Hillcrest v. Blackfoot in Round 1, Firth above Rire?: Examining the girls’ state bracket

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EASTERN IDAHO — The Idaho High School Activities Association bases its state brackets’ seeding entirely on MaxPreps rankings. And sure, making in-house calls to realign those rankings sets a potentially dangerous precedent.

But what is the point of forcing the Ririe Bulldogs and Firth Cougars to play Saturday if there is no advantage for winning the extra game?

Firth won the conference championship, earning home-court advantage during the district tournament. After falling to the Cougars both times the two teams met during the regular season, Ririe got revenge with a pair of playoff victories to win the district championship.

Yet, it’s Firth who takes the No. 2 seed in the 3A state tournament bracket, while Ririe slides into the 4-seed.

What this means is, Ririe will get the tougher round-one game, against No. 5 Grangeville — versus Firth’s pairing with No. 7 West Side.

And if the higher seed wins all four first-round games in the 3A tournament, Ririe will be matched up with top-seeded Malad in the second round, while Firth will get a considerably more favorable matchup with 3-seed Ambrose.

So maybe the Bulldogs should have just taken the extra day of rest on Saturday, rather than battling the Cougars a fifth time this season.

What no rankings system can take away from Ririe, though, is the district championship they won, and the state berth it came with.

That being said, what else does the first round have in store for eastern Idaho basketball fans?

6A

The 6A bracket features a pair of local teams — No. 2 Rigby and No. 8 Madison.

The Bobcats get the tough draw, facing No. 1 Eagle in Thursday’s noon game at the Idaho Center. The Trojans will face No. 7 Boise.

Madison faced Eagle this season, losing 56-30 on the road on Nov. 21.

Rigby opened its season with a 49-38 home victory against Boise.

On opposite ends of the bracket, the only way the to rivals would meet would be if they faced off with a blue trophy and banner in the balance.

5A

Three local squads earned spots in the 5A bracket.

No. 4 Pocatello will face No. 5 Jerome in the 2 p.m. game at Mountain View High School Thursday.

One of the compelling matchups of the first round is the Blackfoot-Hillcrest showdown, set for 5 p.m. Thursday, also at Mountain View High School.

After beating the Knights to clinch the district championship, Bronco head coach Raimee Odum said her team expected a first-round matchup with their conference rivals.

The Knights had to beat Mountain Home in Saturday’s play-in round to earn their bid. And now they get a team they’ve faced and come up shot against three times this season.

As Ririe proved in their district tournament, however, previous results are thrown out in the playoffs.

4A

Local teams fill the 1-, 2- and 4-seed positions in the 4A bracket — the first two rounds of which will be played at Skyview High School.

The undefeated reigning champion Sugar-Salem Diggers are unsurprisingly the top-seed. They will face No. 8 Kimberly in the noon game. In two previous meetings this season, the Diggers grabbed a pair of 20-plus-point victories.

Sugar-Salem beat Bear Lake, 47-41, in last year’s state championship game, and the two teams could be on a collision course once again.

The No. 2-seeded Bears get No. 7 Filer in the 7 p.m. game Thursday. The two teams have not yet met this season.

No. 4 Marsh Valley has not faced its first-round opponent either. The Eagles draw No. 5 Fruitland and the 2 p.m. time slot.

3A

The Malad Dragons came up just short of a championship last season, and came back even more driven this year. The No. 1 seed rides an 11-game winning streak into the state tournament, where they will open their run against No. 8 Kellogg in the noon slot at Kuna High School.

Malad and Kellogg have not met this season.

No. 4 Ririe will face No. 5 Grangeville for the right to face the Malad-Kellogg winner, while No. 2 Firth will face No. 7 West Side.

The Bulldogs have not faced Grangeville this season, while Firth owns a pair of victories over the Pirates.

2A

The lone local participant in the 2A bracket is the top seed, Butte County. The Pirates will face No. 8 Vision Charter in the noon game at Columbia High School.

This will be the first time the two teams meet this season.

1A

No. 2 Mackay and No. 5 Rockland will represent eastern Idaho in the 1A bracket, playing its first two rounds at Owyhee High School.

The Miners will face No. 7 Dietrich, a team Mackay beat 58-31 on Dec. 2, at 7 p.m.

Rockland will play at 2 p.m., facing No. 4 Dreary. The Bulldogs, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, have not faced Dreary this season.

Allan and I will be in Boise for the tournament, from start to finish. Follow us on socials to see where we will be for each time slot.