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 will face No. 6 McCall-Donnelly (15-10) in the 4A state third-place game at 11 a.m. (PST) today at Eagle High. 

Bonners Ferry (23-1), which has won 40 out of their last 41 contests dating back to Dec. 28, 2023, will head back to the 4A State Championship game set to be held at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa today at 2:50 p.m. (PST). They'll face 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.

4A State Championship Opponent Preview

SNAKE RIVER PANTHERS

Record: 25-3

State seed: #2; Play-in winner

Coach: Robert Coombs, 32nd season

Players to watch: F Marcus Coombs, sr.; G Dawson Jackman, sr.; F Bridjer Howard, so.

Notes: At state for the 10th year in a row and have placed five times during that stretch, including third a year ago. … The Panthers were the top seed a year ago before getting upset by Teton in the semifinals. … Spent most of this season ranked No. 2 in the state media poll, but two losses to Marsh Valley at districts dropped them to third in the final rankings. … This is the 15th team under Coombs to win at least 20 games. … Coombs is closing in on 600 career wins and has won five of the program’s eight state titles with the last coming in 2013. … Boasts a top-3 offense (59 ppg) and defense (43.9 ppg) in the classification.