State Tournament Brackets Are SetFebruary 27, 2012, 1:08 pm The other team from District III that was trying to play their way into the State Tournament was Bishop Kelly, but unfortunately for the Knights, they ran into a hot shooting Jerome team. Jerome made 7 of their 10 three point attempts in the 1st half to jump out to an 11 point lead at intermission. The Knights came all the way back to tie the game, but in the end it wasn't enough and Jerome moved on by winning 60-52. Now that the State Tournament fields are set, we can focus in on some big time showdowns, especially in the 1st round. The game everyone has been talking about for months and the reason people are screaming for the State Tournament to be reseeded, is the matchup between #1 Borah and #3 Coeur D'Alene at 1:15 on Thursday. These two have been among the favorites all year long and should kick off the State Tournament in great fashion. A matchup in the 4A that I am looking forward to is Rigby against Jerome. Both of these teams have compiled 20 wins over the course of their season and the winner of this game might have the best chance to knock off Twin Falls in the championship. Skyview opens with District VI runner up, Madison and Kuna opens up with Moscow. Until someone beats them, you would have to think that in the 3A State Tournament that Fruitland is the favorite. The Grizzlies record is less than impressive at 14-8, but they always find a way in late February to make a push. They will open with Bear Lake. The other team that made it from District III, Weiser, will play Kellogg in a battle of two teams with 18 wins each. Three teams from the Treasure Valley will have a chance to win the 2A and despite losing the District Championship, no team wants to run into 20-2 Cole Valley Christian. They will open with 19-2 Valley in the marquee game of the day. New Plymouth plays Butte County and North Star Charter will play Kamiah. Notus, Liberty Charter and Horseshoe Bend will try and contend for a 1A Division One State Championship that features a few teams with great records. Genesee is unbeaten at 23-0 and Liberty Charter (22-2) will be the 1st team to try and knock them off their winning streak. Horseshoe Bend will open with Glenns Ferry and Notus will play Lapwai. Only one team in the 1A Division II State Tournament is from the Treasure Valley and Salmon River will be the team that tries to defy the odds and bring back home the trophy. They will play Castleford on Thursday in their 1st round game.
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When will the expansion stop?September 19, 2011, 5:19 pm Lets take a look at how this is all shaping up. The ACC has 14 teams and is looking at Connecticut and Rutgers to round out their 16. The Pac-12 has Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on the horizon to finish off their expansion. The question is where will the SEC go to find their remaining 3 schools and will the Big 10 (with 12 teams currently) steal four schools away from another conference to make the expansion complete? Where does this leave Boise State? How about TCU? Check back next week for what I think will happen to them. Confused yet? The madness is only just beginning. |
Rocky Seals The DealMay 21, 2012, 1:25 pm After two days of one sided affairs in the 5A State Tournament, both Rocky and Eagle saved a good left handed arm for the State Championship game and neither of them disappointed the crowd. Rocky's Blake Thoren and Eagle's Darrion Simons matched zeros back and forth through the middle innings and both of them had allowed just one base hit heading into the 5th; thats when the real drama started. Rocky was able to manufacture a run in the 5th before Stephan Zanoni delivered the big blow with a 2 RBI double in the bottom of the 6th inning to seal the deal. The State Tournament really put a cap on what has been a phenomenal year for a Rocky Mountain baseball program in its 4th year of existence. Jake Taylor has built their program the right way and they should be good for many years to come as their program overall record was 75-4 this season. This senior class has worked very hard and we will be seeing nearly all of them down the line playing baseball at the next level. Tune into the show today at 4 PM as we honor the Rocky Mountain baseball team talking with three of the team's senior leaders as well as head coach Jake Taylor only on Sports 630 The Fan.
