Thankfully for head coach Cary Cada, Ben Tucakovic came to the rescue as he finished the game with 16 points and 15 rebounds.  Borah now has a one game lead over Mountain View and has cemented themselves as the team to beat with eight games left in the regular season.  For the Mavericks, they need to find a way to get Tanner Percifield going again as he struggled last night scoring just two in a game where points were at a premium.  

Timberline finally defeated a team ahead of them in the standings as they dominated their rival, Boise High in a pink out game to raise awareness for breast cancer.  The Wolves are usually led by Jarid Downey scoringwise, but last night Jackson Reed was key as he had 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Downey didn't do too bad himself as he knocked in some three pointers and finished with 14.  Boise drops from 4th to 6th in the standings and will try to move above .500 in conference play against Capital on Friday.

The Eagle Mustangs finally got back on track knocking off Meridian 51-42, but it was the efforts of a few role players and not just Braiden Shaw that helped get the job done.  DJ Dean led the Mustangs with 12 points and Nygill Thomas was big off the bench as he had 8.  Meridian has suddenly lost two in a row and coach Mike Graefe will have to go back to the drawing board as the Warriors have slipped to 8th place in the conference.

In a battle of two inconsistent teams, Centennial maintained sole possession of third place in the conference with an impressive 58-44 win at Rocky Mountain.  Landon Kissinger was his usual self as he had 15 points and Malique Hill was big in carrying the scoring load as he had 13.  The Patriots host Meridian on Friday with another prime opportunity to inch closer to Borah and Mountain View for the conference crown.

It seems the Vallivue Falcons are finding their groove.  Every coach I have talked to has said the Falcons have way more talent then their record shows and they are starting to click offensively as they beat Capital 57-30 last night.  Jacob Betancourt led the Falcons in scoring and senior Jacob Doty had 10 points as well.

Tune into the show today at 4:00 for a full recap of all the games including player interviews and much more.

There are plenty of individual matchups that could prove to be the difference in this game, but the health of Ben Tucakovic will be critical if Borah wants to come out on top.  Tucakovic missed the game against Capital with an ankle injury and head coach Cary Cada expects him to play tonight.  Super sophomore Isaiah Wright has always distributed the ball effectively for the Lions, but as of late he is starting to score more and that poses a lot of problems for whoever is playing the Lions.  On the other side of the ball, Brandon Luedtke and Tanner Percifield are both averaging 12 points per game and they will need that inside out combination to be in full effect to pull of a road victory tonight.

These two squads are the top two teams offensively in the 5A SIC, but as always in big games, defense will be the difference.  Mountain View head coach Jon Nettleton told me earlier today that team defense has been stressed in practice this week and they will have to do their part to hold Borah down because the Lions are the best defensive team in the SIC allowing under 41 points per game.

Another big time showdown will take place in Boise takes the short drive over to Timberline's gym to take on the Wolves in a rematch of a thriller in December.  Timberline won by one point in a game where key players were out for both teams.  The Wolves still have not beaten a team in the top half of the standings and will have another opportunity tonight as they are ending a brutal four game stretch.  On the other hand, Boise is on a two game winning streak after beating Centennial and Eagle last week.

Vallivue will play Capital as both teams are starting to feel better about themselves after picking up wins last week.  The Falcons won the first game 62-47.  A battle of two inconsistent teams will take place when Centennial plays at Rocky Mountain.  We have seen signs of brilliance from the Patriots this year as they are the only team to have beaten Mountain View, but there are plenty of questionable losses in there as well.  Despite all of that, the Patriots look to stay in sole possession of third place with a win tonight.  In the final game of the night, Eagle looks to bounce back at Meridian.  The Mustangs lost two games last week against teams they were favored to beat.  In the two games, Eagle missed 33 free throws and only made two three pointers.  Those numbers will have to improve if they want to beat a Meridian team that is starting to put the pieces together. 

You can listen to the showdown between Mountain View and Borah on 630 The Fan.  Tip time is at 7:30.  Also, tune into the show tomorrow for a full recap of the games and hear from some of the star players that played key roles in tonights contests.

