BOISE — Ririe had been a kryptonite of sorts for the St. Maries High boys basketball team in recent years.

The Lumberjacks entered this season having reached the state 2A semifinals each of the last four years — only to lose in the semis each time.

The last two years, it was Ririe that kept St. Maries from reaching the title game.

But on Friday night, the Lumberjacks came up with the winning formula — excellent defense on Ririe’s star player, a carefree attitude and a clutch basket from senior Jackson Pritchard to take down the top-ranked Bulldogs 42-34 in a semifinal game at Capital High.

“We just wanted it,” said Pritchard, who nailed the 3-pointer with 2:48 to play that put the Lumberjacks ahead to stay. “Our coaches spent hours preparing, we have five seniors that have wanted it. We just put in hard work, our bench was up on every play, we had amazing crowd support. It’s a big thing to see this many people this excited.”

St. Maries (19-7) will play for its first state championship since 1987 when the Lumberjacks face North Fremont (19-6) of Ashton today at 1:50 p.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

North Fremont, ranked fourth, beat Cole Valley Christian in the other semifinal.

St. Maries hadn’t scored in more than eight minutes when sophomore Eli Gibson drove the left baseline, got stopped underneath the basket, and fed Pritchard in the right corner. Pritchard’s 3 with 2:48 left broke a 31-all tie, and the Lumberjacks never trailed again.

“That was a big, big shot,” fifth-year St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said.

Then, with the Lumberjacks playing tight defense on Ririe star Michael Ure, the rest of the Bulldogs struggled to hit (or even take) shots down the stretch. Tristan Nelson’s layup boosted St. Maries’ lead to five points, and the Lumberjacks sealed the win with 6 of 10 free throws over the final 46.7 seconds.

“We finally figured out a way to get ’em,” Chase said.

How?

“Just heart,” he said. “These guys played such good defense all night. We knew if we could hold Ure down … it took three or four guys to contain him, but they did such a good job of fronting him, and trying to keep the ball out of his hands.”

Part of that defense was a team effort on Ure, a 6-foot-7 senior. With Dan Howard, Tyler Lohman and Gibson taking turns seemingly glued to Ure, and the other Lumberjacks not that far away, Ririe struggled to run offense. Ure finished with a hard-earned 15 points (on 4-of-10 shooting) and six rebounds. Ririe was just 10 of 36 (27.8 percent) from the field, including 5 of 29 (17.2 percent) from 3-point range.

“It just took a great team effort,” said Chase, who also praised the defense of Coy Sands on Lars Sutton, holding the Ririe point guard to one basket and five points.

Pritchard finished with 13 points. Gibson had nine points and three assists, none bigger than the one to Pritchard with the score tied late in the fourth quarter. Kaden Hammond had six points, six boards and four assists.

Despite St. Maries’ frequent trips to state of late, the Lumberjacks weren’t favored to get there this year. But they beat Central Idaho League champion and third-ranked Grangeville in a best-of-3 series for the District 1-2 title, then knocked off West Side, which received votes in the final poll, and now Ririe to reach the title game. St. Maries did not receive votes in the final media poll.

“We’ve kind of taken the underdog role, with everybody doubting us,” Pritchard said.

In the past, Chase has taken his Lumberjack teams to the Idaho Center, so they could get a taste of where they aspired to play. But this year, he said, playing in the Idaho Center was never even mentioned.

“We’ve just been playing loose and having fun,” Chase said. “I told the kids, this is like a home court for them. We’ve played 14 games here the last five years, so they’re comfortable in here.”

Ririe 9 10 7 8 — 34

St. Maries 16 4 11 11 — 42

RIRIE — L. Sutton 5, Zeller 0, Young 2, Player 0, Johnson 3, Rosen 3, Scott 6, Smith 0, Ure 15. Totals 10-36 9-13 34.

ST. MARIES — Hill 3, Pritchard 13, Nelson 6, Lohman 0, Sands 0, Gibson 9, Hammond 6, Howard 5. Totals 13-38 12-21 42.