Basketball Whip-Around: 4 more district champs crowned, 3 state tickets left to be punched

SODA SPRINGS — Grace, Preston, Rockland and Soda Springs joined the ranks of district champions at the end of a very busy Thursday.

Rigby also punched its ticket to state as the 6A District 4-5-6 runner-up, while Blackfoot earned a spot in Saturday’s play-in game with a win over Shelley.

That leaves three state berths to be claimed, including one district championship.

Here is where things stand in the boys’ basketball playoffs as of Friday:

State spots left

With the Diggers beating the Timberwolves, 51-43, at Teton High School Thursday night, the 4A D6 championship has been pushed to a winner-take-all game. The district title and its lone state spot will be claimed at Sugar-Salem High School on Saturday. The road team has won all four meetings between the conference rivals this years.

The 1A D5-6 second-place state bid will be decided Saturday at Ririe High School, when Watersprings meets Mackay. Mackay earned its spot in the game by beating Taylor’s Crossing, 57-50, Thursday. Watersprings fell into the game after losing the district championship game, 65-47, to Rockland. The Warriors beat the Miners, 50-33, in their only meeting this season.

The second bid to come out of the 3A D4-5 tournament will be decided between a pair of D4 teams, Declo and Wendell, Saturday. Wendell beat and eliminated West Side, 67-44, to advance into Saturday’s game.

1A

The Rockland Bulldogs beat the Watersprings Warriors for the 1A D5-6 championship Thursday, behind outstanding performances from Woodrow Lowder, Brayzen Gibbs and Xavier Parrish, and a solid defensive game from Zach Permann.

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Rockland will be returning to the state tournament for the fifth straight year, and looking for its first state championship since 2022.

The Bulldogs will be the top-ranked 1A team when the tournament opens next Thursday.

2A

Grace and Butte County played a trilogy of district tournament games that could not have gotten any closer. After splitting the first two games, with each team claiming a one-point nail-biting victory, the Grizzlies came away two-point victors at Aberdeen High School Thursday.

Behind 13 points from sophomore Carter Mecham and 12 from senior Bodee Smith, the Grizzlies edged out Butte County, 54-52.

Junior Cooper Williams led all scorers with 14 to pace the Pirates.

Grace is currently ranked 16th in the state among 2A teams. Butte County is one of the teams ranked ahead of the Grizzlies, at 6th.

3A

Soda Springs needed an extra four minutes to dispatch Declo, winning the 3A D4-5 championship with a 55-51 overtime victory. The Cardinals will carry the No. 10 ranking into next week’s state tournament.

5A

D5
Preston made it back-to-back district championships, beating Pocatello 65-39. The reigning state champs will go to Nampa as the No. 2-ranked 5A team in the state.

D6
The conference-champion Blackfoot Broncos beat the Russets at Shelley High School, 60-43, Thursday night to earn a spot in Saturday’s play-in round.

Blackfoot will face Burley in a winner-take-all game at American Falls High School. The Broncos won both ends of a home-and-home during the regular season, by 19 combined points.

6A

After going 0-8 in conference play during the regular season, the Rigby Trojans earned their second district tournament win Thursday, beating the Canyon Ridge Riverhawks, 81-74, at Canyon Ridge.

As the 6A D4-5-6 second-place finisher, Rigby will head to state despite being ranked 19th out of 20 6A teams. One of the Trojans’ two district tournament wins came on the road against Thunder Ridge, who finished the season ranked 10th in the state.