Girls' basketball

Soda Springs 36, Valley 33

SALT LAKE CITY - It took the Soda Springs girls' basketball team some time to adjust to playing in Energy Solutions Arena, but once it did the Cardinals surged ahead of Valley to win 36-33 on Saturday.

With the win, Soda Springs improved to 9-0.

After trailing 18-11 at halftime, Soda Springs scored 25 points in the second half to win. Maddie Kimball led the way with 16 points, but coach Wade Schvaneveldt said she got a lot of help from her teammates.

"It was a good team effort with everyone contributing," he said. "In the third quarter, we picked up the intensity and that helped us."

The Cardinals now move onto district play. It next plays at Aberdeen on Wednesday.

Oakley 68, Rockland 48

ROCKLAND - Down its starting point guard, Carisa Robinson, the inexperienced Rockland girls' basketball team dropped a 68-48 decision to Oakley at home Saturday.

"We just got a little out of sync tonight," Rockland coach Vern Nelson said. "We didn't take care of the basketball very well."'

The Bulldogs did get to play several freshmen, including Michelle Taysom, Rachel Udy and Tiffany Robinson. Taysom scored six points, while Udy chipped in two. Whitney Woodworth led Rockland with 22 points, while Cambrie Munk had 15.

Rockland has no seniors on its team.

"We're a work in progress," Nelson said. "We're a little short on numbers anway. We're going to have to rely on some younger kids."

Rockland (3-5) next hosts the Twin Falls sophomore team Wednesday.

Sho-Ban 53, Jackpot 31

JACKPOT, Nev. - Sho-Ban beat Jackpot (Nev.) in the championship game of the State Line Battle on Saturday. The Chiefs have won four of their last five games.

Sho-Ban held a 29-10 lead at halftime. Corianna Honena led the Chiefs with 18 points, and Leela Abrahamson scored 14.

"We worked on a lot of things in practice, and the kids are starting to believe in what we're working on," Sho-Ban coach Everett Moore said.

Sho-Ban (5-4) next hosts Castleford on Tuesday and travels to Hagerman on Friday.

Butte County 43, Grace 40, OT

ARCO - Grace suffered its first loss of the season when it dropped a 43-40 overtime decision at Butte County on Saturday.

The teams were tied 36-36 at the end of regulation. Butte County then scored the first six points of overtime to pull away. The Grizzlies missed six free throws in the extra period.

"They jumped out on us," Grace coach Kevin Smith said. "We had the chance to win it at the line, and we just couldn't get it done."

Grace (7-1) next travels to play Bear Lake on Thursday.

Late Friday

Snake River 52, Malad 20

Snake River took an 18-2 lead in the first quarter and beat Malad 52-20, Friday.

The Panthers pulled down 24 offensive rebounds and scored 18 points from the free-throw line to distance themselves from the Dragons.

"We came out and pressured them and they seemed uncomfortable with it," said Snake River coach Steven Morton.

Eden VanOrden led Snake River with 14 points and 16 rebounds for a double-double.

Snake River (5-3) plays at Malad Wednesday.

Boys' basketball

Spanish Springs 56, Century 47

ELKO, Nev. - The Century boys' basketball team dropped a 56-47 decision to Spanish Springs on Saturday.

The Diamondbacks led 17-16 at the end of the first quarter, but didn't lead again. Coach Cody Shelley attributed that to poor free-throw shooting.

"We shot 11-of-23 from the foul line, and that hurt us," he said. "I thought we played real well throughout the game, and with a few more free throws we could have won."

Century almost did anyway. Behind 13 points from Kiefer Klauser and 12 from Storm Shelley, the Diamondbacks pulled to within four points in the fourth quarter. They just couldn't retake the lead.

With the loss, Century dropped to 3-3. It next plays Highland on Wednesday.

Grace 57, Ririe 47

GRACE - Behind a strong first half, the Grace boys' basketball team defeated Ririe 57-47 on Saturday.

The Grizzlies jumped out to a 30-20 lead at halftime and cruised from there.

Todd Lloyd led Grace with 21 points, Braiden Henry added 16 and Sam Corbitt scored 11.

"We played really good defense and the kids competed hard the whole way," Grace coach Rory Lloyd said. "It was a good team effort."

With the win, Grace improved to 2-3. It next plays North Fremont on Thursday.

Sho-Ban 64, North Gem 45

FORT HALL - Playing in its first home game of the season, the Sho-Ban boys' basketball team had balanced scoring and defeated North Gem 64-45.

Magic Smith led the Chiefs with 32 points, and recorded his first triple-double of the season with 10 steals and 13 rebounds, but seven other Sho-Ban players scored.

Alonzo Kobe even broke the double-digit mark with 10.

"That's the most balanced scoring effort we've had," Sho-Ban coach Merle Smith said. "If we can keep that up, we're really going to start improving."

Austin Wuttke led North Gem with 13 points.

With the win, Sho-Ban improved to 4-1. It next plays at Hagerman on Friday.

Late Friday

Bear Lake 49, Star Valley 41

MONTPELIER - Playing for the third straight night, the Bear Lake boys' basketball team accomplished its goals and went on to beat Star Valley (Wyo.) 49-41 on Friday.

After turnovers killed the Bears in a loss to Rich County (Utah) on Thursday, Bear Lake eliminated many of those mistakes on the way to the victory.

"We stressed cutting down on our turnovers because that's been a problem the last couple of days, and we did that," said Bears coach Brandon Carlsen.

Following the hectic stretch of games this week, Bear Lake (4-2) is now off until Friday when it will play at Shelley.

Cokeville 51, North Gem 42

COKEVILLE, Wyo. - A sluggish second quarter forced North Gem to play catch-up the rest of the way in a 51-42 loss at Cokeville (Wyo.) on Friday.

North Gem (0-3) scored just three points in the quarter and trailed 21-13 at halftime. The Cowboys cut their deficit to five at the end of the third quarter, but that's the closest they got.

The Cowboys had four players foul out, and Cokeville attempted 27 more free throws than North Gem. Cokeville hit 26-of-47 foul shots, while North Gem hit 13-of-20.

Spanish Springs 71, Highland 42

ELKO, Nev. - Highland struggled from the outset against Spanish Springs (Nev.) and dropped a 71-42 decision Friday in the Red Lion Basketball Tournament.

The Rams 38-17 at halftime before finding a little more rhythm on offense in the second half. No Ram finished in double digits in scoring.

"I don't think we played very good as a team on offense or defense," Highland coach Chris Frost said. "We played into their schemes."

The Rams dropped to 2-3.

Wrestling

STAR VALLEY, Wyo. - The Highland wrestling team, despite wrestling all day in another state, went an undefeated 9-0 in duels on Saturday.

The impressive day pushed the Rams' record to 10-1. It next wrestles at Hillcrest on Wednesday.

On Saturday, the Rams were led by three wrestlers with undefeated days. Brennan Bell went 6-0, Anthony Esplin 9-0 and Brenn Scheiss 8-0. Four other Highland wrestlers only suffered one defeat

That kind of success made it possible for Highland to go undefeated as a team despite forfeiting two weight classes in every duel.

"Our kids just really jelled," Highland coach Travis Bell said. "If one our kids got beat, someone else stepped up. We wrestled very mentally strong."