Before I list the awards, let me explain something that came up in the comments last year.  Glenn and I sit at the Idaho Center for the entire state tourney.  On Thursday and Friday, we watch the 5A teams, and then on Super Saturday we watch the six state title games.  These awards are only based on the teams we see at the Idaho Center.  There may be an awesome pep club, for instance, that did a great job but never made it to the Idaho Center.  Since we never saw them, they could not be listed on this awards page. Some people don’t like the fact some teams or players are excluded, but our purpose for doing these awards is to give some teams and players some recognition and we can only recognize the teams and players we see.  So, with that said, here goes……    

5A State Champs: Borah Lions (25-1)  49-31

The Lions came in to the tourney ranked #1 in the state and a sterling 22-1 record.  They got off to a slow start in their first game and trailed Coeur d’Alene 15-5 after the first quarter.  After that, however, the Lions roared through their three opponents to capture their 10^th title.  It is Cary Cada’s 3^rd title.  I wrote a letter to the editor once about the class of the Borah Lions.  They always enter the building in dress slacks and a green jacket and tie. I say many teams enter the building in sweats.  With teenagers wearing jeans with holes in them and their hat sideways these days, it’s refreshing to see these kids dressed up to the hilt for an extremely important event in their lives.  This is a reflection of Cary Cada and his excellent coaching staff who always dress professionally for games.

Runner-up Post Falls Trojans 

3^rd Place   Timberline Wolves

Consolation Highland Rams

Sportsmanship Borah Lions

Academic Eagle Mustangs 

4A  State Champs:  Rigby Trojans  (24-2)  56-49 

The Rigby Trojans had never won state under any coach other than Elliot Anderson, and they had not won a title since 1987.  Head Coach Justin Jones and his troops ended the drought in 2012 with a group of kids that really played as a team.  Coach Jones comes from a great basketball family as he is the son of Terry Jones who won 6 championships with the Malad Dragons.  His teams were always disciplined athletes who played as a team, and the Rigby Trojans were no different.  Coach Jones now has won state titles as a player and coach, a very nice combination.  This is his first state title and the school’s 8^th.

Runner-up Madison Bobcats 

3^rd Place Twin Falls Bruins

Consolation Skyview Hawks  

Sportsmanship Twin Falls Bruins  

Academic Burley Bobcats

3A  State Champs:  Fruitland Grizzlies  (17-8)  57-51

It’s hard enough winning one title let alone back to back, but that’s exactly what the Grizzlies did this year. They played very well at state to earn their 4^th title in their history.  It didn’t look like it would happen as they trailed 19-2 in their first game against Bear Lake, but they never quit and battled back to win the first game and the next two.  This is the third title for Fruitland’s Coach Michael Fitch.  The Panthers beat Fruitland for the football title this year, so this game was a little payback for the Grizzlies.

Runner-up Snake River Panthers  

3^rd Place Weiser Wolverines  

Consolation Bear Lake Bears  

Sportsmanship Fruitland Grizzlies

Academic Fruitland Grizzlies

2A  State Champs: Cole Valley Christian Chargers (23-2)  51-48

The Chargers won league but came out of District as the #2 seed after losing to the New Plymouth Pilgrims. That may have been the motivating factor for Cole Valley as they played very well in their 3 games at state to win their first title in the 2A division.  This is their 3^rd title with the other two coming in the 1A division.  It is Coach Kody Leathers’ first title, and if I am not mistaken, I believe he is a graduate and ex-player of the Cole Valley.    

Runner-up Kamiah Kubs  

3^rd Place New Plymouth Pilgrims

Consolation North Star Huskies

Sportsmanship North Star Huskies  

Academic Butte County Pirates 

1A  Div 1 State Champs:  Glenns Ferry Pilots  (20-7)  64-49

When you look at the final score, consider that fact that Glenns Ferry trailed Lapwai by 14 at the half, and the Wildcats looked like they were going to win another title. But the second half couldn’t have been more different than the first, and the Pilots came all the way back to win their 3^rd title and their first since 1981.  It is the first title for Coach Nate Jones. 

