Basketball Whip-Around: Diggers stay perfect, move to cusp of state berth

EASTERN IDAHO — A very scant girls’ basketball schedule included just one district game Friday night — with the Sugar-Salem Diggers hosting the Teton Timberwolves.

The top-seeded Diggers moved to within one win of earning the 4A District 6 tourney’s lone state bid, with a win over Teton.

In boys’ action, the Rockland Bulldogs tallied a double-digit road victory over the Mackay Miners to lock up the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference championship and home-court advantage in the upcoming district tournament.

Thunder Ridge beat Highland in the East Idaho Sports boys’ basketball Game of the Week, and Blackfoot and Bonneville needed an overtime period to decide a key conference showdown.

Teton @ Sugar-Salem, girls

The reigning state champion Diggers improved to 22-0 on the season with a 56-36 home victory over the Timberwolves in the 4A District 6 tournament semifinals.

Teton will host South Fremont Tuesday, with the winner facing Sugar-Salem in the district championship round on Thursday. If the winner of Tuesday’s matchup is able to hand the Diggers their first loss of the season, they will have to do it again on Saturday to eliminate the state’s No. 5-ranked girls’ team (per MaxPreps) — No. 1 in 4A.

Rockland @ Mackay, boys

The Bulldogs and Miners played with the conference crown in the balance Mackay Friday night, with Rockland (18-2, 10-0) coming away the victor, beating Mackay (16-4, 6-3) 71-60.

Rockland, MaxPreps’ top-ranked 1A squad, got 21 points from Woodrow Lowder and 18 from Xavier Parrish. Mackay got 15 apiece from co-captains Ryker Summers and Cooper Holt.

With the win, the Bulldogs won the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference championship and will not have to travel during the 1A District 5-6 tournament.

Rockland will finish its season Tuesday at Richfield, while the Miners will round theirs out Saturday when they host Camas County.

Blackfoot @ Bonneville, boys

The Broncos (16-3-, 9-1) locked up the 5A High Country Conference with a 73-71 road victory over the Bees (7-13, 5-5), in a game that took an overtime period to decide.

With the win and conference championship, Blackfoot locked up home-court advantage for the 5A District 6 tournament. Home-court is especially meaningful for a team that split their home and away games with the No. 2 seed, as the Broncos did with the Hillcrest Knights (10-9, 7-2) did this year.

The Broncos are at home against Pocatello on Wednesday, then on the road against Thunder Ridge Friday to finish their regular season. The Bees’ final regular season game will be Friday at Century.