Basketball Whip-Around: 3 more district champs crowned; boys’ regular season cruises toward conclusion

EASTERN IDAHO — The Rigby Trojans, Blackfoot Broncos and Bear Lake Bears will be joining the Malad Dragons at next week’s state tournament as district champions, with five more local champs to be crowned in the coming days.

Despite losing to the Bear, the Marsh Valley Eagles can also earn a state berth with a play-in victory on Saturday.

When play wraps up Thursday, 13 local teams will own a spot in the state tournament, with another two battling for spots during Saturday’s play-in round, meaning much is left to be decided over the coming days.

Meanwhile, the boys’ basketball regular season approaches its final days, with their district tournaments just around the corner.

Here is a roundup of Tuesday night’s action:

Marsh Valley @ Bear Lake, girls

The Bears improved to 4-0 on the season against the conference foe Eagles with a 54-39 victory in the 4A District 5 tournament championship.

Bear Lake is currently ranked second in the state among 4A teams, according to MaxPreps, behind the undefeated Sugar-Salem Diggers. If that ranking holds, the Bears would play the No. 7 seed when the tournament begins next Thursday.

Marsh Valley will play at Twin Falls High School Saturday, facing the third-place team from the D3 tournament for a play-in bid. The Eagles are No. 4 in the MaxPreps rankings.

Highland @ Thunder Ridge, girls

The young Rams, without a single senior and more freshmen (5) than juniors (4) on the roster, saw their season come to an end Tuesday night at Thunder Ridge.

Behind a 38-35 victory, the Titans advanced to face the Madison Bobcats, who lost to the Rigby Trojans in Tuesday’s 6A D4-5-6 championship game.

Thunder Ridge will host Madison Thursday for the district’s second state bid.

Rigby currently carries a No. 2 MaxPreps ranking, while Thunder Ridge (9) and Madison (10) are also among the state’s elite 6A squads.

Taylor’s Crossing @ Rockland, girls

Freshman Mahana Hatch was near-unstoppable again for the Bulldogs, scoring a game-high 21 in Rockland’s 48-28 victory over Taylor’s Crossing in a 1A D5-6 elimination game.

Rockland advances to play Challis Thursday at Ririe High School.

The Vikings earned their spot in Thursday’s elimination game by beating Grace Lutheran, 49-22, at Challis High School.

Thursday’s winner will advance to that same night’s winner of the district championship game between Mackay and Leadore, in a second-place game on Saturday.

Saturday’s winner will get the district’s second of two state bids.

Rockland @ Richfield, boys

The Rockland boys’ team pushed their winning streak to 15, finishing their regular season with a 56-32 victory at Richfield.

Already the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference champions, the Bulldogs were led by seniors Woodrow Lowder, with 19 points, and Ethan Permann, with 13. Another senior, Isaac Held, added five points and 10 rebounds, while junior Xavier Parrish grabbed nine boards to go with seven points.

Rockland is currently the No. 1-ranked boys team, with conference rivals Watersprings and Mackay following, at 2 and 3, respectively.

Soda Springs @ Aberdeen, boys

The Cardinals finished their regular season by breaking out of a three-game losing streak, beating the Tigers 60-34 on the road.

Soda Springs had nine players score, and seven score five points or more, riding depth to a slump-busting victory.

Aberdeen was led by senior co-captain Jose Medel, with 12 points.

Both teams will be chasing conference champion Wendell when the district tournament starts next week.