten points.
KIMBERLY (19-6) - Gatlin Bair 12, Ethan Okelberry 8, Jackson Cummins 7, Jake Lloyd 7, Dylan Hollist 4, Jaxon Bair 2, Jakob Cummins 0, Grayden DeVries 0, Alejandro Paz 0, Trapper Rasmussen 0
McCALL-DONNELLY (21-3) - Alex Johnson 10, DJ Green 7, Carter Johnson 3, Cole Burtenshaw 2, Jack Duncan 0, Alex Marin 0, Rylan Pate 0, Tate Ova 0, Ethan Tinney 0, Marcus Wyman 0, Kyler Kunde 0
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