Basketball Whip-Around: Malad girls secure conference; Diggers girls stay perfect; Watersprings, Rockland boys set stage

EASTERN IDAHO — With their third-straight 30-plus-point win on Saturday, the Malad girls secured a second consecutive conference championship.

Other teams continued to express their dominance as well, with the Sugar-Salem girls remaining perfect — like the boys. The Watersprings boys ran their current winning streak to nine, setting the stage for a massive 1A showdown in Rockland.

The Rockland girls remained in the hunt for their own back-to-back conference crown.

Here is a rundown of Saturday’s prep basketball action:

Rockland @ Sho-Ban, girls

The reigning 1A state champion Bulldogs (12-6, 6-1) kept pace with Leadore (12-3, 6-1), one game behind Mackay (15-1, 7-0) with one week remaining in the regular season, knocking off the Lady Chiefs (7-4, 4-4), 58-25.

Rockland got huge performances from senior Harmony Boyer and sophomore Gracie Freeman.

Boyer led all scorers with 14, to go with four rebounds and four steals, while Freeman grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Sho-Ban was led by junior Kei’Ana Medicine Top, who scored seven points. She added four rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

The Lady Chiefs will finish their regular season Friday at home, when they host Taylor’s Crossing (6-5, 3-4).

Rockland, still battling for a conference title, will welcome Taylor’s Crossing to town Tuesday before finishing their regular season at home Thursday against Watersprings (2-13, 0-7).

Watersprings @ Mackay, boys

The Warriors (14-1, 6-0) beat the Miners (14-3, 4-2) 50-33 in Mackay, to remain unbeaten against 1A Rocky Mountain Conference foes.

With two weeks left in the boys’ regular season, the conference can go a number of directions — with Mackay far from eliminated from contention at this point.

Watersprings will be at home Tuesday, hosting North Gem (3-11, 1-6), with the biggest game of the season just around the corner — a Thursday trip to Rockland to face the Bulldogs (14-2, 6-0).

Looking to get things back on track after back-to-back losses, the Miners will be at American Heritage (5-7, 1-5) Tuesday.

Grace Lutheran @ Clark County, boys

One of the teams still involved in that same conference race, the Royals (10-3, 4-3) made it two wins in a row Saturday, downing the Clark County Bobcats (1-13, 0-6), 70-47, on the road.

Grace Lutheran got 20 points from senior Ely Sauer to lead the way.

They will be at Challis (7-8, 3-3) Tuesday, looking to pile up some conference wins while they wait for losses from the conference leaders. Clark County will be at Leadore (8-7, 3-4).

Declo @ Malad, girls

The Dragons (18-2, 8-0) crushed the Hornets (5-13, 0-8), 59-22, to lock up the 3A South East Idaho Conference.

Malad has now won eight games in a row — all by double-digits, with the last three coming on a combined score of 194-68 (+126). They were led by senior Mikell Keetch, who scored a game-high 13, with five different players scoring six or more.

The Dragons will finish their regular season Wednesday, with the Soda Springs Cardinals (8-11, 5-2) paying them a visit.