Rockland cruises to district championship in latest stop on ‘revenge tour’

RIRIE — The Rockland Bulldogs have lost in the state semifinals two of the last three years. They entered the season having qualified for five straight state tournaments, winning the banner in 2022. Since that title run, they have brought home a consolation trophy and a pair of third-place trophies.

For a program with the highest of expectations, though, six state trophies in 10 years isn’t good enough, because only one of those trophies was blue. This year, the goal has been, since before the start of the season, to win the early morning game at the Ford Idaho Center on championship Saturday.

According to longtime head coach Shae Neal, Rockland’s rally cry for nearly a calendar year has been, “This is the revenge tour.”

“We’re trying to get revenge for what we didn’t do last year — what we haven’t done in a few years,” the coach told EastIdahoSports.com.

Neal’s Bulldogs hit their latest checkpoint on that revenge tour Thursday night at Ririe High School, beating the Watersprings Warriors 65-47 in the 1A District 5-6 championship game.

But, as Neal and junior guard Zach Permann asserted, the big goal is to get three more wins.

“We’ve kinda had the monkey on our back in that semifinal game,” Neal said, invoking last season’s semifinal loss to conference foe Challis. “The goal all year was not (a district championship), the goal all year was to finish the season in the Idaho Center with a blue trophy.”

With that ultimate goal in mind, Neal regularly asks his boys if they believe what they are giving is this championship effort — not to question their effort, but to offer a subtle reminder that championship effort will be needed to win a championship.

The district championship got off to a solid start for Rockland, with senior Isaac Held knocking down a 3-pointer on the game’s first possession. From there, Rockland’s offensive activity was taken over by senior Woodrow Lowder and junior Brayzen Gibbs, with junior Xavier Parrish adding his usual do-everything performance.

Parrish finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and one block.

Lowder connected on a pair of first-quarter triples to help his team overcome a short-lived 8-7 Watersprings advantage — what would be the Warriors’ only lead of the game, lasting less than 30 seconds.

Lowder has been Rockland’s leading scorer all season. Even on off-nights, the sharpshooting guard finds a way to give his team 15-plus.

Asked about Lowder’s ability to score, Neal recalled seeing the senior’s work ethic at a very young age.

Neal said he remembers teaching summer school almost 10 years ago. Every night, he would drive past the Lowder residence and see a 10-year-old Woodrow in the alley behind the house, with a droplight set up, shooting in the dark by himself.

That 10-year-old boy, Neal said, became a high school student who almost singlehandedly wore out Rockland’s shooting machine (used to return balls to a shooter), and a senior who can score 26 points but go home angry that he could have done more.

With his team already ahead 20-13, Gibbs started the second quarter the same way he would start the third: with back-to-back quick buckets.

“Brayzen Bucket is aggressive for us,” Neal said. “He felt confident tonight, and he’s worked on that. … He had a desire, a goal in mind, to help his teammates and win this.”

Gibbs finished the game with 15 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Lowder scored a team-high 19.

Offensively, the Bulldogs were rolling early. But they had to find a way to stop the Watersprings offense and senior Korban Nelson, a member of the 1,000-point club.

Neal’s plan of attack to stop Nelson was to open the game in a box-and-one defensive set, with four players in a two-by-two zone and Permann playing tight man defense on Nelson. For nearly the entire game, Permann spent every defensive minute his team played on Nelson’s hip.

Despite the airtight coverage spanning all 94 feet of the court, Nelson hit several contested shots, lacing a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer, cutting Rockland’s lead to 15, 39-24.

Neal put even more pressure on Nelson in the second half, adjusting to a triangle-and-two, with three Bulldogs in a triangle zone and having Parrish join Permann in double-covering Nelson.

Through all that, Nelson continued to score, hitting another buzzer-beating triple to end the third. He finished with a game-high 20 points, nearly four shy of his season average.

Neal applauded Permann’s tireless defensive effort, saying that they went into the game knowing Nelson, whom he called one of the best players in the state, would score.

Permann, Neal said, knows and embraces his role.

“The kid’s just an animal. He doesn’t get tired … the more he works, the more energy he gets because he feeds off his successes,” the coach said of the junior. “He’s so fun to coach because he’ll do anything in the world for you, and he’s the best teammate off the court. … He’s the guy that everybody wants on their team, he’s that guy.”

Permann said he was told earlier in the week that he would be tasked with slowing Nelson, whom he called “maybe the best scorer in the state.”

“Everybody on this team has got to embrace what they’ve got to do,” he said of that job.

Senior Ryan Demkowicz provided Nelson and the Warriors support, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

As the final buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs celebrated, but only briefly. They enjoyed the fruits of their success, accepting the district championship trophy and medals, and cutting down the nets. But the celebration was far from the eruption of emotion you might see from other district champions.

Neal said his team will crack some Dr. Peppers and Mountain Dews, and enjoy the nearly two-hour drive back to Rockland. But the focus will quickly shift to the state tournament, and the three more wins the Bulldogs will need to finish their revenge tour.

“Basketball is about being dialed in, but you’ve also got to have a little fun. I think we have a great mix of that on our team,” Permann said. “You win for 30 (minutes), you lose for 30 (minutes), as coach Neal says. After you win, you’re hyped with your boys, but then you’re on to the next. We have bigger goals than this one game. We’ve got three more to get.”

Neal expects to arrive in Nampa next week with a target on his team’s collective back. They are the top-ranked 1A team in the state, according to the MaxPreps rankings used to seed the state bracket. Watersprings, for what it’s worth, is ranked No. 2 in the state.

What makes this team different from those in the past that came up just short, according to Neal, is this group’s ability to “weather storms.” They rely on teamwork and defense to get through tough stretches better than other teams Neal has coached.

Lowder, a senior who will play in his fourth state tournament, said he has been out to “make the best of it” this year — his last as a Bulldog. He echoed his coach’s sentiment about winning at state.

“We’ve got to keep playing as a team,” he said. “Last year, we kinda went back on being selfish, and that’s what lost us that game. So this year, we need to stay together as a team, and work towards it together, because it’s not one of us winning a game, it’s the whole team winning a game.”

Gibbs, who played for Malad last year before moving to Rockland, will be playing in his first state tournament.

“I’m definitely going to lean on (my teammates) a little bit,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I’m just going to play basketball, do what I do. Let’s go win.”