PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Bonners Ferry clinches back-to-back state titles with convincing win over Snake River

Bonners Ferry takes down Kimberly in 4A state opener

Bonners Ferry 81, Kimberly 62

EAGLE — Senior Asher Williams scored a game-high 31 points on a 13-for-16 performance from the field as the No. 1 Badgers downed No. 8 Kimberly for the second straight year in the first round of the 4A State Championship tournament held Thursday at Eagle High.

The Bulldogs, led by German exchange student Gerwin Jeschke's three 3-pointers and 17 total points, gave Bonners Ferry some trouble early on, but the interior offense and unselfish play by coach Nathan Williams' team was too much for Kimberly to overcome. Last year, in the same exact opening round matchup as the second and seventh seeds, the Badgers took a 61-50 win. 

Senior Thomas Bateman added 16 points, including two 3-pointers, and hauled in nine rebounds, senior Brody Rice had 12 points and dished out seven assists as the Badgers used a 26-9 second quarter scoring advantage to take a 48-29 lead heading into intermission. Williams added six assists and a team-high three steals in the all-around team effort. Bonners Ferry shot 60.3% from the floor as a team, assisted on 23 of their 35 made baskets, and outrebounded Kimberly 29-17.

Junior Sulay Abubakari collected 12 points, sophomore Peyton Hinthorn eight points and seven rebounds, and the two both gave the Badgers a much-needed spark in the first half.

Bonners Ferry (22-1) played No. 5 Marsh Valley (14-11), which beat No. 4 Cole Valley Christian 58-52 on Thursday, in the 4A state semifinals. The Badgers faced the Eagles in the semifinals last year and came away with a 64-57 victory.

Kimberly 20 9 15 18 — 62

Bonners Ferry 22 26 19 14 — 81

PTS: BF — Williams 31, Bateman 16, Abubakari 12, Rice 12, Hinthorn 8, Blackmore 2. KIM — Jeschke 17, Q. Pettingill 16, Larson 10, Anthony 8, Beckstead 4, Bruning 3, Lloyd 2, Paz 2.

REB: BF — Bateman 9, Hinthorn 7, Williams 5, Abubakari 4, Schrock 2, Rice 1, Hiatt 1. KIM — Larson 5, Bruning 4, Anthony 3, Beckstead 1, Q. Pettingill 1, D. Pettingill 1, Paz 1, Lloyd 1.

AST: BF — Rice 7, Williams 6, Bateman 3, Abubakari 3, Blackmore 2, Schrock 1, Cartwright 1. KIM — Larson 3, Q. Pettingill 2, Anthony 2, Beckstead 1, D. Pettingill 1.

STL: BF — Williams 3, Abubakari 2, Rice 2, Hinthorn 1, Bateman 1. KIM — Anthony 1, Q. Pettingill 1, Bruning 1, Lloyd 1.

BLK: BF — Bateman 1, Abubakari 1. KIM — Jeschke 1.

Badgers takes down Eagles in semis

Bonners Ferry 67, Marsh Valley 54

EAGLE — Seeking their third straight state title game appearance and second straight state championship, it was a must-win game for Bonners Ferry — and several players stepped in to get the job done when things got tough.

Senior Asher Williams hit four 3-pointers, scored 19 of his 28 points in the first half, and came away with a game-high six steals as the No. 1 Badgers defeated the No. 5 Eagles by a 13-point margin in a 4A state semifinals matchup held Friday at Eagle High.

Bonners Ferry got out to a 9-0 lead and held Marsh Valley, who was led by 5 foot 6 inch junior Jaxon Smith's four 3-pointers and team-high 18 points, scoreless for the first four minutes to set the tone early. From then on, the Eagles, undersized but scrappy, were able to keep pace and cut the lead to 33-26 by halftime and 36-33 with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, that's when Thomas Bateman locked in. 

The Bonners Ferry High senior put up 15 points, 13 in the second half, hauled in nine rebounds and rejected four shots as the Badgers used a 12-4 run to close out third, leading 48-37 heading into the final frame. Senior Brody Rice rounded out yet another all-around team effort, contributing a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out five assists. Sophomore Peyton Hinthorn added four points and a game-high six assists, senior Eli Blackmore five points and four assists in the win.

"He's tough," Bonners Ferry High head coach Nathan Williams said of Bateman. "He's very physical. Our whole team felt like we were getting a lot of hands on us and we weren't finishing our layups like we normally do. Thomas is just one tough individual both mentally and physically and it was great to see him bounce back (in the second half)... Brody and Thomas had some good offensive boards during that stretch in the third that helped pull us through. Thomas then had some big blocks in the fourth and shut down the key."

