“Team-oriented” Ririe is back in the state tournament after missing last season

IDAHO FALLS – The Ririe Bulldogs are headed back to the state tournament.

It’s like they never left.

Well, not really.

Ririe was no stranger to the spotlight, making 10 straight trips to the state tournament before stumbling last season and having that streak snapped.

So, the Bulldogs are ‘back’ after Wednesday’s 49-40 victory over North Fremont in the 3A District 6 tournament final.

“Back on the saddle again this year,” coach Jake Landon said after the postgame celebratory net cutting.

The Bulldogs (15-9) have played their best when the team is balanced, Landon noted. That was the case Wednesday as eight different players scored, but none had more than nine points. That was senior Brinley Taylor. Junior McKall Marsh had eight points.

Ririe scored inside and also finished with eight 3-pointers.

“We are truly a basketball team,” Landon said. “We have some individual players who are very talented, but we also are a team that is team oriented. This year we’ve had seven different girls lead us in scoring … and we really feel we have a lot of different ways to be successful.”

The game was close early before the Bulldogs started to pull away midway through the second quarter.

A 3-pointer by Liza Boone, followed by a pair of free throws by Shae Sutton and an inside basket by Marsh put the Bulldogs up 26-15 in the final minute of the half.

The Huskies (12-13) opened the third with a 6-0 run the cut into the lead, but Lauren Robson knocked down a 3-pointer for Ririe to stop the bleeding.

Catie Pickard had five points in the quarter for North Fremont and Grace Heiner added four, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs led 40-29 after the third. The Huskies cut the lead to nine late in the game, but would get no closer.

So the streak of missing the state tournament ends at one season for the Bulldogs.

“Whenever we got in the gym motivation was not a problem,” Landon said. “These girls love to compete and they like to win and they were very motivated to finish this thing off the right way.”

North Fremont, which finished runner-up at the state tournament last season, will play in a state play-in game on Saturday.

Taylor Sessions led the Huskies with 18 points and Heiner finished with 12.