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5A SIC District Championship PreviewFebruary 24, 2012, 11:34 am At the time we didn't know how significant this loss was for Borah because since that night in early December, the Lions have not lost a game and will go for win #20 in a row tonight in the District Championship against the defending State Champion Mountain View Mavericks. The Mavs got out to a strong start in their quest to defend their State Championship, but they sputtered down the stretch, mostly due to injuries. Currently, Mountain View is healthy again and is starting to play their best basketball at the right time of the season. It is amazing when you break down all of the team and individual statistics throughout the course of the season that these two teams are at the top of nearly all of them, so it should be no surprise they are the two teams left standing in the District Championship race. The Lions lead the league in points scored and points allowed, while the Mavericks are just closely behind them. Individually, there is a player on one of these two squads that is leading almost every statistical category. Borah's Ben Tucakovic, a virtual lock for SIC Player of the Year, leads the conference in points per game as he averages over 15 points per contest. Mountain View's Brandon Luedtke leads the conference with over 9 rebounds per game as well as shooting percentage as he is right around the 60% mark, quite a feat for a high school basketball player. Two other categories that struck me as interesting were Cody Spjute of Borah leading the conference in his assist to turnover ratio which is well over 3 to 1 and Randall Robinson of Mountain View is 1st in 3 point percentage shooting just under 50%. Don't forget about Borah's Super Sophomore Isaiah Wright, who dishes out 5 assists per game. Needless to say, there are plenty of things to watch tonight as these two teams will grind it out looking to get that coveted #1 seed going into the State Tournament. But how coveted is it? The last time the District Champion also won the State Championship was back in 1995, but if there ever were two teams that could buck that trend, it would b Borah and Mountain View. If you can't make it to the game, our coverage starts at 7:00 on 630 AM or you can listen online at 630thefan.com.
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The State Tournament is Finally HereMay 16, 2012, 2:04 pm The first matchup of the day is a rematch of what we saw in last year's State Tournament as Eagle will go up against Highland. The scouting report on the Rams is that they are very athletic and really strive themselves on offense to win ball games. With a record of 14-6, they are sure to pose up quite the threat against Eagle. The defending State Champion Eagle Mustangs can draw a lot of similarities from last year's title run to the way this year is setting up. For instance, they have taken third in the last two District Tournaments and are opening up with Highland for the 2nd consecutive year. Furthermore, the Mustangs have pitching and plenty of it. Coach Frank Wright will go with Brandon Brown tomorrow to try and set the tone for Eagle and then there are plenty of options after that. Look for the Mustangs to sneak into the State Championship game as the bracket is setting up nicely for them. The second game of the day features two of the best baseball programs in the State. The Timberline Wolves have exceeded expectations this year with 17 wins, eight of which have been recorded on the mound by Junior Cody Price. Price will most likely be on the hill tomorrow against a Lewiston team that is down compared to the last few years, but still will have a chance to win the whole thing. The night session kicks off with the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies facing Idaho Falls. We all know the Grizzlies have been gearing up for the State Tournament all year long and with a record of 24-1, they are in prime position to cap off a magical year with the school's first State Championship. In their way wil be Idaho Falls, a team that needed two runs in the 8th inning to beat Borah in the play-in game to make it into the State Tournament bracket. Although it seems Idaho Falls could be a minor bump in the road for Rocky, with ace Richie Kyro on the mound, the Grizzlies should cruise into the semifinals. The final matchup is another 1st round rematch of last years 1st round game between Coeur D'Alene and Mountain View. The Vikings come in with a 22 game winning streak after losing their first two games of the season to Rocky Mountain. Even more impressively they average 12 runs per game offensively and might be the only team that can stack up to Rocky if they were to meet in the semifinals. As for Mountain View, they are a young squad who's offense is starting to turn it around and with senior Colton Sale on the mound, the Mavericks have a good chance to pull off the upset for the 2nd year in a row. As for the 4A and 3A brackets, Bishop Kelly and Fruitland look to be the favorites with stellar records all year long. Tune into 630 The Fan as we will be broadcasting every game from the 5A State Tournament.
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