Cards and Grizz Bring Home State Trophies

The Soda Springs Cardinals and the Grace Grizzlies were each able to secure one of the coveted trophies from the state basketball tournament last weekend.  While neither team was able to obtain a state championship both teams did claim consolation championships while following very similar paths.  After each team was able to win district championships they were each given low seeds in the state tournament.  The seeding at state is based on maxpreps rankings which in and of themselves can be controversial.  The Cardinals ended up being seeded seventh out of eight teams while the Grizzlies were put in as the lowly eighth seed in their bracket.  As the tournament played out in each classification it became clear that out of all six classifications the Cardinals and Grizzlies may have been the two most underrated teams in the entire state.  While both of our local teams did fall in their opening games to high seeded teams, both were able to bounce back and beat teams that were seeded well above them.  The Cardinals lost their first game to the number two seed then came back to beat the number three and number five ranked teams.  Similarly the Grizzlies lost to the number one seed and then were able to defeat the number five and six ranked teams to win their trophy.  The Cardinals and Grizzlies were the only seventh and eighth seeded teams in any classification to win a trophy.  In my eyes this just shows the determination that Caribou County kids have to continue to battle through adversity.  Now let's break down each team's tournament run.

Soda Springs Cardinals

The Cardinals tournament began on Thursday evening.  For their opening round game they were paired up with the Wendell Trojans.  Many expected Wendell to come out of districts with the conference championship and be one of the favorites to win state.  After the Cardinals pulled off the district title upset leaving the Trojans to finish in second place Wendell was seeking their revenge when the two teams met at state.  The Cardinals on the other hand were not ready to go down without a fight.  While the Trojans did score the first two baskets in the game the Cardinals did not panic as they quickly matched their opponents.  The Cardinals combated the quickness of the Trojans with aggressive defensive play.  While the aggressive defense did result in several fouls being called the strategy worked early on and as the first quarter ended they were all tied up at thirteen points a piece.  In the second quarter the Cardinals came out on fire and went on a 8-0 run forcing a Wendell timeout.  The lead did not last long.  The Trojans came charging back and by the halftime break the Cardinals lead had been cut to a single point.  For the first three minutes of the third the game remained close with the Cardinals maintaining a slim lead then things went south for Soda Springs.  Following a series of shooting fouls and some long rebounds that led to fast break opportunities the Trojans went on a run of their own.  The Trojans led by as much as eleven in the quarter and finished it up by nine.  Despite their best efforts the Cardinals were not able to break through in the fourth quarter.  Although they matched the Trojans scoring output in the fourth they just could not overcome the Wendells third quarter run.  As a result the Cardinals lost their opening game and were forced to move to the consolation side of the bracket where the best they could hope for would be a consolation championship.

Following the round one loss the Cardinals were set to face the Orofino Maniacs in round two.  The three seeded Maniacs were upset in their opening round by the sixth seeded Pilgrims from New Plymouth.  The Cardinals and the Maniacs were each hungry for a win and wanted to avoid elimination.  The game opened up with a pair of three’s by each team which showed promise of a thrilling shootout.  As the quarter progressed the Cardinals were able to gain a slight edge.  At the end of the first Soda Springs had a three point lead.  Not much changed in the second quarter of play.  Every time the Cardinals appeared to be on the verge of breaking the game open the Maniacs would reel them back in staying within striking distance.  By the end of the first half of play the Cardinals had only increased their lead to four.  In the third quarter the Cardinals did take control of the game.  The shooters from Soda Springs along with several quick transition points helped the Cardinals jump out to a double digit lead.  Halfway through the quarter the Cardinals had led by as much as sixteen.  By the end of the quarter the Maniacs had trimmed the lead to eleven.  The Cardinals were able to maintain about a ten point lead through the first half of the fourth quarter then the Maniacs went to work.  Over the next few minutes Orofino out hustled the Cardinals and were threatening Soda Springs chances of moving on to the next round.  With just two minutes left in the game the lead had all but evaporated and with just under a minute the game was all knotted up.  With just twelve seconds left in the game the Maniacs had now clawed their way to a one point lead and were at the foul line shooting two shots.  Things looked bleak for the Cardinals but fortune was on their side.  The Maniac player missed the shots and Soda got the ball.  With just seconds left in the game Gavin Hansen drove to the basket and was fouled.  Hansen stepped to the line and drilled both shots giving the lead back to the Cardinals.  A last second halfcourt heave from Orofino missed the mark and Soda Springs came away with the narrow victory.

