Girls

Sho-Ban 61, Jackpot 33

JACKPOT, Nev. - The Sho-Ban girls' basketball team had plenty of chances to play some of its younger girls during its 61-33 in at Jackpot, Nev., on Wednesday.

After one quarter, the Chiefs led 17-4, and by halftime, that lead was 44-16.

"We played pretty good. We got to a big lead after the first half," said coach Everett Moore. "We've got some injuries, so we played some young girls and sat some of our starters out in the second half."

Samantha Bear led Sho-Ban with 23 points, and Leela Abrahamson added 15.

The Chiefs (2-3) next will travel to play Shoshone on Monday.

Grace 35, North Gem 34

GRACE - The Grace girls' basketball team edged North Gem 35-34 at home Wednesday under strange circumstances.

North Gem coach Corry Hatch said the game ended 34-34 at the end of regulation, but the referees whistled him for a technical foul, and Grace junior Michelle Burton hit the second of her two foul shots to give the Grizzlies the win.

"I've never seen an ending like that, ever," Hatch said.

The ending overshadowed solid performances from Grace's Kylee Jensen, who had 10 points, and North Gem's Chynna Holbrook, who had 12.

Grace improved to 5-0 and next plays Noth Fremont on Friday. North Gem dropped to 2-2 and next travels to play Oakley on Friday.

Rockland 37, Twin Falls Soph. 24

TWIN FALLS - Playing a 5A school - even if it was only the sophomore squad - took a bit of getting used to for the 1A Division II Rockland girls' basketball team Wednesday night.

But once the Bulldogs got comfortable, they cruised to a 37-24 win over the Twin Falls sophomore squad.

"The first half gave 'em a chance to get their feet on the ground and see what it's all about," said Rockland coach Vern Nelson. "In the second half, they came out with a little more confidence."

Did they ever. After leading 14-13 aat halftime, the Bulldogs outscored the Bruins 13-3 in the third quarter to take control of the game.

Whitney Woodworth paced Rockland (3-2) with 13 points, and Kambrie Munk added 12 points and seven blocked shots.

Tonight, the Bulldogs will be on the road again, as they travel to face Raft River at 7 p.m.

Soda Springs 48, Marsh Valley 35

ARIMO - The Soda Springs jumped out to an early lead on the way to a 48-35 win over Marsh Valley on Wednesday.

After the first quarter, the 2A Cardinals led 18-8, and the 3A Eagles never could recover.

"If we could've played the first half like we did the second half, we would've done a whole lot better," said Marsh Valley coach Kyle McQuivey.

Soda Springs' Kayle McMurray led all scorers with 13 points, while teammate Rachel Bowman pitched in 10. Abby Williams led Marsh Valley with nine points.

The Cardinals (5-0) will play at Bear Lake on Thursday, while the Eagles (3-3) are at Malad next Wednesday.

Boys

Butte County 55, North Gem 47 (OT)

ARCO - The North Gem boys' basketball team had its season-opening game against 2A Butte County won Wednesday night.

All the 1A Divsion II Cowboys needed was a free throw to ice the game at the end of regulation, but the freebies wouldn't fall. The Pirates took advantage with a shot at the buzzer to force overtime, where they cruised to a 55-47 victory.

After leading 23-18 at the half, North Gem allowed Butte County to take a 32-28 lead into the fourth quarter before the Cowboys rallied to retake the lead. In overtime, though, the Pirates proved too much.

"That was a game we should've won on the road against a 2A school," North Gem coach Ken Christensen said of his team's opening-game effort. "So yeah, I was happy with it."

Austin Wuttke led the way for the Cowboys with 18 points, and both Colton Davids and Mitchel Hall added 10.

Rockland (0-1) will travel to 2A South Fremont on Saturday.

Idaho Falls 52, Pocatello 50 (OT)

IDAHO FALLS - Both the Pocatello and Idaho Falls boys' basketball teams made clutch shots in their respective season openers on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for the Indians, the Tigers' came at the end of overtime to give them a 52-50 win.

Pocatello's Michael Decker hit a 3-pointer with 30 second left to force the extra frame, but Idaho Falls recovered and hit a basket with 3 seconds left to win the game.

"For a first game, I'm not too disappointed," said Pocatello coach Lee Ralphs. "We would've liked to have won that one, and we had our chances. For our first game, we played too fast, and it caused us to do silly things."

Decker led the way for the Indians with 22 points, and Shae Andrews scored 12.

Pocatello (0-1) will at Burley on Friday.

Marsh Valley 69, Soda Springs 48

SODA SPRINGS - The Marsh Valley boys' basketball team scored throughout and played strong defense late to defeat Soda Springs 69-48 on Wednesday.

The Eagles were led by 22 points from Dallen Bills and 17 from Cory Kay. But scoring was never a problem for Marsh Valley.

What it needed to win, though, was some stops in the fourth quarter. The Eagles easily came up with them, and won that frame 24-9 to pull away.

"Our defensive pressure picked up in the fourth, and we were able to get some steals," Marsh Valley coach Jason Brower said. "That led to some easy layups down the stretch."

Cody Scheierman led Soda Springs with 17 points.

The win moved Marsh Valley to 2-0. It next plays North Fremont on Friday.

American Falls 43, Malad 37

AMERICAN FALLS - American Falls coach Roger Thomas wasn't happy with the way his team shot the ball or turned the ball over in its season opener. But he had no complaints about the final score of the Beavers' 43-37 win over Malad at home Wednesday.

"We did some things down the stretch to make sure that we won," Thomas said. "A win's a win. We'll take a win any way that we can get it."

American Falls led 22-14 at halftime and was outscored 23-21 in the second half, but it clamped down defensively on its 2A opponent when it counted.

Nate Villalobos led the Beavers with 18 points, while Jared Jones scored 14 to lead the Dragons.

Bear Lake 56, West Side 43

DAYTON - West Side coach Tyler Brown liked the way his team played against Bear Lake in the first quarter, but not so much the rest of its season opener in a 56-43 loss at home Wednesday.

The Pirates led 13-8 after one quarter, but the Bears then solved their press and outscored them 34-18 in the next two quarters.

"We had a good first quarter, then we lost the next three," Brown said. "They got a lot more easy baskets than we did. They got a lot more layups than we got."

Spencer Smedley led Bear Lake with 17 points, while Dallas Turnbow had 14 to pace West Side.

West Side (0-1) next hosts South Fremont on Saturday.

American Falls (1-0) next hosts Kimberly on Friday.