|
Photo courtesy of GameFrame Photography
Welcome to Baney's Basketball Breakdown, a weekly reset that allows all of us to catch our breath and reflect on the past week of high school competition. There will be lots to digest below, so let's get to it!
OPENING TIP
I have been covering high school basketball in Idaho for about seven years now, and usually by this time of year, I've got a fairly good idea of which teams are capable of advancing to state, and which teams are capable of winning the whole thing. But this year has been extremely difficult. The 6A Southern Idaho Conference, 5A High Country Conference, 4A Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference, 3A Western Idaho Conference, 2A Snake River Conference, and the 1A Whitepine League are just some of the conferences that have completely differing results week in and week out. Right around the time I think a team has the bones of a good outfit, they'll inexplicably stub their toe and lose to someone that wasn't on my radar.
This can be viewed two ways: There's a lot of good teams, or there's a lot of average-to-bad teams. I prefer to go with the first idea.
In the bigger cities, club basketball dominates the scene nowadays, and it's even filtered down to the lower levels. Long gone are the days where a kid played a sport during each season of the school year, then got a job in the summer. Some coaches are pressuring athletes to compete in sport throughout the entire calendar year, which I personally think is a bad idea. There's no quicker way to burnout than repeatedly playing the same sport over and over again.
But what's the alternative? My older brother is a fifth-grade teacher at a private Catholic school in Montana. He has students that, on a typical night, have club basketball practice from 4 to 6, club volleyball practice from 6 to 8, and music/dance/art from 8 to 9. There's no time for homework, and barely enough time to scarf down dinner as mom or dad is transporting the young prodigy from one practice to another.
But I digress. This is probably a topic for another day. Overall, the increase of offseason basketball has made the best teams even better. And if you don't want to be left behind, you'd better adapt. It's led to more quality play across the board, but wilder results night in and night out.
For the fans, that's exciting. For the coaches and the media "experts", it's an exercise in frustration.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a lot of grinders this season. You know, the type of game where defenses are suffocating, offensive looks aren't falling, and the final score ends up in the 40s or (gulp) the 30s. Every once in a while we'll see a team break out offensively, but it's usually at the expense of an overmatched opponent. That wasn't the case in Bonners Ferry on Tuesday, January 13. The Class 4A Badgers (6-6) outlasted Class 2A Lakeside (10-1) in overtime, 85-83. Just look at these point totals: Bonners Ferry was led by Sulay Abubakari's 29 points, and Peyton Hinthorn was right behind with 27. Lakeside's Hallah Peone knocked down five three-pointers and finished with 26 points, while Tyson Charley added 21.
UNDEFEATED WATCH
Each week in this space, we'll keep a running list of the teams that are still unbeaten in Idaho, with a look at the games that lie ahead on their schedule for the upcoming week:
4A: Sugar-Salem (15-0) - at Teton, at Snake River
2A: Rimrock (10-0) - at Notus, vs. Wilder
LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR
In this section, we'll keep track of how Idaho has performed against its competition from other states throughout the year.
Alaska (1-2)
Arizona (1-1)
California (6-9)
Colorado (4-1)
Georgia (0-1)
Hawaii (2-1)
Montana (5-3)
Nevada (18-3)
Oregon (24-1)
Texas (1-0)
Utah (7-13)
Washington (33-27)
Wyoming (12-8)
30-BURGER CLUB
Each week, we will highlight any player that breaks the 30-point mark in a single game (please send in 30-burger performers to brandon@idahosports.com).
*NOTE: I apparently forgot to include most of this list last week, so here is the 30-burger list from two weeks ago, followed by last week's list.
WEEK OF JANUARY 5-10
Quincey Clay, 10, Capital (51 points vs. Mountain View on Tuesday, January 6)
Logan Ellis, 11, North Star Charter (43 points vs. Liberty Charter on Thursday, January 8)
Caden Symons, 12, Coeur d'Alene (39 points vs. Post Falls on Tuesday, January 6)
Drake Hope, 11, Meridian (37 points vs. Ridgevue on Friday, January 9)
Collin Morris, 11, Timberline (34 points vs. Borah on Friday, January 9)
Xavier Parrish, 11, Rockland (33 points vs. Leadore on Saturday, January 10)
Nathan Compas, 12, Parma (32 points vs. Fruitland on Friday, January 9)
Slater Kuther, 10, Nezperce (32 points vs. Colton, WA on Monday, January 5)
Sam Scott, 12, McCall-Donnelly (31 points vs. Kendrick on Saturday, January 10)
Jaxson Smith, 12, Marsh Valley (31 points vs. Buhl on Friday, January 9)
Justus Mangum, 11, Century (30 points vs. Jerome on Saturday, January 10)
WEEK OF JANUARY 12-17
Hays Black, 11, Rimrock (39 points vs. Riverstone on Thursday, January 15)
Ryan Demkowicz, 12, Watersprings (36 points vs. Garden Valley on Saturday, January 17)
Caden Symons, 12, Coeur d'Alene (36 points vs. Bothell, WA on Saturday, January 17)
Samuel Bower, 10, Skyview (31 points vs. Nampa on Tuesday, January 13)
Stockton Cross, 10, Clark County (30 points vs. Leadore on Wednesday, January 14)
TOURNEY TIME!
Now that regular season tournament time has concluded (for the most part), the Tourney Time section will morph into what I believe the upcoming state tournaments could look like. Each week, I'll forecast which eight teams I believe will represent each classification at state.
CLASS 6A
Centennial (12-1)
Kuna (13-2)
Meridian (10-4)
Highland (10-2)
Lake City (9-6)
Owyhee (9-6)
Thunder Ridge (11-2)
Timberline (9-5)
CLASS 5A
Blackfoot (9-2)
Hillcrest (6-7)
Lakeland (7-4)
Lewiston (11-2)
Preston (13-2)
Skyview (7-4)
Twin Falls (7-6)
Vallivue (7-4)
CLASS 4A
Bonners Ferry (6-6)
Cole Valley Christian (9-4)
Filer (6-9)
Gooding (7-5)
Marsh Valley (9-4)
McCall-Donnelly (4-6)
Snake River (7-6)
Sugar-Salem (15-0)
CLASS 3A
Ambrose (8-5)
Kellogg (5-6)
Parma (7-7)
Ririe (7-5)
St. Maries (9-1)
Wendell (12-1)
West Jefferson (11-2)
West Side (9-5)
CLASS 2A
Grace (5-9)
Kendrick (10-2)
Lakeside (10-1)
Murtaugh (9-2)
North Star Charter (8-3)
Prairie (8-3)
Valley (7-4)
Victory Charter (9-4)
CLASS 1A
Carey (8-6)
Coeur du Christ (8-3)
Garden Valley (11-2)
Nezperce (6-3)
Richfield (6-7)
Rockland (11-2)
Timberline (6-2)
Watersprings (11-1)
|