The win in the consolation semi-final put the Cardinals in the consolation championship where they faced the fifth seeded Firth Cougars.  The Cougars were coming off of a dominating eighteen point win over Parma in their consolation semi final.  In the first quarter of the consolation championship the game stayed close.  A Thompson three in the closing seconds gave the Cardinals a four point advantage heading into the second quarter.  In the second quarter the Cardinals took control of the game.  After leading by eleven Soda Springs finished the half up by nine.  Not much changed in the third as the lead stayed right around the ten point threshold.  Now entering their fourth and final quarter of the season the Cardinals held a twelve point lead.  Much like the third quarter the Cardinals held a double digit lead for the vast majority of the time.  Unlike their semi final game the Cardinals opposition was unable to mount any kind of a dramatic comeback.  Holding a fifteen point lead and less than a minute left Coach Tom Fueschel emptied his bench giving his senior players a moment to be honored by the Cardinals fan base.  Soda Springs got the victory and won the consolation trophy for the second year in a row. 

Senior point guard Gavin Draper played a crutial role guiding the offense during the Grizzlies tournament run.

 The Cardinals were led in the tournament once again by their big three.  Of the one hundred seventy points scored by the Cardinals in the tournament Hansen, Thompson and McWilliams accounted for one hundred forty of those points.  The three seniors along with their fellow senior teammates will definitely be missed next season.  However do not be dismayed if you are a Cardinal fan.  In the later part of the season the coaching staff worked in several of the younger players and many of them showed real promise.  I was especially impressed with the recent play of Landon Martinsen and Makiah Browning to go along with returning starter Jaxson Horsley.  They will give the coaches a good start on building next year's team.  

Senior Chase Smith hit some clutch free throws in the final seconds of the consolation championship.

Cardinals 13 17 9 13 52

Trojans 13 16 19 13 61

M. Browning 3, C. Thompson 12, G. Hansen 17, B. Harrison 3, K. McWilliams 10, J. Horsley 4, P. Ozburn 3

Cardinals 16 12 21 11 60

Maniacs 13 11 14 21 59

M. Browning 4, C. Thompson 13, G. Hansen 32, K. McWilliams 9, P. Ozburn 2

Cardinals 18 12 15 13 58

Cougars 14 7 17 5 43 

M. Browning 3, C. Thompson 24, G. Hansen 17, K. McWilliams 6, J. Horsley 5, P. Ozburn 3

Grace Grizzlies

The Grace Grizzlies boys basketball team survived a hotly contested consolation championship game last weekend during the state basketball tournament.

 The Grace Grizzlies began this year's state tournament at noon on Thursday in the very first game of the entire tournament.  The Grizzlies earned a tough draw for the opening game as they were matched up against the number one seed and defending state champions the Kendrick Tigers.  Even though they were one of the only teams at state to have a losing record the Grizzlies knew they were better than that record showed and they proved it in the early going of this game.  The Grizzlies went blow for blow with the top team all through the first quarter and actually led for much of that quarter including at the end where the score was seventeen to sixteen in favor of the Grizzlies.  Unfortunately the Grizzlies did not fare as well in the second quarter.  Some key players for the Grizzlies got into some foul trouble and Grace struggled to score.  As a result the Tigers began to pull away.  Kendrick really poured it on in the last two minutes of the half where they outscored the Grizzlies nine to three taking an overall lead of fourteen points into the locker room.  The Grizzlies were able to score more in the third quarter but some sloppy turnovers still allowed the Tigers to build on their lead.  Once again Kendrick made a big push to end the third quarter and finished with a nineteen point lead.  The fourth quarter was pretty much more of the same.  The Grizzlies made too many errors and could not slow down the Tigers offense.  The game ended with both teams putting in the back ups as the Grizzlies suffered the loss.

Senior Bodee Smith was deadly from beyond the ark down the stretch for the Grizzlies.

