Basketball Whip-Around: Malad locks up state berth; Firth earns rematch with Ririe

EASTERN IDAHO — The Malad Dragons are once again 3A District 4-5 champions, after beating Aberdeen Monday night. With the victory, the Dragons have earned a spot in the state tournament and likely the bracket’s top seed.

Other district championships could be decided as early as Tuesday, when Madison plays at Rigby for the 6A D4-5-6 championship, Hillcrest visits Blackfoot for the 5A D6 crown, and Bear Lake hosts Marsh Valley for the 4A D5 title.

Here is a quick update on how all local girls’ basketball playoff proceedings round out:

6A

Madison will be at Rigby Tuesday night for a battle of 6A D4-5-6 tourney unbeatens. The winner of the rivalry game will claim the district championship trophy and earn one of the district’s two state bids, while the loser will play again on Thursday.

On the other side of the district bracket, the Thunder Ridge Titans will host the Highland Rams, also Tuesday night, in a loser-out game. The winner will face the loser of Madison-Rigby.

Thursday’s winner will claim the district’s second state bid.

5A

D6
Blackfoot will host Hillcrest Tuesday night for the district championship. The winner will grab a spot in the state tournament, while the loser will play again Thursday for a spot in the 5A play-in round.

Playing for the right to face the Knights-Broncos loser, Skyline will host Shelley Tuesday night.

The 5A D6 play-in qualifier will face the D4 tournament runners-up on Saturday.

D5
Century will visit Preston Tuesday night, with the winner earning a rematch with Pocatello on Thursday. Because the district will produce just one state participant, Tuesday’s winner will have to beat Pocatello twice — on Thursday and Saturday, if necessary.

4A

D6
South Fremont will be at Teton Tuesday night, playing for a spot in the district championship round. Another district playing for just one state bid, Tuesday’s winner would have to beat the undefeated Sugar-Salem Diggers twice — on Thursday and Saturday, if necessary.

D5
Bear Lake and Marsh Valley will play Tuesday in a rematch of a game the Bears won, 60-30, last week. With a win, Bear Lake would return to the state tournament, where they lost to Sugar-Salem in the championship last season.

If the Eagles come away victorious, they would force an if-necessary game on Thursday.

The district champion will advance into the state tournament, while the runners-up will play the third-place team from D3, Saturday, in the play-in round.

3A

D4-5
Behind 15 points, coming on five made 3-pointers, from senior Brynnlee Jones, and 13 from fellow senior Mikell Keetch, the Malad Dragons cruised past the Aberdeen Tigers, 64-27, to claim the district title and one of two state bids.

Malad will head to next week’s state tournament riding an 11-game winning streak — last losing on Dec. 27. The Dragons’ two losses this year came on back-to-back games, against 4A Bear Lake and Lehi (UT).

They are a virtual lock for the state 1-seed, with a MaxPreps rating of 21.72. Firth and Ririe are second and third in the MaxPreps rankings, with ratings of 15.11 and 13.88, respectively.

Aberdeen was not eliminated from contention with the loss. They will host West Side on Thursday, with the winner claiming the district’s second state berth.

D6

Ririe and Firth will face off at Thunder Ridge on Thursday for the district crown.

The Bulldogs, after losing head-to-head against the Cougars twice during the regular season, bested their conference rivals in the district semis on Saturday. If Firth rebounds with a win, the same two teams will play again, at Thunder Ridge, on Saturday.

While both teams have already clinched a spot in the state tournament, the district champ will enter with a better seed.

2A

D5-6
Butte County and Grace will battle for the district trophy and its one state bid, on Thursday at Aberdeen High School. Because the Pirates already own a tourney victory over Grace, the Grizzlies will have to win twice — on Thursday and again on Saturday — if they are to win the district and get its one spot in the state tournament.

1A

D5-6
With five days left to decide things, six teams remain in the hunt for one of two state tourney bids.

Taylor’s Crossing will be at Rockland, while Grace Lutheran will be at Challis on Tuesday, with the losers eliminated from the tournament. The winners of Tuesday’s game will face each other on Thursday at Ririe.

Also on Thursday, Mackay will play Leadore at Ririe, with the winner taking the district championship and the first state berth.

The loser will face the winner of Thursday’s other game, at Ririe on Saturday.