Early onslaught by Bonners Ferry too much for Snake River to overcome in 4A title game
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NAMPA – Bonners Ferry won its second straight state title on Saturday and there wasn’t much Snake River could do to stop the Badgers’ onslaught.
To recap, Snake River won its first two games of the tournament by rolling to early leads and essentially putting the games out of reach by halftime.
In Saturday’s 4A final, it was Bonners Ferry unleashing its own early barrage and the Panthers couldn’t recover in a 65-51 loss.
“Give credit to Bonners Ferry, they have a lot of size and a lot of speed and they were a little more aggressive in the first half and we got in a hole there,” Snake River coach Robert Coombs said. “We started digging out in the second half but it was a little too late.”
Bonners Ferry led 42-27 at the half as Asher Williams and Thomas Bateman combined for 27 points.
Snake River (25-4) had given up just 44 and 47 points in its previous two tournament wins.
The Panthers fought back and closed within 10 points in the fourth quarter, but the Badgers (24-1) held off every charge the Panthers could mount, even as Snake River shot 61% in the second half.
“I knew when we gave up that many points in the first half that we were in trouble,” Coombs said of trying to overcome the early deficit.
Both teams emptied their benches with 34 seconds remaining.
“I’ve been doing this 32 years and sometimes you have to have a break go your way,” Coombs said. “I’ve had a couple of teams that have a state title and I wasn’t sure they’d get it done. I had teams that didn’t get it done.”
Two weeks ago the Panthers were in danger of missing the state tournament after getting beat twice by Marsh Valley in their district tournament. They had to win a play-in game against Teton to advance to the state tournament.
“Honestly, I feel pretty good about it,” forward Marcus Coombs said of the team’s journey to the championship game. “It’s sad not getting that blue (championship) one, but I’m proud of these guys. They are my family … I’m keeping my head up because I’m proud of that red trophy. Anytime you’re bringing home a trophy you have to be proud of it.”
Marcus Coombs finished with 19 points and a team-high five rebounds. Dawson Jackman finished with 16 for the Panthers.
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