The Malad Dragons earned everything they got this season

MALAD CITY — For the Malad Dragons, the girls’ state basketball tournament was more of a coronation than a competition.

Malad won its three state games by an average of 26.3 points en route to a 3A championship. Including the district tournament, the Dragons went 5-0 in the playoffs, averaging a 29.2-point margin of victory. The closest game in that span was a 19-point victory, 71-52, over Grangeville in the state semis.

They entered the season with the utmost belief that they could play and win at the highest level. But they felt the same way last year, when they lost the state championship game and were forced to settle for second place.

Though Malad used that loss as fuel, once the heartbreak of the loss subsided, they never viewed it as “a huge defeat,” according to senior Brynnlee Jones. The Dragons realized that playing in a state championship game was a huge accomplishment.

“But I think that definitely was our main motivation: to get back there and win it this time,” she said.

Her father and head coach Trevor Jones made sure the entire team was well aware of the success it would take to reach the title game in 2025, despite the loss.

“This group, for the last two years, has had state title hopes, dreams,” he said. “They wanted to be contenders. After last year, having it taken away from us all summer, it changed. Last year, it was like a mission. This year, it was like a journey: this is our destiny, let’s go make it happen.”

Trevor knows, about as well as anyone, that the state tournament takes as much as it gives.

He grew up going to games, watching his father, Terry Jones — a 2009 IHSAA Hall of Fame inductee — coach Malad’s boys teams to numerous championships. As an adult, he watches his brothers, Preston boys coach Tyler Jones and Rigby boys coach Justin Jones, try to do the same.

“I’ve been up there watching for my life,” Trevor said of the state tournament. “You go up there, and it’s whoever shows up. You’ve gotta play 32 minutes against the best teams in the state, and they all have that same dream — they’ve all worked for it just as hard from when they were little. You can’t take anything for granted.”

That determination enveloped the team from the first summer camp practices, and the team took on the motto “Earn it” all year.

Malad was led on the court this season by five seniors. Brynnlee, Kiley Miller, Izzy Haycock, Mikell Keetch and Olivia Nelson have played together since they were in fourth grade. And their dream, Miller said, has always been to win a championship and bring the banner back to Malad.

“What they accomplished was amazing,” Trevor said. “You’ve got a couple of little kids that walked into a gym and had big goals, so to go and perform at the biggest stage in Idaho and to completely shine, it was amazing to sit back and see, because of what they put into it. They earned it.”

Because of those big goals, Trevor knew that scheduling some tough opponents would help the squad. So he put Rigby and Sugar-Salem on the preseason docket.

Malad beat both teams that went on to finish undefeated regular seasons.

During their own regular season, the Dragons went 20-0 against 3A competition, suffering their two losses to a school from Utah and 4A state champ Bear Lake — a team against which they split two games, going 1-1.

Last season, Miller said, the Dragons seemed to feel like the championship was theirs before they played for it, which made losing it hurt even more.

“This year, we were going to make it happen,” she said.

“We were like, ‘We got this. We’ve worked so hard, let’s keep it up, and we can beat anyone if we put our mind to it,'” Brynnlee added.

When the playing was done and the championship was earned, Malad boarded its bus for the four-hour trek home. The ride, Miller said, “was really hyped.” The girls took turns lying on the banner and holding the trophy. They stopped for a celebratory dinner at Chuck-A-Rama in Twin Falls, then got a police escort through town so adoring Malad City residents could cheer and honk horns for them.

There were even more fans waiting for the team’s arrival on campus.

“It definitely felt good to know that they know that we were working hard to (win the championship),” Miller said.

“And the way they came to state and backed us up the entire time,” Brynnlee concluded.

Because they were led by five seniors, the Dragons’ roster will be quite different next season.

Asked what parting message they offered their teammates, Brynnlee and Miller said they want the younger girls to know that they understand the pressure that comes with filling large shoes, but fully believe the girls are capable of filling them.

Trevor offered a similar sentiment during the team’s end-of-season banquet, after he thanked the seniors for their years of commitment and hard work, and for helping to lay the foundation for a culture of success.

“Then you turn and look at those underclassmen, and you let them know that the history books are unwritten, and they hold the pens to go and write it,” he said. “They absolutely have the same goals and dreams and determinations.”