Written by: Will Hoenike

Mountain View High School in Meridian hosted the first Crossover Kickoff Classic, a four-game event featuring small-school boys teams from Districts III and IV in non-conference action.  Shoshone head coach Rob Waite was key in getting the event set up and told IdahoSports.com he hopes it becomes an annual event.

Wilder head coach John Blair, whose team participated, would like to add a similar event as well.

My two cents, as a man who has been involved in Idaho high school athletics for two decades? I love it. Wish there were more events like these, especially among the small schools.  Budgets can be tight, but it presents a great opportunity for the kids to see different gyms and different opponents, while the coaches have the opportunity to evaluate their players and program in a neutral, non-conference setting. Much like the non-conference cross-over between 5A teams Borah, Capital,Highland and Madison the past two seasons, each of the eight teams that participated on Saturday will be better off for having played these games.

Maximizing the impact – the schools brought their junior-varsity teams as well, giving the younger players opportunities for valuable court time as well as they played on a side court while the varsity games were played in the main gym.

A recap of the four matchups, as seen on IdahoSports.com(and available in the archives):

Shoshone 56, Salmon River 34:  The District IV Indians came out flying,putting up 25 first-quarter points against the Savages on an array of lay-ups that came off well-executed offensive sets. Devan Bollar, who finished with a game-high 17 points, had eight in the opening frame, mostly off of aggressive drives to the basket.

Salmon River was playing the early game after a tight,intense, one-point loss on Friday to Wilder so it’s probably not a surprise that the team came out a little sluggish. Charlie Shephard’s team got better as the game went on, especially defensively, limiting Shoshone to just 31 points over the game’s final three quarters.  Devan Brandstetter (12) and Rylie Travis (11) reached double-figures in scoring for Salmon River.

Bollar, Jose Regalado (15) and Juan Villigran (11) each scored in double-figures for Shoshone, a team that has just two seniors.

Wilder 47, Richfield 39: Wilder, like Salmon River, was playing an afternoon game after the previous night’s battle in Wilder.  But the Wildcats played a strong first quarter, netting three three-pointers enroute to a 13-0 lead after one period against the short-handed Tigers.

Richfield’s varsity roster features just eight players and head coach Garr Ward told IdahoSports.com that one player, Nate Ward, wasunavailable.  The remaining seven players did a good job to scratch and claw their way back into the game, led by the game-high 18 points of Hayden Wayment on an array of mid-range shots and tough shots around the hoop, and the Tigers cut the deficit to six points going into the fourth quarter.

But Wilder’s big three of Markus Melton, Caulen Michael andFabian Blanco combined to score all eleven points in the fourth quarter,keeping Richfield at bay.  Melton (14),Michael (11) and Blanco (7) were the top scorers for Wilder.

Marco Juarez played a strong second half for Richfield and also finished in double figures with 12 points.

Oakley 40, Liberty Charter 32:  The Hornets rattled off 15 straight points during one stretch of the first quarter en route to a 19-4 lead after eight minutes of play and used the early burst to keep the Patriots at bay the rest of the evening.

The early surge was triggered by big man Caleb Nyman, who nearly had as many first-half points (7) as Liberty Charter (9).  Seven different players scored for Oakley,led by Nyman’s 16 and nine from Hewstyn Beck on a trio of three-point shots.  Oakley’s torrid scoring pace slowed after the first quarter but the team was solid defensively all game long, limiting the good offensive looks for the Patriots.

Liberty Charter was led by 17 points from senior guard Michael Wachsmuth, including four three-pointers.  Nine came in the fourth quarter when the Patriots tried to rally, but the early hole was too deep.  Junior Ashton Valadez chipped in eight points, many off of hustle plays and turnovers.

Wendell 64, Marsing 33: At one point in the first quarter, the Trojans held a slim, 11-7 lead over the Huskies, but Wendell wore Marsing down from there, slowly pulling away for the comfortable victory.

Marsing’s top scorer, Jose Ponce, played limited minutes and the Huskies struggled to find consistent offense without him.  Junior Dakota Hardy led the Huskies with ten points, including a buzzer-beating desperation shot from 30 feet to close the first half.  Sam Galligan scored eight and Nick Lankow chipped in six.  The two Marsing “bigs” worked hard down low all night to earn their opportunities and points against the Wendell defense.

On the other side, the Trojans relied on the inside presence of Logan Bowers (21 points) and the outside shooting of Hunter Laudert (18 points) to create separation. The duo combined to score 14 of Wendell’s 19 first-quarter points, with Bowers doing his damage around the hoop and Laudert draining two early three-pointers to take the lead.  Bryce John scored six of his 10 in the fourth quarter when Wendell out-scored Marsing, 18-6, to blow the game wide open.