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 ORDER GAME PHOTOS
Written by: Zach White
The Shelley Russets entered the 4A State Championship game with a 24-0 record. Head coach Jessica Carlson acknowledged this but also kept the mantra of taking each game one at a time. One hard-fought championship game later, Shelley completed the perfect season, beating the Skyline Grizzlies 59-49 to become the 4A State Champions.
Prior to the game, Shelley beat Skyline in their last two matchups, 73-59 at Skyline on Jan. 15th and 64-62 at Shelley on Jan. 25th. Beating one team three times in a single season brings a challenge, but the Russets delivered.
The first quarter of play brought the best out of both teams, as Sheley held a narrow 19-18 lead. The second quarter featured less scoring and more defense, with Shelley tacking on nine points and Skyline tacking on five points, making the score 28-23 Shelley.
Both teams sat with the same amount of field goal, three point, and free throw attempts (28, 13, and 4), However, Shelley took all three categories, scoring one more field goal, three pointer, and two more free throws.
The offenses returned in the second half, as Skyline scored 12 in the third and 14 in the fourth, and Shelley scored 16 in the third and 15 in the fourth.
Sisters Kysa Shippen and Shay Shippen were the highest scorers for the Grizzlies. Kysa, a senior, gathered 15 points in her final game, while Shay, a junior, corralled 25, most on the team.
The Russets had their own big time players: junior Mia Williams put up 14 points, senior Kaci Lang matched Williams with 14 points of her own, and our IdahoSports.com Player of the Game presented by the Idaho Office of Highway Safety, senior Brinley Cannon, finished with 23 points, 11 total rebounds, two assists, two steals, and was 100% from the free throw line going 8-for-8.
“I think our game plan (was the reason for our success),” Cannon said. “We tried to keep me under the basket and everyone does a really good job of moving around and switching out, talking a lot about getting the ball out to shooters, and chasing down the ball.”
Shelley not only achieved the perfect season with a 25-0 record, they also moved into seventh all time in state championship titles with six.
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1ST
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2ND
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3RD
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4TH
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TOTAL
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SKYLINE
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18
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5
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12
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14
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49
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SHELLEY
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19
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9
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16
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15
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59
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SKYLINE (19-8) - Shay Shippen 25, Kysa Shippen 15, Mady Boyce 4, Taya Tews 3, Ella Price 2, Alexa Haacke 0, Macy Marlow 0
SHELLEY (25-0) - Brinley Cannon 23, Mia Williams 14, Kaci Lang 14, Graci Stevens 3, Sarah Kidman 3, Kaylee Packer 2, Grace Pascoe 0
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