Bonners Ferry outrebounded Marsh Valley by a 37-22 margin, shot 25-for-61 (41%) from the field and hit 11 of their 13 (84.6%) free throws.

"We came out a bit passive, partly because Marsh Valley played passing lanes, and we weren't pushing the ball up the sideline like we should," coach Williams said. "I'm proud of our guys for keeping their composure despite that. I kept harping on them all year to stay consistently tough, and I felt like we did that tonight. Even though we weren't getting all the calls, we played tough defense."

The Badgers denied the Eagles' second-leading scorer, senior Justis Whitworth, early and often, limiting him to just 12 points, only two of which came in the fourth quarter. His cousin, junior Tate Whitworth, had nine points, all from downtown, for Marsh Valley (14-12), which fell to No. 6 McCall-Donnelly (15-10) 60-49 in the 4A state third-place game at 11 a.m. (PST) Saturday at Eagle High. 

With the win, Bonners Ferry (23-1), which has won 40 out of their last 41 contests dating back to Dec. 28, 2023, headed back to the 4A State Championship game held at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on Saturday at 2:50 p.m. (PST). They faced off against No. 2 Snake River (25-3), which the Badgers last went toe-to-toe with during the 3A (now 4A) state semifinals in 2023, winning that game by a score of 55-54.

"Defense and rebounding is what it's going to take to win every game," coach Williams said when asked about what it was going to take to clinch back-to-back state titles. "They switch all screens, if they play man, so we're going to have to execute, make good choices and decisions and move the ball. If we can't rebound or get stops, it's going to be a long night — so that's our goal. We've scouted them all year knowing this might happen, No. 1 versus No. 2. I feel like we have a decent gameplan, but we have to have the heart, legs, and lungs to go out and execute."

Marsh Valley 9 17 11 17 — 54

Bonners Ferry 17 16 15 19 — 67

PTS: BF — Williams 28, Bateman 15, Rice 12, Blackmore 5, Hinthorn 4, Abubakari 3. MV — Smith 18, J. Whitworth 12, T. Whitworth 9, Hansen 8, Hadley 4, Bennett 3.

REB: BF — Rice 10, Bateman 9, Abubakari 6, Williams 6, Hinthorn 3, Blackmore 2, Schrock 1. MV — J. Whitworth 5, Hansen 5, Smith 4, Hadley 4, T. Whitworth 3, Bennett 1.

AST: BF — Hinthorn 6, Rice 5, Blackmore 4, Bateman 1, Abubakari 1. MV — T. Whitworth 3, Hadley 3, Smith 2, J. Whitworth 2, Bowman 1.

STL: BF — Williams 6. MV — J. Whitworth 3, Hadley 3.

BLK: BF — Bateman 4. MV — J. Whitworth 2.

Badgers clinch back-to-back state titles

Bonners Ferry 65, Snake River 51

NAMPA — This team will be remembered for a long time coming.

Senior Asher Williams scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the first quarter, senior Thomas Bateman added 17 points and a team-high three steals and the No. 1 Badgers led for 30 of 32 minutes, defeating the No. 2 Panthers to capture back-to-back 4A (previously 3A) State Championship titles on Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

“We’ve been working for this our whole lives,” said Asher Williams, who has signed with NAIA Montana Tech in Butte, Mont. “Us seniors have been playing together since we were in third grade. It was a great win to get them by 14 points.”

Bateman concurred with Williams.

“We’ve been grinding for this moment for a long time,” Bonners Ferry High senior Thomas Bateman said. “It felt really nice to have it end with a championship. It really felt like we did a good job of adjusting to them.”  

Senior Brody Rice had 13 points, which included half of Bonners Ferry's 12 points in the fourth quarter, and senior Eli Blackmore drained three 3-pointers for all nine of his points off the bench for the Badgers, which led 42-27 at intermission. Sophomore Peyton Hinthorn tied Bateman for a team-high five rebounds and Rice for a team-high four assists.

Snake River High senior Dawson Jackman, who had 16 points, including two 3-pointers and a game-high four steals, opened the game with a trey. 

From there on, it was all Badgers.

Tied 10-10 with roughly three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Bonners Ferry put together a 13-2 run capped off by a 4-point play by Williams and the Badgers took a 23-14 lead after one quarter of play.

Early in the second quarter, Bateman, who found nylon twice from three 3-point range, hit a corner trey to extend the lead to 28-18; he then stole a pass for a fastbreak layup after some great defense to put Bonners Ferry up 37-23 with 2:45 remaining in the half. After a steal by junior Sulay Abubakari with under 10 seconds to go, Bateman cleaned up his teammates miss to put Bonners Ferry up by 15 points heading into halftime.

Blackmore hit his third 3-point bucket of the game with roughly five minutes remaining in the third quarter to push the Badgers to a 47-31 lead, their largest of the game.

