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Mar. 7—NAMPA — The Lewiston Bengals are headed to the Idaho Class 5A boys basketball state tournament championship.
As the No. 1 seed, the Bengals faced the No. 4 seed Columbia Wildcats of Nampa in the semifinals and came out on top 58-50 on Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
The first thing that Lewiston coach Brooks Malm said in the postgame interview was how grateful he is to be surrounded by the players he has and the Lewiston community.
"Man, overwhelmed with gratefulness that I could be around these kids, that I could be around this community. We're playing in the state title," Malm said. "There's been a lot of time invested in by these two guys sitting to my right (Royce Fisher), my left (Blaze Hepburn), but also just our entire team."
Fisher finished with a game-high 28 points for the Bengals (22-3).
How it happened
Hepburn was the star of the first quarter with eight points — two 3-pointers and a midrange jumper. Fisher added four points and Jordan Walker scored three for Lewiston to hold the lead at the end of the period at 15-13.
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The second quarter was a low-scoring affair. Hepburn added four points, and Fisher hit a 10-foot jumper and a fadeaway 2-pointer and Walker nailed another 3-pointer.
But some quick possessions from the Wildcats (18-8) kept the game close as Columbia's Easton Lott had a couple of fast-break layups and a 3-pointer. The Wildcats' JR Whitworth was important inside with some putback layups off missed shots.
The game was tied 28-28 at halftime.
Fisher started off slow — for his standards — and then had big third and fourth quarters.
He hit three 3s, including an impressive stepback trey, and totaled 11 points in the third frame. Then added seven points in the fourth, with one spinning layup on a tough shot.
"Just came out the half and I felt it, hit the first two 3s, I was feeling it," Fisher said.
Fisher shot 10-of-20 from the field, 4-of-10 from the 3-point line and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line en route to his game-high scoring total. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists.
Hepburn totaled 14 points. He shot 6-of-12 from the field and nailed two 3s in the first quarter.
Walker finished with 10 points and had a game-high five assists.
Lewiston went on a 15-10 run in the fourth quarter which clinched the game.
"I thought we were able to just get up the floor late in the press, and it opened up a lot of middle gaps, and that's where I got a lot of my points at the end," Fisher said. "But a collective effort from spinning the ball, overcoming early errors — that's how we got the big dub."
Lewiston's team effort
The Bengals' defense was spectacular throughout the entire contest, creating hustle plays, diving for loose balls, and creating turnovers.
Columbia turned the ball over 13 times to Lewiston's six. Malm said that is the sweet spot where the Bengals want to be.
"And then a big part's the turnover margin for us," Malm said. "I thought that we forced some big turnovers late."
He gave credit to Andrew Haines, who, toward the end of the game, deflected a pass, which the Bengals chased down and secured possession.
The two standouts who didn't have a big impact on the stat sheet, but certainly made their presence felt were Mason Way and DJ Wilkerson.
"(Way is) the unsung hero at the state tournament for us, because he's playing his tail off," Malm said. "I mean, he's playing so hard. It was a team effort, it was a collective effort. DJ Wilkerson hasn't played a bunch of minutes for us throughout the year, but he's kind of came along in spot minutes. He's been good, and tonight he was really good. ... He was really disruptive."
What's next?
Lewiston advances to the the Idaho Class 5A state tournament championship where it will try to capture its first boys basketball state title since 2009.
The Bengals will face the No. 3 seeded Bishop Kelly Knights of Boise at 5 p.m. Pacific today at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
What's Lewiston's plan to lock into this game?
Fisher, Hepburn and Malm all said the same thing: "Just go play as hard as you can."
COLUMBIA (18-8)
Tavin Jones 2 3-6 7, Dominic Reeping 0 0-0 0, Marcus DeLeon 2 0-0 4, Easton Lott 8 0-0 18, Easton Zickgraf 0 0-0 0, Parx Johnson 1 0-0 3, Wiatt Plugge 0 0-0 0, Axel Lott 0 0-0 0, Max Keller 3 0-0 6, JR Whitworth 4 1-2 9, Ethan Rigby 0 0-0 0, Lincoln Erickson 1 0-0 3, Brenton Thueson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-8 50.
LEWISTON (22-3)
Zavier McFee 0 0-0 0, Royce Fisher 10 4-6 28, DJ Wilkerson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Walker 3 1-2 10, Peyton Walker 0 0-0 0, Andrew Haines 0 1-2 1, Brady Rudolph 2 0-0 5, Blaze Hepburn 6 0-0 14, Mason Way 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 6-10 58.
Columbia 13 15 12 10—50
Lewiston 15 13 15 15—58
3-point goals — Lott 2, Johnson, Whitworth, Fisher 4, J. Walker 3, Hepburn 2, Rudolph.
