NAMPA
The Borah High crowd cheered as the clock wound down Friday; however, senior shield Kyler Castro shouted a very last message to the Lions’ enthusiasts. “One greater.” Borah rallied from an early deficit to overcome Rigby seventy two-59 inside the 5A nation semifinals, triumphing their fifteenth immediate game and setting them one greater win shy of a championship. The Lions (23-3) face Madison (25-three) all over again within the 5A kingdom name sport at eight p.M. Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center. The game marks the sixteenth experience to the national finals for each group and their third matchup within the beyond two years.
“It’s going to be a laugh game,” Borah senior point guard Ellis Magnuson said. “We want Madison, and Madison wishes us.” Rigby jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open Friday’s semifinal. But the high-flying Lions spoke back with a 17-0 run within the 2d region to take the lead by no means surrender. Junior forward Austin Bolt completed with a double-double of 24 factors and 11 rebounds, blending it up in the paint along with his trademark disregard for his body. But it turned into the low post’s lengthy-variety shot that driven Borah over the hump.
Bolt acquired a pass on the top of the important thing, and with the defense sagging below the free-throw line, he faked a shot. When the protection didn’t step any closer, he fired and sank his first three-pointer seeing that Dec. 7.“Usually, when Austin shoots a 3, he’s straight away going for the rebound due to the fact he thinks he missed,” Borah teach Jeremy Dennis joked. “But they had been playing off of him, and we stated if you’re open, shoot it. Bolt and Magnuson blended for the next seven factors, forcing a Rigby timeout. But the harm has already been accomplished. Magnuson, an Eastern Washington commit, finished with 15 factors and six assists. And DeVaughn Williams delivered 15 factors and five rebounds as Borah saved, adding to its win streak. The Lions’ closing loss came on Jan. 2 with a 53-52 defeat at Timberline, the ninth-area finisher within the 10-group 5A SIC. But Bolt said that loss introduced a wakeup name key to Borah’s past due-season run. “As a group, we not noted them,” he stated. “We got here out flat, and they got here out hungry. Honestly, that turned into the nice aspect we could have had as a crew, dropping to a group and in a game like that.”
MADISON 65, POST FALLS 48
Madison’s Mason McWhorter struggled in the Bobcats’ first-spherical win, completing five points on 2-for-7 shooting. But the senior made up for it Friday. McWhorter poured in a game-excessive 21 points, along with 19 within the first three quarters, to raise the Bobcats (25-three) into the kingdom finals for the second time within the beyond four years. Post-Falls (18-eight) couldn’t live in front of McWhorter, who placed on a display with the aid of either finishing on the rim, drawing a foul, or each. McWhorter finished the game 6-of-8 from the field and nine-of-nine on the loose-throw line.
“Today, I wanted to be extra aggressive,” McWhorter said. “I recognize they didn’t count on that from me from yesterday’s performance, so I came out and changed into really aggressive to the ring.” Madison led through 4 factors at halftime, then shot 69 percentage (11-of-16) from the floor inside the second 1/2 and fifty-six percentage typical (18-of-32) to erase any thoughts of a Post Falls comeback. Senior shield Spencer Hathaway brought 19 points and seven rebounds for Madison, which set up a rematch with Borah after falling to the Lions forty four-39 inside the first round of the remaining 12 months’ tournament. Madison returns ten players from that team and Borah eight. Madison scored a fifty three-51 win on this season’s commencing weekend. But any revenge for ultimate yr’s loss can handiest come at state. “We have a chip on our shoulder, especially due to the fact we misplaced to Borah last 12 months in that first sport,” McWhorter stated. “If we play them, we’re going to carry everything we have because we’re now not losing.”
