IDAHO CLASS 1A DI STATE TOURNAMENT: Lapwai Wildcats vault past Victory Charter Vipers in quarterfinals

Mar. 1—CALDWELL, Idaho — Both teams went scoreless through a slow opening minute of play in the Idaho Class 1A DI state boys basketball quarterfinal between the top-seeded Lapwai Wildcats and the No. 8 Victory Charter Vipers of Nampa at in Caldwell on Thursday.

It was not long, however, before Lapwai's Kase Wynott broke the drought with a slam dunk — and with that, the floodgates were open.

The Wildcats would tear away for an 89-44 victory and semifinal berth.

Above the rim, above the field

"I just feel like those are really big momentum swings for us, when we get above the rim," said Lapwai coach Zachary Eastman, whose team enjoyed two more successful dunks before the contest was done. "That's just a huge thing for us — to play above the rim, to get the crowd involved and get all the momentum in the gym."

Wynott scored again on a fast-break layup seconds later, starting a rampage inside that saw him rack up 16 points within the first quarter alone. When Victory Charter defenders tried to swarm him, he also periodically fired the ball out to teammates waiting open around the perimeter, helping set the stage for two 3-pointers by Joseph Payne and one from Ahlius Yearout to close out the frame with Lapwai (23-2) in possession of a commanding 25-8 lead.

The Vipers (18-7) found their offense thoroughly shut down by the taller Wildcats, and often resorted to deep 3-point attempts, getting little satisfaction for their efforts.

"We really knew they like to drive, penetrate and kick the ball for 3, so we knew that we had to stop them from going middle and then get out on all their 3-point shooters," Eastman said.

Deep bench on display

As the lead expanded, every member of Lapwai's 13-player delegation saw playing time.

"It was really good to be able to play all our players, get them on the floor, get all the butterflies out," Eastman said.

The likes of Douggie Papan (seven points, 3-for-4 shooting), Julian Barros (seven points, 3-for-4) and Farrell Hayes (six points, 3-for-3) came in strong off the bench and kept the Wildcats firmly in charge even without key starters on the floor (Wynott played an uncharacteristically low 24 minutes, 40 seconds; Yearout just 23:12).

Statistical takeaways

Wynott, the state's all-time career high-scorer in prep basketball, complemented his 31 total points for the day with a game-high eight assists and spent several minutes afterward signing autographs for a group of young fans who crowded in from the sideline. Yearout shot 6-for-11 from the field including a highly efficient 3-for-4 from 3-point range en route to finishing with 17 points. Payne connected four times from eight total 3-point attempts to score 12, rounding out the double-digit offensive contributions for the victorious Wildcats.

Cody Luce (14 points), Noah Palomares (11) and Abinet Ewing (10) were the top performers for the Vipers.

As a team, Lapwai outstripped Victory Charter in nearly every department, shooting 34-for-71 (47.9%) from the field to the Vipers' 15-for-60 (25%), leading 48-35 in rebounds and 17-8 assists, and committing only eight turnovers to the Vipers' 14. The one statistical category which saw Victory Charter come out with a (slight) edge was free throw percentage — the Vipers shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the line while the Wildcats went 9-for-11 (81.8%).

Lapwai advances to face the fourth-seeded Butte County Pirates today at 4 p.m. Pacific back at Vallivue High School.

"We know that (the Pirates) have some height, so I know it's going to be a really good rebounding battle inside," said Eastman, who emphasized that he was "proud of each one" of his athletes for the convincing opener.

Should Lapwai top Butte County, a rematch of either last year's state final against Lakeside of Plummer or the district final against Potlatch will await on Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center.

VICTORY CHARTER (18-7)

Abinet Ewing 0-0 10, Cody Luce 3 6-6 14, Jayden McFarland 0 0-0 0, Elijah Perez 0 0-0 0, Greyson DeMill 0 2-2 2, Noah Palomares 5 0-0 11, Jett Wood 1 0-0 3, Isaak Wilhemson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-8 44.

LAPWAI (23-2)

Julian Barros 3 0-0 7, Joseph Payne 4 0-0 12, Farrell Hayes 3 0-0 6, Triston Konen 0 0-0 0, Marcus Guzman 0 0-0 0, Quenten Kipp 1 0-0 2, Vincent Kipp 1 0-0 3, Christopher Bohnee 1 0-0 2, Ahlius Yearout 6 2-4 17, Douggie Papan 3 0-0 7, Jareese McCormick 0 0-0 0, Laricci George-Smith 1 0-0 2, Kase Wynott 11 7-7 31. Totals 34 9-11 89.

Victory Charter 8 10 15 11—44

Lapwai 25 20 26 18—89

3-point goals — Ewing 2, Luce 2, Palomares, Wood, Payne 4, Yearout 3, Wynott 2, Barros, V. Kipp, Papan.