After losing in the opening round the Grizzlies were sent to the consolation side of the bracket where they faced the Valley Vikings in the consolation semi final.  The Vikings came into the game as the defending consolation champions, a position the Grizzlies forced them into last year when Grace knocked them out of the championship side of the bracket on opening day of the tournament.  In last year's game the Vikings were the number two seed in the tournament and the Grizzlies were number seven.  In this year's match up Valley came in as the fifth seed and Grace as the eighth seed.  Grace was seeking another upset while Valley was looking for revenge.  This game got off to a bit of a slow start as each team struggled to get shots to fall.  When shots did begin to fall more fell for the Vikings and the quarter ended with a Valley lead of seven points.  In the second period of play the Grizzlies continued to see some struggles on offense but there was a noticeable difference on the defensive side of the ball for Grace.  The Grizzlies only managed thirteen points in the second quarter but held the Vikings to zero.  This boosted the Grizzlies past the Vikings for a six point halftime lead.  The Grizzlies began the second half much better on offense.  In the first two minutes Grace went on a seven to zero run and took the lead to double digits.  The Grizzlies kept the throttle on for most of the third quarter finishing with a comfortable fifteen point lead.  There was very little change in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies held a double digit lead throughout and cruised to a thirteen point win breaking the Vikings spirits for the second year in a row. 

Senior Cooper Thompson capped off a stellar career for the Cardinals earning player of the game honors in his final high school game.

 The semi final win sent the Grizzlies to the consolation championship where they faced off with the Murtaugh Red Devils.  Murtaugh made their way to the consolation championship by losing on day one to the three seeded Prairie Pirates then beating the seven seeded Raiders from Rimrock.  With the consolation championship trophy on the line the two teams went to work.  This game would be a battle throughout with neither team able to definitively pull away from the other.  The Grizzlies struck first earning the first five points of the contest and forcing the Red Devils to call timeout.  The Red Devils would close the quarter out on a run of their own and take a one point lead to the second.  The teams continued to battle in the second quarter of play.  The Grizzlies did manage to work out to a five point advantage but it would not last as the Red Devils kept answering.  As halftime rolled around the game was once again just a one point advantage this time in favor of the Grizzlies.  In the third quarter the Grizzlies once again began to sneak away ever so slightly getting up by seven points but once again Murtaugh was able to answer back with some big shots to keep the game within reach.  As the third quarter came to a close the Grizzlies held a six point lead.  Grace was now just one quarter away from ending their season with a trophy if they could hang on for the win.  With just over three minutes left in the season the Grizzlies held a seven point lead and were attempting to close out the game.  However the Red Devils were not ready to hand the game over.  With under a minute left in the game the lead had been cut to just three points.  The good news for Grace was that sophomore standout Carter Mecham was at the line shooting two.  Mecham would go just one out of two and the lead went to four.  On the ensuing possession the Red Devils hit a deep well defended three to cut the lead to just one point with under thirty seconds left in the game.  The Red Devils elected to foul immediately and send senior Chase Smith to the line.  Smith with ice in his veins knocked down both shots and the lead went back to three.  Murtagh moved quickly down the court and got a couple of looks at the basket making one of them and once again cutting the lead to one.  Another quick foul sent Smith back to the line where he made his first but missed his second.  A desperation heave at the buzzer was off the mark and the Grizzlies survived to win the consolation trophy.

Senior Gavin Hansen led the Cardinals in scoring over the three day tournament.

The Grizzlies will lose a solid senior group of players that consisted of four starters who scored a lot of points.  They will however return a young team next season that should have a very strong junior class to go along with a couple of senior guards.  There should be enough pieces to once again contend for a state appearance next season.

Grizzlies 17 8 16 8 49

Tigers 16 23 21 12 72

K. Kimball 2, K. Edwards 3, G. Draper 2, C. Mecham 15, B. Smith 16, C. Smith 4, P. Yost 7

Grizzlies 8 13 22 13 56

Vikings 15 0 13 15 43

K. Kimball 2, K. Edwards 3, G. Draper 10, C. Mecham 6, B. Smith 15, B. Andersen 3, C. Smith 8, P. Yost 9

Grizzlies 10 17 17 9 53

Red Devils 11 15 14 14 51

K. Edwards 2, G. Draper 4, C. Mecham 8, B. Smith 9, C. Smith 14, P. Yost 16