Runner-up Lapwai Wildats

3^rd Place Genesee Bulldogs     

Consolation Grace Grizzlies 

Sportsmanship Genesee Bulldogs  

Academic Prairie Pirates  

1A Div 2 State Champs:  Nez Perce Indians  (22-3)  62-47

The Indians and Panthers were back in the title game again for the third straight year. Nez Perce beat Carey in 2010 by one point, 57-56.  Carey returned the favor in 2011 by beating Nezperce, 47-46. So this was a true rubber match for the state championship. After one quarter, it appeared that the fans were in store for another nail biter as the Indians led by two, 13-11.  But then something unexpected happened: the Indians defense did not allow a single point in the second period, while their offense put up 13 points again.  That was the difference as Nez Perce played a solid state title game in winning their 4^th title.  It was the second championship for Coach Dave Baldus.   

Runner-up Carey Panthers 

3^rd Place Dietrich Blue Devils 

Consolation Salmon River Savages  

Sportsmanship Dietrich Blue Devils  

Academic Nez Perce Indians  

The Idahosports.com Players of the State Championship Games:

5A:  Isiah Wright, Sophomore  Borah Lions & Brock Holubetz, Senior  Borah Lions: Isiah Wright had a fabulous tournament, especially considering he is just a sophomore.  In the championship game, he had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 blocked shot, and 2 steals.  As the point guard of the team, he did a great job running the offense.  Holubetz absolutely showed up with his best game of the tourney when his team needed him most.  That’s why we went with a co-MVP for this game.  Brock finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot, and 2 steals.

4A:  Dallin Polson, Senior  Rigby Trojans:  The Trojans were a very balanced team, and this game was the hardest to decide on player of the game.  In the end, we went with Polson who had 13 points on 5/9 shooting from the field and 3/3 from the free throw line. He led his team with 12 rebounds, 7 of them offensive.  He had 1 steal and only 1 foul and 1 turnover. 

3A:  James Livingston, Junior  Fruitland Grizzlies:   I rely on idahosports.com for all the game stats, but Fruitland’s championship game will not open up.  I can tell you that Livingston led his team with 22 points, but what really impressed me about this player was his boundless energy. If I had that energy for one day I could lose 25 pounds! Vince Trimboli did the games at Meridian High, and when he joined me for the title game, he said that everyone calls him “sunshine.”  I was somewhat reluctant to call him that on air, but I felt much better when his coach called him sunshine when he gave him his state medal.  It’s a great name for him because he has as much energy as the Sun does, and the good news for the Grizzlies is that he’s coming back next year. 

2A:  Mitch Vanderweil, Senior  Cole Valley Christian Chargers:  It seems like we always pick our player of the game based on total points scored, but there are so many other aspects of a basketball game that are important. Mitch was the third leading scorer with 10 points, but he did lead his team in points in the all-important 4^th quarter.  He also dominated the boards and played solid defense to lead his team to victory.  He had 11 rebounds, more than double that of any other teammate.  He had 3 assists, 2 blocked shots, and he committed only one foul.  

1A Div 1: Chris Popoca, Senior  Glenns Ferry Pilots:  With his team trailing by 14 points at the half, Popoca put it into another gear.  He had only 5 points at the half, but that changed as the second half began.  He finished the game with 24 points and he made many free throws in the fourth quarter when they count the most.  For the game, he was 11/15 from the charity stripe.  He also had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot, and 2 steals.

1A Div 2: Sawyer Wall, Senior Nez Perce Indians:  Sawyer had an outstanding performance in the title game.  He scored 20 points with some very good shooting: 6/13 from the field, 2/2 from 3 point land, and 6/9 from the foul line. He tied for the team lead in rebounds with Shane Kuther.  They both had 10 rebounds.  He had 3 assists, 1 steal, and only one turnover in 29 minutes of play. 

The Idahosports.com All State Tournament Team  (5A Only)

One requirement we have- we will pick at least one player from each of the 8 teams at state for this all state team.

