Idaho boys state tournament: Melba saves day for small-school Treasure Valley teams

It had been a rough day for Treasure Valley teams in the smaller-school classifications as the boys basketball state tournaments began.

Then Melba took the floor Thursday night.

The unbeaten, top-seeded, No. 1-ranked Mustangs put on an offensive show in the final 2A game of the day, blasting Declo 78-46 to advance to Friday’s semifinals.

Melba, seeking back-to-back state titles, has won 39 straight games and will face St. Maries at 7 p.m. Friday at Capital High School in Boise.

Cole Valley Christian, which had designs on getting another shot at district rival Melba, lost 56-48 to Kellogg to fall into the consolation bracket Friday.

In the second 3A game of the day, Teton erupted for 15 points in overtime to score a 72-63 win over Fruitland. In the third game, Snake River dispatched Homedale 64-54.

In 1A Division II, Kendrick defeated Cascade 55-51 and then Watersprings knocked off Council 48-42.

3A: Fruitland, Homedale lose

Teton 72, Fruitland 63: In a back-and-forth game at Meridian High, No. 3 seed Teton rallied after trailing by six at halftime with a 20-point third quarter, then watched Fruitland force overtime by overcoming a four-point deficit.

But the Timberwolves, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, did not miss any of their five shots in OT and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line, outscoring the Grizzlies 15-6 in the extra period. Fruitland was just 2-for-8 from the floor in OT.

Jarom Heuseveldt led Teton (22-6) with 19 points, and Tyson Brown had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Eddie Rodriguez scored 21 points for No. 6 Fruitland (14-11), which will play Kimberly at noon Friday in a consolation game.

Snake River 64, Homedale 54: No. 5 seed Homedale’s second-half rally came up short vs. Snake River at Meridian.

The Trojans (15-8), champions of District Three, trailed 30-18 at halftime after shooting 27%. They closed within two points entering the final quarter but ran out of steam.

Homedale, last season’s 3A consolation bracket winner, dropped there again this year and will face Buhl at 2 p.m. Friday. Sigmund Goode scored 15 points for the Trojans, and Mason Strong had 14.

2A: Melba rolls after Cole Valley loses

Melba 78, Declo 46: The Mustangs (24-0) shot 52% in the first half and 50% for the game to cruise to victory.

Braden Volkers had 22 points, and Tucker Lowber scored 21 to pace the attack. The guards combined to go 12-for-22 from the floor and 14-for-17 at the free-throw line.

Melba, which never trailed, outscored Declo (13-10) 21-7 in the second quarter to take control of the game and led by 18 at the half. The Mustangs’ largest lead was 34 points.

Kellogg 56, Cole Valley Christian 48: The No. 3 seed Chargers (19-6) led by three points entering the final quarter at Capital High School, but the sixth-seeded Wildcats (19-7) rallied with a 23-point effort in the last eight minutes.

Kellogg shot 50% in the second half and took advantage of a big free-throw discrepancy to come away with the win. Twins Ripley and Kolby Luna combined for 35 of the Wildcats’ 56 points and were 10-for-17 from the foul line. The Lunas together average 36.1 points per game.

Cole Valley Christian attempted just nine free throws and had three starters foul out. Ben Beglinger had 14 points for the Chargers and Eli Kingery 13. Cole Valley will play West Side at noon Friday.

1A Division II

Watersprings 48, Council 42: The Warriors (22-4) built a 10-point lead through three quarters and held off the Lumberjacks (18-6) to send Council into the consolation bracket, where it will face Clark Fork at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Lumberjacks had a 38-24 rebounding advantage, including 15 on the offensive end, but shot just 35% (15 of 43) from the field and made only 8-of-15 free throws. Macen Glenn was the only Council player in double figures, with 10 points. Leading scorer Porter McLinn struggled with a 3-for-13 shooting night.

Kendrick 55, Cascade 51: Tyler Thurston erupted for 22 points on 10-for-19 shooting. But it wasn’t enough for the Ramblers (16-8), who saw their eight-game winning streak snapped.

Cascade falls into the consolation bracket, where it will face Weippe’s Timberline at 5 p.m. Friday.

Nathan Tweit had 17 points for Kendrick (18-3), and Ty Koepp added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

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