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, [email protected] or on X @TrevorJunt.
Continue reading...
As the No. 1 seed, the Bengals faced the No. 4 seed Columbia Wildcats of Nampa in the semifinals and came out on top 58-50 on Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
The first thing that Lewiston coach Brooks Malm said in the postgame interview was how grateful he is to be surrounded by the players he has and the Lewiston community.
"Man, overwhelmed with gratefulness that I could be around these kids, that I could be around this community. We're playing in the state title," Malm said. "There's been a lot of time invested in by these two guys sitting to my right (Royce Fisher), my left (Blaze Hepburn), but also just our entire team."
Fisher finished with a game-high 28 points for the Bengals (22-3).
How it happened
Hepburn was the star of the first quarter with eight points — two 3-pointers and a midrange jumper. Fisher added four points and Jordan Walker scored three for Lewiston to hold the lead at the end of the period at 15-13.
Advertisement
The second quarter was a low-scoring affair. Hepburn added four points, and Fisher hit a 10-foot jumper and a fadeaway 2-pointer and Walker nailed another 3-pointer.
But some quick possessions from the Wildcats (18-8) kept the game close as Columbia's Easton Lott had a couple of fast-break layups and a 3-pointer. The Wildcats' JR Whitworth was important inside with some putback layups off missed shots.
The game was tied 28-28 at halftime.
Fisher started off slow — for his standards — and then had big third and fourth quarters.
He hit three 3s, including an impressive stepback trey, and totaled 11 points in the third frame. Then added seven points in the fourth, with one spinning layup on a tough shot.
"Just came out the half and I felt it, hit the first two 3s, I was feeling it," Fisher said.
Fisher shot 10-of-20 from the field, 4-of-10 from the 3-point line and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line en route to his game-high scoring total. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists.
Hepburn totaled 14 points. He shot 6-of-12 from the field and nailed two 3s in the first quarter.
Walker finished with 10 points and had a game-high five assists.
Lewiston went on a 15-10 run in the fourth quarter which clinched the game.
"I thought we were able to just get up the floor late in the press, and it opened up a lot of middle gaps, and that's where I got a lot of my points at the end," Fisher said. "But a collective effort from spinning the ball, overcoming early errors — that's how we got the big dub."
Lewiston's team effort
The Bengals' defense was spectacular throughout the entire contest, creating hustle plays, diving for loose balls, and creating turnovers.
Columbia turned the ball over 13 times to Lewiston's six. Malm said that is the sweet spot where the Bengals want to be.
"And then a big part's the turnover margin for us," Malm said. "I thought that we forced some big turnovers late."
He gave credit to Andrew Haines, who, toward the end of the game, deflected a pass, which the Bengals chased down and secured possession.
The two standouts who didn't have a big impact on the stat sheet, but certainly made their presence felt were Mason Way and DJ Wilkerson.
"(Way is) the unsung hero at the state tournament for us, because he's playing his tail off," Malm said. "I mean, he's playing so hard. It was a team effort, it was a collective effort. DJ Wilkerson hasn't played a bunch of minutes for us throughout the year, but he's kind of came along in spot minutes. He's been good, and tonight he was really good. ... He was really disruptive."
What's next?
Lewiston advances to the the Idaho Class 5A state tournament championship where it will try to capture its first boys basketball state title since 2009.
The Bengals will face the No. 3 seeded Bishop Kelly Knights of Boise at 5 p.m. Pacific today at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
What's Lewiston's plan to lock into this game?
Fisher, Hepburn and Malm all said the same thing: "Just go play as hard as you can."
COLUMBIA (18-8)
Tavin Jones 2 3-6 7, Dominic Reeping 0 0-0 0, Marcus DeLeon 2 0-0 4, Easton Lott 8 0-0 18, Easton Zickgraf 0 0-0 0, Parx Johnson 1 0-0 3, Wiatt Plugge 0 0-0 0, Axel Lott 0 0-0 0, Max Keller 3 0-0 6, JR Whitworth 4 1-2 9, Ethan Rigby 0 0-0 0, Lincoln Erickson 1 0-0 3, Brenton Thueson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-8 50.
LEWISTON (22-3)
Zavier McFee 0 0-0 0, Royce Fisher 10 4-6 28, DJ Wilkerson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Walker 3 1-2 10, Peyton Walker 0 0-0 0, Andrew Haines 0 1-2 1, Brady Rudolph 2 0-0 5, Blaze Hepburn 6 0-0 14, Mason Way 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 6-10 58.
Columbia 13 15 12 10—50
Lewiston 15 13 15 15—58
3-point goals — Lott 2, Johnson, Whitworth, Fisher 4, J. Walker 3, Hepburn 2, Rudolph.
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, [email protected] or on X @TrevorJunt.
Continue reading...
