Youth on full display as Broncos best rival Russets in district tourney quarters

BLACKFOOT — Shelley came out hot as a pistol against Bingham County rival Blackfoot Thursday night, grabbing an early lead in the 5A High Country Conference district tournament quarterfinal matchup at Blackfoot High School.

Looking to return the favor of two double-digit regular-season losses against the Broncos (18-4, 10-0), the Russets (6-16, 4-6) grabbed a 10-5 lead near the midway point of the first quarter. Behind sophomores Lexi Jackman and Blaklee Ball, however, Blackfoot completely turned the tide over the next eight-plus minutes, scoring 17 unanswered to grab a 22-10 advantage with just over five minutes left in the first half.

Shelley challenged late, thanks to hot shooting from senior Sarah Kidman. But another Blackfoot youngster, freshman Oakley Talbot, pushed her team across the finish line with a trio of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, as the Broncos secured a 57-44 win to lock up a spot in Tuesday’s district championship game.

Head coach Raimee Odum spoke after the game about how proud she was of her team, which features just two seniors — one active — and more freshmen (three) than juniors (two), for refusing to give up.

“They battled,” she told EastIdahoSports.com. “District games are tough, and I’ve got some young girls, so they got their first taste of that.”

Odum explained that, her program’s philosophy is centered around defense: let the defense dictate the offense.

So, in an albeit modest hole early, she asked her team to ratchet up its effort and intensity on the defensive end.

During their 17-0 run, the Broncos swiped six steals and blocked one shot, leading to easy transition buckets.

“The girls just started getting stops — stacked some stops together,” Odum said. “Then we finally started getting the ball to go in the hole.”

No one from either side got the ball to go into the hole more than Jackman, who finished her night with a game-high 20 points. She added 10 rebounds and two steals and said after the game that she has always hung her hat on defense, but is happy to do whatever she needs to do to win.

“Honestly, last year, the reason that I was even on the team was for defense,” she said. “I’ve definitely had to step into a little bit more of a scoring role this year … but I love defense so much — I just love the game so much.”

Jackman (10.7) joined Talbot (14.8) as the only Broncos to average double-figure scoring during the regular season. But Jackman also averaged more than two steals per game (2.1) while grabbing 3.2 rebounds per game, despite her diminutive stature.

Blackfoot threatened to pull away several times from the middle of the second quarter on, but Shelley refused to let the Broncos do so. Then, in the fourth quarter, Kidman found a rhythm, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 10 points in the quarter.

When Kidman hit a baseline floater with just under five minutes left in the game, she pulled the Russets to within five points.

But as hot as Kidman was, Talbot matched, knocking down three fourth-quarter deep balls — the last two coming in a span of roughly 30 seconds, pushing the lead back to 11.

Talbot finished the game with 11 points. Ball, who did most of her damage during the Broncos’ first-half run, added 13 points and five steals.

Kidman scored a team-high 15 points for Shelley.

With the loss, Shelley will face Bonneville Saturday at Shelley High School in a win-or-go-home game.

Blackfoot, who lost last year’s third-place game at state to Mountain Home, is one win away from booking a return trip to Nampa. They will face Hillcrest on Tuesday at Blackfoot High School. The loser will still have a chance to be make the tournament, but they will have to win a second-place game then a play-in game.

Asked what it is about the youngsters on her team that allows them to compete with older and taller squads — like Shelley and Hillcrest — Jackman credited her coach.

“She really brings out the best in everybody on her team,” she said. “We’re not the same as we were last year, we have a different skillset, but we’re honestly just as good, or better.”

Odum agreed that this team is different from last year’s edition.

“We know the skill that (the young players) have — we’ve been watching since they were little,” the coach said. “Our makeup has kinda changed — we lost three seniors over 6-foot from last year. We didn’t know exactly how it would go. I knew they would compete … their competitive spirit is their bread and butter.”