McCAMMON – As the Soda Springs’ girls roster ran to the center of the court, lifting the 2A District 5 trophy high above their heads as eager parents snapped pictures, coach Wade Schvaneveldt sat on the plastic bleachers 25 feet away and shouted at assistant coach Terry Anderson.

“Coach T,” Schvaneveldt hollered. “When was the last time we got beat in the district tournament? Do you remember?”

“‘09,” Anderson guessed, fumbling through his memory. “No, it wasn’t ‘09.”

“It’s been a while,” Schvaneveldt added.

At least a decade. All the Soda Springs’ coach knows is, he’s won the conference championship in 16 of his 19 seasons at the helm of the Cardinals’ girls basketball program. Maybe that’s why he was able to sit off to the side as his team celebrated. He’s seen it before – experienced the district-title high enough times to not get caught up in it.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want his girls to treat it like the greatest day of their life.

Sixty-four seconds before the buzzer sounded on Soda Springs’ 56-46 win over Bear Lake in the 2A District 5 championship, Schvaneveldt called a timeout. His girls huddled around and their smiles and enthusiasm grew with every word out of their coach’s mouth.

“It was that time. I told them, ‘Hey, we have a minute and (four) seconds left for these girls to realize their dreams,’” Schvaneveldt said. “Nobody thought we were going to be there. I just wanted them to have a chance to enjoy the moment for a minute because it doesn’t happen all the time.”

Luckily for Soda, they could do that. Wednesday's game didn't have much suspense.

The Cardinals couldn’t contain Bear Lake guard Hailey Humpherys in the first quarter and took just a one-point lead into the second. But from there, Soda Springs funneled the ball into sophomore forward Zippy Somsen and built up a lead it would never relinquish.

For Soda Springs, 5-foot-11 freshman wing Jinette Garbett gave the Cardinals length Bear Lake couldn’t defend. Sophomore guard Taylor Billman swiped a number of steals and finished with a dozen points. And Somsen dominated down low, scoring a game-high 14 points.

“Zippy had a great first half and kept us in it,” Schvaneveldt said. “All of our strategy is based on the defense and we try to teach the girls to make reads and they made some good reads tonight.”

In the grand scheme of things, the importance of Wednesday’s game was subdued compared to most district contests with the title on the line. That’s because both teams had already earned state tournament berths by just making it to the championship.

That Soda Springs and Bear Lake were the final two teams standing was a major shock considering Aberdeen and West Side finished at the top of the conference in the regular season. Heck, at one point this season, Soda Springs lost six of seven. For comparison, the Cardinals’ state-title team from last season lost just two games all year.

“I’ve never coached a team that has lost 11 games before,” Schvaneveldt said. “We only had three girls who were at the state tournament last year. We had to learn a lot, but they work hard. We had a rough season at first but we got on track. I think we’re the best 11-win team in the state.”

Schvaneveldt knew this season was going to be tough. Soda Springs lost All-Area Player of the Year Sadie Gronning. It started 1-3. And it was forced to rely on a heap of girls who had no prior varsity experience. Perhaps some rocky patches were bound to come.

The turnaround, though, has a lot to do with Schvaneveldt. Not just because of his patience, game-planning or late nights. But because he almost didn’t come back to win his 16th district title.

“At times, I thought, ‘Why didn’t I retire with my other coaches.’ I did,” he said. “I honestly thought about retiring last year and going out on top. But when the coronavirus hit, I didn’t want to let these kids with a new coach without summer ball.

“So, really, the coronavirus forced me, in a way, to stay. And I’m glad I did.”

SODA SPRINGS 56, BEAR LAKE 46

Bear Lake 12 9 8 17 – 46

Soda Springs 13 18 11 14 – 56

Bear Lake – Sharp 13, Humpherys 12, Hennick 7, Johnson 5, Kelsey 3, Smith 3, Parker 3.

Soda Springs – Somsen 14, Billman 12, K. Moldenhauer 9, Ta. Thompson 8, Garbett 5, Pelayo 5, A. Moldenhauer 3.