Boys second in IML

BONNERS FERRY — After splitting the season with the Timberlake Tigers and squeaking out an overtime win in the first round of district play, the Bonners Ferry boys basketball team took the Intermountain League second-place trophy after trouncing the Tigers at home Feb. 26.

The win earned them a spot in the play-in game two days later in Grangeville, where the Badgers couldn’t quite complete the comeback and lost 45-44 to the Parma Panthers.

The Badgers beat the Timberlake Tigers 59-32 in an impressive display of Badger Power in front of the home crowd to win the IML second place slot and a trip to the state play-in game on Saturday, Feb. 28.

Pat O’Hara had excellent penetration and dominated under the basket to lead all scorers with 18 points. He was 9 for 9 from the floor as his teammates kept feeding him passes inside.

Coach Andy Rice was able to pull his starters for the last two minutes of the game as the Badgers cruised to victory, storing up some much-needed energy for the play-in game.

Saturday’s game time was 1 p.m. in Grangeville as the Badgers took on the Parma Panthers with the winner headed to state.

Parma came in with a 8-12 record this year compared to the Badgers’ 11-10, and Parma was bottom of the Snake River Valley conference before making an impressive run through their league tournament, beating Payette and Emmett to get to the play-in game.

Rice took the play-in loss as hard as any of his players.

“We knew going into the game that we had to stop Tanner Kramer.” Rice said. “He is good, can shoot from anywhere and just scores all the time.”

The Badger plan was to keep the ball out of Kramer’s hands and really focus on rebounding, Rice said.

This was easier said than done, as Kramer scored 13 of the Panthers’ 24 points and had a couple of assists. The Badgers ended the first half down 24-19, and were unable to fully execute their offense, Rice said.

“The second half we made some defensive adjustments and trapped Kramer.” Rice said. “When he passed it we just stuck to him and denied the ball back to him. This defensive pressure also jump-started our offense and we took a one point lead at the end of the third quarter.”

The fourth quarter was back and forth and neither team really pulled ahead.

“It was very close the whole quarter, but exactly what you would expect with a berth to state on the line,” Rice said.

The intensity ramped up as the clock ticked away and both teams played very tough defense.

The Badgers were up by one towards the end of the quarter when their big guy made a baseline jumper to put them up by one. Bonners Ferry had the ball with about half a minute to go.

They brought the ball down and ran a play that gave the team multiple opportunities, but the Panther defense was tight and none of the Badgers was able to get an open look.

“Parma eventually got a loose ball and we fouled,” Rice said. “With one second we rebounded, called a time out and ran a play for a half court shot but it didn’t go.”

Rice was proud of his team for stepping up their play in the second half, as his defense held Kramer to 4 after the break. Kaleb Stockton lead all scorers in the game with 20 points, sinking 5 three-pointers in the game. The season-ending loss was difficult for a Badger team that became better each week as the season progressed.

“It was really tough,” Rice said. “I was really proud of our guys. We gave ourselves a chance at the end but it didn’t work out. We accomplished a lot this year, especially considering how we started and how young we are. I was very proud of how the guys represented themselves, their school and Bonners Ferry. Our leadership from our seniors will be greatly missed. It will be tough to replace Wyatt, Collin and Pat. I felt very privileged to coach this team this year and I am looking forward to next year. Hopefully we can build off of what we have started this year.”

“I also wanted to thank all those who traveled down to Grangeville to support us,” Rice said. “It was greatly appreciated. Also want to thank all fans that supported us throughout the year. Thank you!”

Bonners Ferry 9 10 17 8 — 44

Parma 11 13 11 10 — 45

Scoring: Price 2, O’Hara 6, Stockton 20, Stone 2, Carle 0, Nelson 8, Blackmore 4, Bateman 0.