Rockland claims its second-ever boys basketball banner, creates a new standard
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ROCKLAND — When the Rockland Bulldogs lost to Challis in the semifinals of last year’s state tournament, it hit the team and coaching staff hard.
The Bulldogs believed they were good enough to win the championship and claim the program’s second banner ever. Instead, it was the second semifinal loss suffered by this year’s five Rockland seniors in three trips to the state tournament.
So, when the Bulldogs reconvened for the 2025-26 season, they gelled behind the rally cry of “revenge tour.”
And when the final buzzer sounded on the 1A boys basketball season, with Rockland beating Garden Valley for the state title, the emotions flowed for all 12 Bulldogs.
“Revenge tour is fulfilled. Yes, we completed the revenge tour,” head coach Shae Neal said after the game. “It’s as sweet as it will ever be.”
The goal all year was to finish the season at the Ford Idaho Center, rather than spending another weekend at Caldwell High School, which hosts the 1A tournament — all games except for the championship game.
When the Bulldogs arrived at Caldwell for the first day of the state tournament, Neal spoke with the school’s administrators, and thanked them for the work they put in every year.
“But I do not want to see you on Saturday,” Neal recalled telling them. “I love you guys to death, you run a great tournament, but I do not want to see you guys on Saturday. Hopefully, the new standard is that we see them for two days, then we see some new life on Saturday.”
“I’m sick of that Caldwell gym,” senior Isaac Held told EastIdahoSports.com with a laugh. “The past four years, we played 11 games there. I was going to the Ford Center like, ‘We’ve gotta play here. That’s my goal, to play and win here.'”
Now, as Held pointed out, he and his teammates hold a perfect 1-0 record at the Ford Idaho Center.
For the five seniors on this year’s squad, the championship was a long-time goal realized. Woodrow Lowder, Ethan Permann, Iver Hendrickson, CJ Wilson, and Held were in eighth grade when the Bulldogs won their first-ever championship in 2022. And some of them were in the crowd that day at the Idaho Center, seeing that it was possible.
Permann was enthralled by the massive crowd that day four years ago, and loved every minute of soaking it up from the hardwood this year.
“It definitely helped to pump us up, but communication was a little harder because it was a lot louder in there. I feel like that was a big reason why our defense wasn’t as good as it usually is.”
Defense was not usually a weakness for the Bulldogs, who came into the tournament allowing fewer points (35.4 per game) than any other boys’ team across the state. But some communication issues and white-hot shooting from the Wolverines forced the Rockland offense to carry the water — and it did.
Rockland scored 71 points in the championship game, more than 10 of the other 11 teams that played at the Idaho Center that day — including 4A champion Cole Valley Christian, which scored 71. And they needed every point in a 70-67 victory.
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The Rockland High School 2026 graduating class includes just 16 students, meaning the five seniors on the varsity boys basketball roster make up roughly one-third of this year’s senior class. They also represent almost half of this year’s roster, meaning next year’s squad will look a little different.
Asked what message they want to leave for the youngsters now that their time with the team has concluded, the unifying message was one of belief in each other and trust in the process. And, of course, hard work.
“I woke up every morning at 5:30 a.m. Lifted, after that, I went and shot,” Held said of the daily schedule he followed throughout his high school career. “We worked out like madmen, and it was all worth it. To win that trophy, I would do it again, and again, and again.”
Neal, who won back-to-back state championships with Malad as a junior in 2005 and a senior in 2006, said one of the messages he leaves with all his players is how special a bond the team formed through the sweat equity it put in, the wins, and the championship it achieved together.
“Life’s going to punch you in the face. You have 11 other guys and three coaches that will be there for you with whatever you need. Send a text message, a call, whatever it is, 20 years from now, and we’ll be there for you,” he said. “That’s what this game is all about. It’s fun to see a trophy in the case when you come back, your banner’s hanging, but realistically it’s those 12 dudes in the locker room with you that you have fought all season long for.”
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