Girls

Twin Falls 43, Pocatello 40

POCATELLO - Sophomore post Milli Mower scored two big putbacks to tie things up late, but the Pocatello girls' basketball team lost a heartbreaker, 43-40, to Twin Falls on Saturday night.

With 3.5 seconds left and the 4A Indians trailing by two, Mower collected a weakside rebound and put it in to tie things up. However, Katelyn Fjeld came down and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it for the 5A Bruins.

Mower's tying basket came a possession after she cut Pocatello's deficit to 40-38 with another putback. She finished with five points on the night.

"Tonight, we were a lot more poised down the stretch than we were against Century (on Thursday)," said coach Jeff Hough. "I was proud of my girls for that."

In a back-and-forth game throughout, the Indians (0-7) showed great improvement from where they were when the season began. For the first time all year, they held their turnover total to under 20, and they were in position to send this one to overtime.

Senior Brenna Brigham - who was under the weather Thursday and finished with only three points against the Diamondbacks - rebounded to score 17 to pace Pocatello.

Next up, the Indians will host 4A Fifth District rival Preston at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Highland 44, Logan 16

LOGAN, Utah - The Highland girls' basketball team once again played smothering defense in a 44-16 win over Logan on Saturday at the Sky View High tournament here, but that's now what pleased coach Scott Hansen the most.

"What was good along with our defense is that we came out and started the game well on offense," Hansen said. "We came out, and we played with real good energy - probably the best half we've played all year."

After struggling on the offensive side of the ball for the two previous games at the tournament, the Rams put up 17 points in the first quarter to set the tone early.

Senior Breanne Van Every led the way with 14 points for Highland while nine other players scored for the Rams.

While the offense played better, the defense stayed strong. Logan managed no more than three points in the second, third or fourth quarters.

"Defensively, they're a hard-working group," Hansen said of his team, "and our press caused problems for all three teams we saw down here."

For the season, Highland is 8-0, and it'll open District 4, 5, 6 play on Wednesday by hosting Idaho Falls.

North Fremont 53, North Gem 25

ASHTON - At the end of an eventful week of basketball, the North Gem girls simply didn't have the energy to contend with North Fremont and lost the road game 53-25 on Saturday.

North Gem lost a 35-34 heartbreaker on Thursday and rebounded for a 62-37 win at Oakley on Friday.

"It was just hard to be motivated," North Gem coach Corry Hatch said. "We just didn't seem to have the legs and the fight, emotionally and mentally, to stay with them."

The Cowboys trailed 24-20 in the third quarter, but the Huskies went on a 29-5 run to end the game.

North Gem dropped to 3-3, with all three losses coming to 2A schools. The Cowboys next travel to play Rockland on Wednesday.

Boys

Shelley 59, Bear Lake 44

SHELLEY - Bear Lake suffered several lapses on the perimeter that led to a 59-44 loss at Shelley on Saturday.

The Russets hit 12 3-pointers, including six in the second half, to pull away. They outscored the Bears 23-10 in the fourth quarter.

"They shot lights-out from the 3-point line," Bear Lake coach Brandon Carlsen said. "We hung with them for a while, but they shot the ball better than we did."

Jordan Crane led the Bears with 15 points.

Bear Lake (2-1) next hosts Grace on Wednesday.

North Fremont 44, North Gem 32

ASHTON - North Gem coach Ken Christensen was happy with all but three minutes of its 44-32 loss at North Fremont on Saturday.

The Cowboys trailed 12-10 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter, but they surrendered three 3-pointers to close out the half. North Gem trailed 23-12 at halftime and never recovered.

"The last three minutes of the first half did us in," Christensen said. "We gave them some easy looks on defense. That was the difference."

Austin Wuttke led North Gem with nine points, while Colton Davids and Shawn Banks each grabbed nine rebounds.

North Gem (0-2) next travels to play Cokeville (Wyo.) on Thursday.

Castleford 43, Rockland 27

BLISS - Rockland lost to Castleford 43-27 in the championship game of the Bliss Tournament on Saturday.

Rockland led 11-9 after the first quarter but was outscored 12-2 in the second. Castleford then steadily padded its 21-13 halftime lead.

"We couldn't make a basket," Rockland coach Dan Ralphs said. "We couldn't get anything to fall for us."

Rockland (1-1) next hosts Oakley on Tuesday.

Malad 49, Snake RIver 38

MALAD - Three players scored in double figures as the Malad boys' basketball team defeated 3A Snake River 49-38 on Saturday.

Trevor Thorpe led the way for the 2A Dragons with 15 points, Kaden Goddard added 11 and Dylan Murphy chipped in 10.

After a close first quarter, Malad pulled away with a 16-5 outburst in the second frame to give it a 25-10 lead heading into halftime.

The Dragons (1-2) will host Firth on Wednesday.

South Fremont 48, West Side 39 (OT)

DAYTON - The West Side boys' basketball team led for much of its game against South Fremont on Saturday, but ultimately lost 48-39 in overtime.

"We led them from start to just about finish," West Side coach Tyler Brown said. "They got the lead just before overtime, then we forced overtime and they won from there."

The loss dropped the Pirates to 0-2. It next plays South Fremont again on Friday. Drew Povey led West Side with 15 points.

Butte County 77, Sho-Ban 75

DIETRICH - If not for a last-second foul, the Sho-Ban boys' basketball team likely would have won the Dietrich tournament on Saturday. But Butte County took advantage of the blown whistle and sank three free throws to win 77-75.

"I really thought we were going to win," Sho-Ban coach Merle Smith said. "It just didn't quite happen."

Magic Smith led the Chiefs with 34 points. Smith said his 3-1 team showed improvement in the loss.

Marsh Valley 58, Buhl 45

ARIMO - The Marsh Valley boys' basketball team downed Buhl 58-45 on Saturday.

The Eagles took a 37-23 lead into halftime and cruised from there.

"We had a lot of guys come out and score," coach Jason Brower said. "We were playing good team basketball."

Jacob Sorensen led Marsh Valley with 21 points and Nathan Gambles added 12. Overall, eight Eagles scored.

The win moved Marsh Valley to 3-1. It next plays at South Fremont on Saturday.