Third time's the charm: Rigby finally breaks through to 5A boys basketball state semifinals

Rigby survives late Eagle charge to get back into state semis

NAMPA - It was about time the Rigby boys basketball team came out the right side of a tight opening round state tournament game.

After close first-round losses the last two years, lady luck was on the Trojans’ side this time. Eagle’s Tyler Peters’ game-winning corner 3-point attempt hit back iron to preserve a 54-52 win Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Idaho Class 5A State Boys Basketball Tournament at the Ford Idaho Center.

No. 5 Rigby (17-8) will play No. 8 Centennial (15-10) at 5 p.m. Friday inside the Ford Idaho Center.

“The kids are excited,” Rigby coach Justin Jones said. “They’ve known the history of letting that first game slip. I think that helped that composure and that resilience that we were not going to let that happen again. We were going to follow through and finish it.”

It didn’t seem like the Trojans were going to need any luck. They jumped out to a 29-9 lead midway through the second quarter. The double-digit lead appeared like it was going to stick too. Rigby was up 45-32 with 1 minute and 41 seconds left in the third.

But No. 4 Eagle (20-5) had other ideas.

The Mustangs scored the next 18 points and went on a 21-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to take their first lead of the game at 50-45 with 4:32 to go. Rigby didn’t record a single field goal during that time.

However, the Trojans didn’t lose their composure.

They used a run of their own (7-1) to jump right back in front at 52-51 with 37.6 seconds remaining. It was capped by a contested falling down corner 3 by junior Jakobe Jones, who was only 2-of-8 for the game up until that point.

“That was crazy man,” Jones said. “I can’t really describe it.

Eagle senior Gage Jones tied the game at 52-52 with a free throw 6 seconds later before senior Karson Barber drained some high-pressure free throws. On both of them, he missed the front end. But calmed down to sink the second, including one with 2.9 seconds left.

“I just dial in and focus on myself and shut all the crowd out,” Barber said. “A few words I think to myself before I shoot free throws is, ‘It’s going in.’”

The Mustangs still had a shoe to force overtime or win it.

Peters received the inbounds pass from Jones. He pumped faked a defender to get him out of position for a great look. But it was not to be.

Rigby was paced by senior Sam Kunz with 15 points on 78% shooting. Barber had 14 points and six boards, while Jones added 11 points.

Senior Donovan Jones tallied a game-high 19 points and four rebounds for Eagle, which plays No. 1 Lake City (22-2) in a loser-out game at noon Friday at Rocky Mountain High School.

PHOTO GALLERY

(All photos by Loren Orr)