At the beginning of the season Soda Springs head coach Greg Bergholm thought it would be a rebuilding year for his Cardinals.

    His players had other ideas.

    After finishing the regular season in a three-way in the 2A Fifth district and getting beat twice in two days by eventual-district champ West Side, the Cardinals went on to win two loser-out games to earn a berth in the state tournament.

    “For these guys to step up and get back there, (in) kind of a rebuilding year is really big for us,” Bergholm said.

    In the state play-in game against Salmon, the Cardinals had to overcome a 13-point halftime deficit and a stalling Savages offense, which they did by controlling the tempo of the game and forcing turnovers.

    “We knew if we could come back from 13... anything is possible,” junior guard Hunter Goodenough said.

    This is the Cardinals’ fourth-straight state tournament appearance with the best result coming in 2011 when the team finished fourth.

    “We play a brutal, I feel, preseason,” Bergholm said. “Our record’s not always the greatest, but we learn from it. It gets us ready for the end of the season.”

    Senior forward Derek Spain and junior forward Landon Hayes lead the Cardinals uptempo offense. Point guard Riley Yamauchi runs of the offense.

    Soda Springs takes on Third District champion New Plymouth in the opening game.

    The Pilgrims have won six of their final seven heading into the tournament and are coming off the school’s fourth consecutive district title.

    Junior guard Chase White leads New Plymouth at 14.5 points per game. Senior wing Hunter Wells chips in 9.1 and post Nate Woods adds 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.

    Soda Springs and New Plymouth tipoff at 6:15 p.m. today at Capital High School.