Senior Marcus Coombs netted a team-high 21 points and six rebounds for Snake River, which cut the deficit to 55-45 after a 7-2 run capped off by a Bowman 3-pointer, but it would be the closest the Panthers would get.

“Bonners Ferry is a big, athletic team,” said Snake River head coach Robert Coombs, in his 32nd season. “You’ve got to give them credit. That’s a great group of kids. They were a little more aggressive about executing down the stretch. They’re a really good team and deserve this. You’ve got to give them credit. They played really well. Anytime you give up 65 points in a game, it’s not going to go well.”

Late in the fourth, Rice finished two up-and-under scores while fighting through contact on back-to-back possessions, which all but sealed the deal as Bonners Ferry led 63-51 with 1:50 remaining in the contest. Bateman hit the final Badgers basket with just over a minute to go, getting bumped on a fadeaway, off-balance floater in the key.

Overall, the Badgers shot 24-for-41 from the field (58.5%), including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from beyond the arc and were 11-for-14 from the free throw line (78.6%).

Bonners Ferry finishes the season with a 24-1 record and won all three of their games at the 4A State Championship tournament by an average of 15.33 points per game. Described as a legendary team by many, and with a senior class that will go down in history, coach Williams, who now holds a 90-26 career record, showed his thanks to "Badger Nation" in his postgame speech.

"First of all, Snake River, great job, great season and great coaching staff," coach Williams said. "Thank you, Dairy West, for everything you do for this tournament, creating memories for these boys. Our high school principal, Lisa Iverson, thank you for all your support over the years. Thanks to all my friends and family throughout the last five years coaching here — it has been remarkable."

Williams then went on to thank his coaching staff, which includes Jed Bateman, Greg Kissee and Josh Hawks, and thanked the families that have trusted him with their son's over the last 10 years.

"Being coached by the same guy for 10 years can be challenging," he said. "Your support of me and your love for this team will always be remembered. To my players, playing for three state championships in three years, it's not easy. You guys grinded, you showed effort every single day in practice and it was remarkable. Your tenacity, faith in me, faith in the process, and love for each other is a joy to be around... thank you to Badger Nation; it's been a great ride."

Williams said that going out on top was really huge and that he's guessing at this time next year, he'll be watching college basketball somewhere.

“It really comes down to building a legacy,” said Williams, whose team finished runner-up in 2023. “Maybe in 10 or 20 years, they’re going to be coaches one day and I just want them to remember those moments and the effort that it took to make this happen. They’ve been going at it for years. My job is to stretch them mentally and physically, and I played college basketball for four years, and they’re much smarter than I am. They worked hard and built this.”

Snake River 14 13 11 13 — 51

Bonners Ferry 23 19 11 12 — 65

PTS: BF — Williams 24, Bateman 17, Rice 13, Blackmore 9, Hinthorn 2. SR — Coombs 21, Jackman 16, Anderson 4, Mortensen 4, Howard 4, Driscoll 2.

REB: BF — Bateman 5, Hinthorn 5, Rice 3, Blackmore 3, Williams 2, Abubakari 1. SR — Coombs 6, Howard 3, Mortensen 2, Anderson 2, Driscoll 2, Jackman 1, Trejo 1.

AST: BF — Rice 4, Hinthorn 4, Williams 3, Bateman 3, Blackmore 1. SR — Anderson 2, Jackman 2, Coombs 2, Mortimer 1, Driscoll 1, Howard 1.

STL: BF — Bateman 3, Hinthorn 2, Williams 1, Rice 1, Abubakari 1. SR — Jackman 4, Coombs 1.

BLK: BF — None. SR — Mortensen 1.

    Bonners Ferry High senior Brody Rice finishes one of his multiple up-and-under layups while contested by 6-foot 9-inch Snake River High sophomore Bridjer Howard
  

    Bonners Ferry High senior Thomas Bateman puts up one of his signature jump-hook shots while guarded by 6-foot 9-inch Snake River High sophomore Bridjer Howard.
  

    The Bonners Ferry High boys basketball team celebrates after winning the 2025 4A State Championship with a 65-51 win over Snake River. Back row, from left, are assistant coach Jed Bateman, head coach Nathan Williams, Peyton Hinthorn, Ivaan Cartwright, Sulay Abubakari, Asher Williams, Thomas Bateman, Micah Thomson, Brody Rice, Conrad Hiatt, assistant coach Josh Hawks and assistant coach Greg Kissee. Front row, from left are Jameson Cartwright-Kissee, Eli Blackmore, Myles Stanger and Ty Schrock.
  

    The Bonners Ferry High student section cheers loudly and proudly during Saturday's 4A State Championship match held Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.