Badgers advance to state tournament

The Bonners Ferry Badgers boys' basketball team is headed to Eagle for the 3A state tournament with hopes to defend its title after a Feb. 24 district championship win. 

“We’ve got to take care of business,” said senior guard Asher Williams, who averages 28.8 points per game this season. “Our goal all year has been to win another state championship. Now we have the opportunity to prove what we’re made of.” 

The championship dream for this group began in elementary school, when the players teamed up to play AAU ball. At the time, the Badgers boys’ varsity team was in last place in a district that had not competed well at state tournaments. 

To support the players’ championship aspirations, parents and fans spent years taking long road trips across Idaho and state lines for basketball games. 

“It's a lot of sacrifices parents have made,” Asher said. “And it’s good to have community support. It’s nice to have fans travel and bring high energy.” 

Now, with half of the varsity team graduating this spring, the Badgers are in pursuit of a second consecutive title. 

Bonners Ferry has played in the championship game each of the last two seasons, falling 52-47 in 2023 to Sugar-Salem before climbing the mountain in 2024 with a 54-47 win over Teton to bring home the state title for the first time in school history. 

Prior to the run beginning in 2023, the Badgers had only placed in the 3A state tournament twice before, claiming fourth in both 1991 and 2007. 

“I’ve got to remind our boys that they are leaving a legacy,” head coach Nathan Williams said. “I know they’re 16, 17, 18 years old, but when we look back on these times, we’ll see we are doing something no other team in Bonners Ferry has ever done.” 

Four key players for Bonners Ferry will suit up in the Badgers’ blue and white for the final time next week, seniors Asher Williams, Thomas Bateman, Brody Rice and Eli Blackmore. 

This season, Williams surpassed 2,000 career points and Bateman — with a 23-point performance in the 83-40 district championship win over the Timberlake Tigers — surpassed 1,000 career points. 

“To have those guys in the same class on the same team, that’s a lot of scoring and a lot of basketball,” coach Williams said. “Eli and Brody could have easily been 1,000-point scorers. They could have hogged the ball, but that's not our style.” 

The Badgers finished the regular season 20-1, at one point hanging onto a 36-game winning streak that extended back to the end of 2023. Williams said the team’s goal was never to go undefeated, and he was actually happy with the 70-65 loss to Lake City on Feb. 10. He said the hard-fought game tested the players and helped light a fire they hadn’t felt since coming up a few points short in the 2023 state championship game. 

“That loss made us reconsider what our practices look like,” he said. “I try to always self-reflect after every game, but it’s harder to do that when we win by 40 points.” 

The Badgers will play in a quarterfinal game March 6 at Eagle High School. The semifinals will be March 7, and the championship game will be held at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on March 8 in front of a crowd of about 10,000. 

Timberlake 8 21 7 4 — 40

Bonners Ferry 25 28 25 5 — 83 

PTS: BF — Williams 32, Bateman 23, Blackmore 12, Rice 6, Hinthorn 4, Schrock 4, Abubakari 2. TL — Engelson 13, Simpson 9, VanGundy 7, DeVore 5, Shively 2, Vallieres 2, Dykeman 2.