Idaho high school girls basketball state championships: Snake River girls go back-to-back
Rylie Edlefsen’s season was supposedly over.
But the Snake River High senior guard was out on the court Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center leading her team to history.
Six weeks after a fractured metacarpal in her right shooting hand had seemingly cost her the season and still donning the brace from it, she dropped a game-high 23 points on five 3-pointers in a 53-45 win over Teton in the Class 3A state championship game.
The gutsy performance carried the Panthers (20-6) into going back-to-back for the first time in program history.
The Northwest Nazarene signee also had six assists for Snake River, which found itself trailing by double digits on three separate occasions. This included a 50-40 deficit with 1-minute and 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
But it went on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes. It was capped by a trey from the top of the key from Taylee Carlson to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 41-40 with 6:06 remaining.
Reese Baldwin put them up for good at 47-45 with a layin at the 2-minute and 38-second mark of the fourth quarter.
Reese Kunz and Grace Hogan had 12 and 11 points, respectively for the top-seeded Timberwolves (24-2), who had beaten Snake River twice during the regular season.
2A
BEAR LAKE 41, NORTH FREMONT 35
Saydee Shaul tallied 15 points as the Bears (23-3) won their first state championship in a quarter of a century.
It’s also the second state title in program history and comes a year after they went 6-19. This is only the second winning season for the school in the last 12 years.
Peyton Lunz had 11 points for the Huskies (20-7) in the loss.
1A DI
GRACE 47, LAPWAI 40
Sydnee Smith recorded a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Grizzlies (22-3) won their second state championship in program history and the second in the last four seasons.
Smith had a double-double in the second half alone with 15 points and 10 boards for Grace, which ends the year on a 16-game winning streak.
Jacie Christensen added 10 points in the win for the Grizzlies.
Samara Powaukee and Louis Oatman scored 10 points apiece for the Wildcats (20-6) in the loss.
1A DII
KENDRICK 55, DIETRICH 53, OT
Harley Heimgartner led three different players in double figures with 15 points as the Tigers (23-3) won their first state championship in 22 years.
Hailey Taylor and Ruby Stewart added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for Kendrick which now has four state titles to its name.
The Tigers let a nine-point fourth-quarter lead slip away, but held on in the extra period.
Aleigha Robertson had a game-high 20 points for the Blue Devils (20-4) in the loss. They’ve now fallen in back-to-back finals.
Katilyn Wanamaker and Jessika Power chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Power also notched a double-double with a game-high 20 rebounds.