For all that John Elway has done for the Broncos franchise on the field, he will be shunned by the city and the fans for life if he gets rid of Tebow.  Whether Elway likes it or not, Tebow's performance yesterday cemented him as the starting quarterback in Denver for years to come.  Sure it may not be the prettiest thing you will ever see, but the guy just wins.  Every single analyst on television yesterday said the Broncos had no chance against the #1 pass defense and look at what happened.  I'm not saying they will go into Foxboro and win this weekend, but the Patriots defense is not even close to as good as Pittsburghs and the Broncos put up 29 points on them.  We should all have learned by now to stop doubting Tebow and enjoy the ride the Broncos take viewers on every week.

On Saturday, the biggest showdown of the night in high school hoops was in the 4A ranks and Bishop Kelly made a statement.  They put up 71 on Middleton and have cemented themselves as the favorite to win the 4A SIC.  

In 5A action, Centennial knocked off Timberline behind strong performances between Landon Kissinger and Daryl Robertson.  Centennial can beat anyone on a given night, but the consistency is still lacking.  For Timberline, it seems they might just be a middle of the road team with their best win of the season coming against Boise High by one. Speaking of Boise High, that wake-up call against Meridian was exactly what they needed.  The Braves beat Centennial on Thursday and followed it up with a win at Eagle on Saturday.  The Mustangs have dropped two in a row and are looking for answers as they take on Meridian tomorrow night.  

The Vallivue Falcons finally got the monkey off their back and ended a long losing streak with a win over Meridian on Saturday.  Jacob Betancourt paced the Falcon offense and their defense stepped up just two nights after surrendering 71 points to Mountain View.  

The Mountain View Mavericks and the Borah Lions both won on Saturday to set up a big time showdown tomorrow night in the 5A SIC.  Both squads are sitting at 8-1 in conference play and the winner of tomorrow nights game will be in sole possession of first place at the halfway point in the season.  You can hear that game on 630 The Fan starting at 7:30.

The two teams sitting atop the standings handled their opponents with relative ease as Borah and Mountain View moved to 7-1 in conference play.  Timberline's Jarid Downey was spectacular making shots from all over the floor, but Isiah Wright and the Lions collective team effort eventually wore down the Wolves.  

Going into last nights contest, the Mountain View Mavericks led the 5A SIC in points per game and they only added to that last night beating Vallivue 68-51.  In a game where there were six Mavericks that had at least 8 points, Brandon Luedtke had the most stellar performance with 16 point, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.  If the Mavericks and the Lions both win Saturday, it will set up a big time showdown Tuesday when the two will go head to head.

Although Capital stole the show last night, another mini upset took place when Boise High knocked off Centennial.  The Braves had allowed 50 points or more five games in a row, but held the Patriots to just 42 in route to an 18 point win.  Joe Simpson was solid as usual chipping in 18 points and 9 rebounds, but Garrett Jones was the hidden weapon as the speedy pointguard had 14 points of his own.

Don't look now, but the Meridian Warriors are on a 3 game winning streak. The Warriors handled Rocky Mountain with relative ease winning 57-41 after jumping out to a 23 point lead at halftime.  Idaho State football recruit Hayden Stout had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. 

After last nights games, Borah and Mountain View have a two-game lead over everyone else in the conference.  Also, it seems the middle of the standings and the race for 3rd place is going to get tighter as we enter the second half of the conference season.

When I first moved to the Treasure Valley in early September, I was curious to see how many players would eventually be Division I athletes and the first place I stopped was Eagle High School.  Complemented by a ton of great players, Tanner Mangum stood out above the rest not only because of his ability on the field, but the person he was off the field as well.  The more time I spent talking with Tanner, I knew that there were many bright things ahead for him and am thrilled that he will be in the national spotlight tonight.

It has been well documented that he will not play his first snap for BYU until the fall of 2014 and no matter what Dave Tester or anyone else will try and say, he is making a great decision and is a tremendous role model for many people.  With that being said, he better make his snaps count tonight as he won't be playing competitive football for a while once the game is over.

Tanner will be on the show today as well as his high school coach, Paul Peterson as they both will talk about their experiences down in Florida this week.  We will be broadcasting live from Beef O'Brady's from 4-6 PM on the corner of Eagle and Overland, so come watch the game with us and celebrate potentially the greatest high school quarterback in the history of the state of Idaho one last time.