First Team

Marcus Colbert (Senior, Post Falls Trojans)

Ben Tucakovic, (Senior, Borah Lions)

Cole Ashby (Senior, Highland Rams)

Daryl Robertson (Junior, Centennial Patriots)

Jackson Reed (Senior, Timberline Wolves)

Second team

Brandon Luedtke (Senior, Mountain View Mavericks)

Joe Roletto (Senior, Coeur d’Alene Vikings)

Cody Spjute (Junior, Borah Lions)

Michael Hillman (Senior, Post Falls Trojans)

Jack Tate (Junior, Timberline Wolves)

Honorable Mention

Austin Andreason (Junior, Highland Rams)

Jack Tate (Junior, Timberline Wolves)

Connor Kent (Senior, Eagle Mustangs)

EJ Leitzinger (Senior, Centennial Patriots)

Deon Watson (Senior, Coeur d’Alene Vikings)

MVP

Isaiah Wright (Sophomore, Borah Lions): Isaiah pulled the same hat trick that Tisha Phillips did in the Girls’ State Tourney:  He won our player of the game in all three games at state.  He scored 27 points against Timberline, and he had 55 total in the tourney.  His other tourney totals look like this:  9 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 16 two point field goals, 4 three pointers, and in each of the three games his free throw totals were 8/10, 7/8, and 4/6 for a total of 19/24.  But maybe his most impressive stat was that he only committed 4 turnovers in the entire tourney, a very low number for a point guard that played over 30 minutes in each game.  And when you notice that he is just a sophomore, it means he can only get better as time goes on.  Congrads, Isaiah on a fantastic state tourney!!

The Idahosports.com “Coolest Names” of the Tournament

You can find out how many people in the U.S. have your name by clicking here.  There are lots of people named Gary Jones, but these cool names in the tourney are unique and that’s what we like about them.  We have come up with a new category besides “Coolest Names”.  We have now added “Awesome Alliterations”

“Coolest”

First Team

Jamin Kidd, Sugar-Salem Diggers (This may be the finest basketball name of all time!)

Will Hope, Jerome Tigers

JonRyheem Peoples, Rigby Trojans

Kash Merrill, Madison Bobcats

Thunder Aripa, Lapwai Wildcats

Second Team

Wilder Jones, Glenns Ferry Pilots (Jones doesn’t normally count, but this one is cool!)

Augie Robinson, Notus Pirates

Poncho Gamino, CareyPanthers

Walker Ray, Skyview Hawks

Malique Hill, Centennial Patriots

Honorable Mention

Hazen Weber, Dietrich Blue Devils

Terrun Zolman, Salmon River Savages

Talon Schroeder, Century Diamondbacks

Stockton Berry, Madison Bobcats

Ridge Spackman, Sugar-Salem Diggers

“Awesome Alliterations”

First Team

Chance Chavez, Carey Panthers

Tony Tone, Sho-Ban Chiefs

Kevin Kelly, New Plymouth Pilgrims

Logan Loomis, Weiser Wolverines

Satchel Schetzle, St. Maries Lumberjacks

Second Team

Kasey Keetch, Bear Lake Bears

Boone Benson, Kootenai Warriors

Bradan Brothers, Kuna Kavemen

Hayden Hastings, Madison Bobcats

Dalton Duba, Rockland Bulldogs

Honorable Mention

Josh Jardine, Cole Valley Christian Chargers

Justin Johnson, Valley Vikings

Braden Boyer, Firth Cougars

Josh Jensen, Grace Grizzlies

Randall Robinson, Mountain View Mavericks

Idahosports.com Pep Club of the State Tournament: The Madison Bobcats students always seem to show up in droves, and every single one of them has on school colors.  I tried to find a student who was not wearing red, grey, or white, but I could not.  They cheer loud and positive, and you would be there a long time waiting for a rude cheer from them.  They are the 2012 Pep Club of the State Tourney.  Congrads, Bobcat fans!

The Idahosports.com Mascots of the Tournament:  After failing to dress up one single mascot for the Girls State Championship games, there were several on hand for the boys.  Among the schools we saw at the Idaho Center with mascots were:  Lapwai, Cole Valley, Mountain View, Timberline, and Borah.  Jackson Longwil, the man inside the Maverick from Mountain View, is our 2012 winner.  What put him over the top of the others was during halftime, he went up in the crowd and mingled with the fans.  He was up around our booth a couple of times, and the young kids really love it when a mascot comes up and high fives them.  You did a great job, Jackson.  Congrads!!

States/Countries That Shouted Us Out:  Utah, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Oklahoma, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Maryland, New York, Alaska, Hawaii, France, Japan, Zimbabwe.  A big THANK YOU for all the fans that watch the webcasts and for those that shouted us out.  See ya next year!!