15 years in the making Badger boys basketball are district champs

KELLOGG — The Badgers are champions of the Intermountain League and headed to state for the second year in a row.

After going 0-2 against Kellogg, the Badgers had something to prove and beat Kellogg 58-53 Tuesday, Feb. 22, to claim the district title — the first time in 15 years.

In the first seconds of play Braeden Blackmore hit a three-pointer, followed by a turnover by Kellogg and a basket by Ridge Williams. The Badgers led 5-0 in the first minute of the game and set the pace for the first half. The Badgers led the first quarter 12-8, but had many missed shots under the basket as they warmed their legs from the travel down to Kellogg.

The Badgers settled down in the second quarter and continued to move away from Kellogg as they went on a nine-point run against the Wildcats. The Badgers regained composure and made three three-pointers from Asher Williams, Trey and Thomas Bateman. At the half, Kellogg got to the free-throw line as fouls began to pick up. The Wildcats were three-for-seven at the free throw line for the second quarter. The Badgers led 25-17 at the half.

Braeden Blackmore had a great third quarter, head coach Nathan Williams said. He chipped in eight of his 13 points and ran the point guard position with composure. With three minutes left in the third, Charles Henslee had a steal off a soft half court press, Braeden Blackmore made a basket and the Badgers led 40-24. After the third quarter, the Badgers led 42-29.

In the last six minutes of play, Kellogg came back hitting some deep and unexpected three-pointers.

"Sometimes when the momentum changes it is difficult to get it back, your shots don't fall, and everything they throw up goes in,” Williams said. “My hat is off to Kellogg with how they fought down the stretch and made it a close game. I am thankful that the boys had a lead and hung on tough down the stretch.”

The Badgers kept the lead as the Wildcats nipped at their heels and finished with a 58-53 Badger victory.

“Since these boys were in fifth grade, I have been telling them that all close games come down to free throws. At practice if they make them in a row they yell, ‘champion.’ I have told them that if they can hit free throws, they will be champions,” Williams said.

This is the first time Badger boys basketball has been district champs since 2007.

"Last year, these boys made history by going to state for the first time in 13 years, and that was special. This year, winning the district title for the first time in 15 years is just another great achievement filled with awesome memories. I couldn't be more proud of these young men and look forward to competing at state versus the best teams in the 3A classification,” Williams said.

Ridge Williams went 7-for-11 at the free-throw line, and down the stretch he hit two in a row when they were needed most to help seal the victory.

Ridge Williams led with 15 points and Braeden Blackmore added 13 points. The Badgers hit seven three-points to help extend the Kellogg defense down the stretch. Braeden Blackmore, Asher Williams and Trey Bateman added two each, and Thomas Bateman had one. The Badgers had six steals in the first half.

“I knew going into the game that we had to hit some threes to get their helpside defense out of the key. It was a great team effort offensively and we played very unselfish like we always do,” Williams said.

Bonners Ferry is ranked the No. 10 seed and Kellogg is the No. 8 seed for the 3A State competition.

BONNERS FERRY 12 13 17 16 — 58

KELLOGG 8 9 12 24 — 53

Full stats for players were not available at the time of print.

Badgers crush Timberlake at Districts

BONNERS FERRY — In the best game of the year so far, boys Badger basketball brought the heat and a deep bench in the district battle against the Timberlake Tigers Saturday, Feb. 19, winning 69-37.

The Badgers beat Timberlake last week as well, and the Tigers were ready for revenge. When Charles Henslee sank a three-pointer the Tigers answered with Raj Oliveier scoring a three and then a layin in the next possession. The first quarter was a back and forth for the first six minutes then the Badgers slowly inched away after a blocked shot by Trey Bateman and a steal by Ethan Hubbard.

Trey Bateman then sank another three-pointer for the Badgers pushing them ahead 15-10 and with two free throws from Thomas Bateman the Badger had a seven point run against the Tigers. Trey Bateman had another blocked shot preventing the Tigers from executing.

Within the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Tigers had their first technical foul of the night. Timberlake had not scored in that time and the Badgers were up 24-13 after Asher Williams sank his two free throws.

The Badgers began penetrating the key into a swarm of Timberlake Tigers. Braeden Blackmore entered the key into the Tiger advance and dished the ball to Thomas Bateman for a three-pointer. Thomas Bateman and Riley Petesch racked up points and blocked shots for the Badgers.

Ethan Hubbard and Braeden Blackmore played off each other in defense. When one was guarding the ball, the other found an opportunity to steal. Blackmore had three steals in the second quarter though points were not scored on every steal. The Badgers finished the half ahead 36-20.

The third quarter was a back-and-forth as both teams scored 12 points. Timberlake did not make up the deficit from the first half, but the Badgers maintained the 16-point lead. In the last five seconds, Asher Williams took the charge making it a Badger ball. With only 2.3 seconds left in the third quarter, Trey Bateman inbounded the ball and showed off his baseball skills with a court long throw to Asher Williams. With no Tiger in sight Williams took one dribble for an easy layin making it 48-32.

In the fourth quarter, the Badgers were back and ready to finish strong. Dillion Mai started the quarter off with a blocked shot and made it to the free-throw line shooting two for two. The Badgers finally made a 20-point lead by a three-pointer by Charles Henslee. Around the five-minute mark, the Badgers began grabbing the defense rebound and breaking to the basket to score and looking for every opportunity to steal.

More technical fouls happened as the pressure was rising and emotions were high, sending Badgers and Tigers to the free-throw line. Timberlake was in foul trouble and had several starters sit out the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Badger junior varsity players made their varsity debut in the fourth quarter as they got minutes in as preparation for state play.

Head coach Nathan Williams said he was proud of the team's defense and rebounding as it has been their focus all week in practice.

“I was proud of Thomas Bateman as he came off the bench and scored. I was proud of all of them,” he said. “We’re deep on the bench and can shoot.”

He was proud of the Asher Williams and Ethan Hubbard taking charges, Williams said. That now makes five Badgers who have taken charges this season, which will be necessary for state play.

When playing Kellogg last year in order to go to state, the Badgers had to take six charges in one inning.

“It was a battle, and we had to rotate around and that’s what it is going to take. We’ve been working all week rotating down, taking charges and getting rebounds,” Williams said.

Ethan Hubbard took two charges and Asher Williams added one. For blocked shots: Trey Bateman had two, Riley Petesch, Thomas Bateman, Braeden Blackmore and Dillion Mai added one blocked shot a piece.

Braeden Blackmore had four steals. Petesch had seven rebounds, Trey Bateman and Dillion Mai had five apiece. Four Badgers hit double digits.

BONNERS FERRY 18 18 12 11 — 69

TIMBERLAKE 13 7 12 5 — 37

Bonners Ferry: E. Newell 1, E. Blackmore 2, Henslee 10, Petesch 7, A. Williams 6, Th. Bateman 12, Hubbard 15, Tr. Bateman 3, Mai 3, B. Blackmore 10, Hammons 0.

Timberlake: Olivieri 7, Vallieres 0, Pascal 4, Z. Yetter 10, Millsap 0, Borges 2, H. Higgins 11, J. Yetter 0, Meati 0, MacArthur 3, V. Higgins 0.