Boys' basketball

Grace 48, West Side 40

GRACE - The Grace boys' basketball team defeated West Side 48-40 on Thursday and improved its record to 4-6 overall and 1-1 in 2A Fifth District play.

Todd Lloyd led the Grizzlies with 16 points, Sam Korbitt added 10 and Brayden Hayden chipped in with 10 as well.

Coach Rory Lloyd, though, said it was his team's defense that won the game. He was most proud of holding West Side to four points in the second quarter.

"We just played some good solid defense," he said. "That made a big difference in the game tonight."

Malad 55, Soda Springs 40

MALAD - The Malad boys' basketball team continued to roll in 2A Fifth District play with a 55-40 win over Soda Springs on Thursday.

By playing stifling defense, the Dragons jumped out to a 21-10 halftime lead and were never threatened after that.

Trevor Thrope led the way with 21 points for Malad, while Alex Maughn scored 12 to lead the Cardinals.

Malad is now 3-7 overall but 2-0 in district play. Soda Springs dropped to 1-10 overall and 0-1 in league contests.

Aberdeen 73, West Jefferson 56

ABERDEEN - The Aberdeen boys weren't happy with their effort in close win over North Fremont on Tuesday night.

That disappointing showing made it easy for the Tigers to find motivation for their 73-56 win over West Jefferson on Thursday.

Aberdeen jumped ahead 20-8 in the first quarter on the way to the easy win.

"It was really nice to get a lead, have a lead at halftime," said Tigers coach Quinn Aldous. "We kind of treated the game against North Fremont on Tuesday as a loss because we didn't play well. When you feel like you didn't play well, it's easy to get up for the next game."

Ten players scored for Aberdeen, with Cody Snyder leading the balanced attack with 14 points. Bo Duffin and Aaron Schritter each added 12 points.

"We probably have seven or eight guys right around 10 (points a game)," Aldous said. "We're really balanced. The strength of this team is it's a team."

The Tigers are now 10-2 overall and 1-0 in 2A Fifth District play. They'll return to league action Saturday when they host Grace.

Marsh Valley 61, American Falls 42

AMERICAN FALLS - Marsh Valley capitalized on a shooting slump in the second quarter by American Falls to claim a 61-42 win Thursday at American Falls.

The teams ended the first half tied, 14-14. The Eagles then outscored the Beavers 15-3 in the second for a 29-17 halftime lead, and the Beavers never recovered.

"The second quarter killed us," American Falls coach Roger Thomas said. "We couldn't get anything going offensively, and Marsh Valley just came out and shut us down."

Landon Fonsbeck and Dallin Bills led Marsh Valley with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Devin Mock led the Beavers with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

American Falls (5-7, 0-2 3A Fifth District) next travels to play Bear Lake on Thursday.

Sho-Ban 61, Castleford 47

CASTLEFORD - Magic Smith scored 20 of his 29 points after halftime to spark Sho-Ban's 61-47 win at Castleford on Thursday.

Sho-Ban trailed 25-22 at halftime, with Castleford assigning three defenders to Smith at times. Behind Smith's unstoppable drives, though, Sho-Ban outscored Castleford 20-8 in the third quarter and 39-22 in the second half.

"He just started dribbling through everybody," Sho-Ban coach Merle Smith said. "He took over the game. Everybody in the crowd was yelling his name. There were people lining up outside for him to sign autographs."

Smith added 14 rebounds, seven assists, six steals and four blocks. Taylon Eschief and Lonzo Coby each added 12 points for the Chiefs.

Sho-Ban (8-3, 4-2 1A Division I Rocky Mountain) next travels to play Hansen on Saturday.

Girls' basketball

Mackay 45, Rockland 35

ROCKLAND - Rockland coach Vern Nelson thought his girls' basketball team played well against a bigger stronger Mackay team on Thursday.

"They're a big physical team, and they like to play you full-court on defense and go inside on offense," Nelson said. "They like to body up and play physical."

For the most part, the Bulldogs responded to that challenge, but they couldn't get enough shots to fall in a 45-35 loss.

"Considering we're undersized compared to them, I was proud of the way we played," Nelson said. "We just couldn't get the darn ball in the basket."

Rockland fell behind 20-12 at the half and never could climb out of that hole.

Whitney Woodworth led the way for the Bulldogs with 16 points, and Kambrie Munk added eight points.

For the season, Rockland is 6-7, and it is 1-2 in 1A Division II Rocky Mountain Conference play. It will continue league action tonight by traveling to Clark County.