Snake River back in the state championship game after a convincing win over McCall-Donnelly

EAGLE – The last time Snake River won a state title was in 2013.

The Panthers will get a chance to end that drought on Saturday when they take on two-time defending champion Bonners Ferry for the 4A title.

Snake River defeated McCall-Donnelly 67-47 in Friday’s semifinals and proved there’s a lot going right for the Panthers since they lost to Marsh Valley in their district tournament.

First and foremost, it’s hard to overlook the team’s propensity for fast starts in their two tournament games while knocking opponents on their heels before anyone’s even broken a sweat.

That was the case Friday as the Panthers jumped out to a 20-4 lead after one quarter. If that sounds familiar it’s because it was a flashback to Thursday’s tournament opener when the Panthers built a quick double-digit lead over Filer and rolled to a convincing win.

“It’s our energy,” forward Marcus Coombs said. “We come out with so much energy. We’re playing as a team, we’re all scoring, we’re executing our offense. We’re just flat out working hard.”

It’s state tournament time, so it’s always a good time to be perfect.

Of course, no coach or player will use the word perfect, but sometimes the chemistry is telling.

“Right from the beginning I knew these guys were special,” Coombs said. “We came into the season hot (winning 21 of 22 games) … I knew we were going to get here.”

McCall-Donnelly had other ideas, but never recovered from the early onslaught.

The Panthers (25-3) shot 54% and were efficient at both ends, hitting 11 of 12 free throws and scoring 18 points off of Vandal turnovers.

“It’s exciting, it’s great,” longtime Snake River coach Robert Coombs said. “Getting to go to the Idaho Center (for the finals), that’s what it’s all about. That was our goal at the beginning of the year.”

Snake River wasn’t so fortunate a year ago after entering as the No. 1 seed but falling to Teton in the state semifinals.

“The kids just got it done tonight,” Robert Coombs said. “I thought we executed well, the defense was really good.”

As for the trend of setting the tone early, it’s probably a good bet that Bonners Ferry has been paying attention.

“To jump out on them is the most important thing,” Coombs said of Friday’s game. “That will decide the basketball game right there.”

Coombs finished with 17 points, Bridjer Howard had 16 points and Dawson Jackman added 14.

The 4A championship game is 3:50 p.m. at the Idaho Center.