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Several more boys basketball teams opened their seasons while the girls continued their quest for postseason glory in February.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
4A
TWIN FALLS — Jaycee Jensen stopped, popped and swished.
A wide-open shot. The game’s first basket and one that sent Twin Falls on course to a crosstown rivalry rout.
Twin Falls, with two Bruins mascots in attendance and all, infiltrated enemy territory and left with a 65-35 win over Canyon Ridge, with 23 points from Jensen.
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“It is just us moving forward,” Jensen told the Times-News about the win. “We have one goal in mind (state championship) and as long as we keep pushing us as a team and keep doing the things we need to do, we can hopefully get wins like this all season and get to where we need to get.”
The Lady Bruins never relinquished the lead and found many open looks throughout the night.
Twin Falls (3-1 overall, 3-0) found plenty of success from deep as Jensen, a senior, made six 3-pointers.
Skylar Westburg added eight points and Halle Walker contributed seven. Ava Martin, a Canyon Ridge transfer who provides Twin Falls with size in the post, scored six along with Rylee Robbins.
Ella Clark led the Lady Riverhawks (0-5 overall, 0-3 Great Basin Conference) with a dozen points.
Jesse Clark, the Lady Riverhawks’ first-year head coach, told the Times-News the Lady Riverhawks are a “whole new team” with a young roster which features just three seniors.
“One thing about our girls is we gave it our all,” Jesse Clark said. “Yeah, the score is not where we want it but we will go watch film. We will make adjustments and we’re gonna get back to the drawing board.”
Bailee Dean dropped 11 for Canyon Ridge and Jesse Clark said he was impressed with Dean’s leadership.
Canyon Ridge will visit Emmett at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“One thing these girls don’t lack is heart though,” he said. “I’m super proud of our girls.”
Conference-leading Twin Falls will host Pocatello at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday before a visit to Minico at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 in a battle of the GBC’s representatives in the 2023 state tournament.
Jerome 56, Mountain Home 48
Katie Larson and Emma Allen scored 10 points each for Jerome in a contest in which it trailed 21-20 at halftime.
Lexi Longhurst paced Mountain Home with 17 points and Juli Donez collected 15.
Jerome’s Emily Lloyd and Dakota Bussen partnered for eight points each.
Jerome (3-3 overall, 1-1 Great Basin Conference) will visit Ridgevue at 2 p.m. Saturday while Mountain Home (3-3 overall, 2-1 Great Basin Conference) will host Kimberly at 7 p.m. Friday.
Interclass
Camas County @ Castleford (n/a)
Hagerman 39, Shoshone 35 (OVERTIME)
Payton Lopez’s 20 points lifted Hagerman in a game which the Lady Pirates survived with five players in overtime, after three fouled out.
“Tonight was a team effort,” Hagerman coach Nick Gonzales told the Times-News. “All eight girls contributed.”
Krickit Wise added six points for Hagerman.
“It was a great win for us,” Gonzales said.
Justice Kelly boosted Shoshone with 23 points while Melina Tellez scored seven.
Hagerman (2-5 overall) will visit Murtaugh at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday while Shoshone (1-4 overall) will host Glenns Ferry at the same time.
3A
Filer 56, Buhl 42
Coming into this season, Filer head coach Clayton Nebeker had a roster with just three players who played in a varsity basketball game. Those three players, seniors Allie Bishop, Hazel Fischer and Kate Jaques, shouldered the load in the fourth quarter against a pesky Buhl team, scoring 16 of the Lady Wildcats 22 fourth quarter points in a 56-42 win.
“That leadership is a big deal,” Nebeker told the Times-News. “We knew coming into this year that senior deal would be a big thing for us. They know when they need to take control and it’s important.”
Fischer scored a team-high 15 points to lead Filer (3-2, 1-0 Sawtooth Central Idaho Conferece) while Jaques added 14 and junior Kali Bowman had 11. Senior Mataya Thomas had a game-high 18 points to lead the Lady Indians (2-4 overall, 0-2 SCIC).
Filer has now won 36 straight conference games, with the last loss coming to the Lady Indians 47-39 in overtime on Feb. 7, 2019.
Though the Lady Wildcats never lost control of the game after a 14-0 run put them up 21-6 in the second quarter, they struggled to consistently score due to Buhl's defense. The Lady Indians didn’t let Filer get off a lot of easy shots in the paint, and made it tough to get clean passes to 6-foot-2 junior Reese Hills, who draws a lot of attention that can set up open looks for teammates.
“They did a really good job of making sure men we’re covered up, double-teaming down low, triple-teaming down low,” Nebeker said. “I thought they did a really good job of switching every team we tried to set the screen.”
Buhl cut the lead to 23-15 at halftime and got as close as four in the third quarter, staying in the game by attacking the basket and drawing fouls. Eight of the Lady Indians 13 third quarter points came at the free throw line. Fischer and Jaques both said they didn’t realize how close the game was until the third quarter, and then they did what their team needed in the final frame.
Fischer answered a Thomas jumper that cut the lead to 34-30 with a three-point play to start the final frame, and after five straight points from Bowman, Filer’s seniors scored 13 of their last 14 points. It helped keep Buhl at bay as the Lady Indians hit four three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Two free throws from Jaques pushed the lead to 49-39 with 3:06 left, and after a triple by Buhl’s Aspen Eckert, layups by Fischer and Bishop put the game away.
“Honestly there’s always a lot of hype around district games,” Fischer told the Times-News. “But we just gotta go and play how we always do. Obviously there’s always nerves but we’re here to play, have fun and win.”
Filer will host South Fremont (4-1) tomorrow, while Buhl’s next game is at home against Declo (3-1) on Tuesday. The Lady Hornets topped the Lady Indians 44-36 in Declo on Nov. 21.
2A
Declo 52, West Jefferson 39 (at Ririe Bulldog Shootout)
Lilly Mallory’s 19 points led Declo in the squad's opener at the Ririe Bulldog Shootout. Brynn Silcock also scored a dozen. Declo (3-1) will battle Ririe at 8:05 p.m. Friday.
Ririe 52, Wendell 8 (at Ririe Bulldog Shootout)
Wendell (1-5) will play West Jefferson at 4:55 p.m. in the second day of the Ririe Bulldog Shootout.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Interstate
Ridgeline (Utah) 72, Twin Falls 54 (at the Coach Rod Tueller Classic @ North Logan, Utah)
Twin Falls (0-2 overall) will play Green Canyon (Utah) at 7 p.m. Friday in the second day of the Coach Rod Tueller Classic in North Logan, Utah.
Interclass
Camas County @ Castleford (n/a)
Wendell 64, Valley 44
Jett Jasper led Wendell as one of four Trojans in double figure scoring with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Jordan Swainston secured 13 points while Jonathan Swainston and Bodey Cutler dropped a dozen each for Wendell.
Daniel Juarez led Valley with 14 points and Tex Godfrey boasted 10.
Wendell (2-1) will host Gooding at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Valley (0-1) will host Raft River at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Lighthouse Christian @ Richfield (n/a)
3A
Filer 51, American Falls 41
Kasen Christensen and Owen Grant boosted Filer with a dozen points each in its season-opening win. Zach Grigg posted 17 points for American Falls. Grigg’s teammate, Dax Brower, recorded a dozen.
Filer (1-0 overall) will visit Skyline at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
1A DII
Rockland 70, Hansen 28
Nic Gill helped Hansen with a team-high 11 points. Rockland’s Aiden Radford led all scorers with 21 points.