State Tournament Roundup

<p>The State Tournament is in full swing with semifinals and finals taking place the past couple days. Let’s take a look at the latest results. These kids are inching closer to their goal of being State Champs!</p> <p><strong>Marsh Valley Advances to Title Game</strong></p> <p>Marsh Valley advanced to the 3A state title game with a 56-47 win over Teton on Friday.</p> <p>The Eagles are now one victory away from joining the 1988 Marsh Valley team as the only two boys basketball state-championship-winning squads in program history.</p> <p>And to get there, Marsh Valley hardly had a scare. The Eagles led by eight at halftime and had a double-digit advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Teton couldn’t rally.  The squad earned at it the charity stripe shooting 30 free throws and scored a dozen more points than Teton from the line.</p> <p>Junior guard Payton Howe scored a game-high 17 points and senior [player_tooltip player_id="919677" first="Bracken" last="Howell"] contributed 16 for the Eagles. It was an all-around performance and Marsh Valley has been getting contributions from everyone making them difficult to guard. </p> <p>Marsh Valley will play in the 3A State Championship Game against McCall-Donnelly at the Ford Idaho Center on Saturday at 2 p.m.</p> <p><strong>Braden Hess, the Unsung Hero </strong></p> <p>The final play wasn’t supposed to go to Braden Hess. Preston wanted to get the ball to Gabe Hammons, who was working the baseline of Bishop Kelly’s 2-3 zone defense and using a screen from Hess to get open in the corner.</p> <p>But the gravity of Preston’s best shooter was such that, as he flashed by, the outside defender in the zone bailed, chasing Hammons to the wing.</p> <p>Hess didn’t even have to set the screen — all he had to do was take a couple steps inside the paint, seal off the defender there, catch the inbounds pass and lay it up for the winning bucket with 1.3 seconds left in Preston’s 38-36 state semifinal win over Bishop Kelly at Rocky Mountain High School on Friday.</p> <p>The win gave Preston their sixth straight championship appearance and with a win would be in a tie for second for the most title wins at 11. </p> <p>Preston plays Middleton for the 4A championship Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center at 4:30 p.m.</p> <p>The Indians lost a previous matchup to Middleton this season, 61-52. </p> <p><strong>Other Scores around State</strong></p> <p><em>Garden Valley 88, Dietrich 73 (IA DII Championship)</em></p> <p><em>Lapwai 82, Riverstone 60 (IA DI Championship)</em></p> <p><em>The Ambrose School 77, Wendell 35 (2A Semifinal)</em></p> <p><em>St. Maries 45, North Fremont 43 (2A Semifinal)</em></p> <p><em>Mcall-Donnelly 60, Snake River 51 (3A Semifinal)</em></p> <p><em>Middleton 53, Hillcrest 47 (4A Semifinal)</em></p> <p><em>Lake City 65, Boise 50 (5A Semifinal)</em></p> <p><em>Meridian 66, Madison 56 (5A Semifinal)</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>