Savages inexperience catches up against defending champs

Feb. 16—Salmon River of Riggins and Council went shot-for-shot in the first eight minutes of an Idaho Class 1A Division II girls state basketball tournament opening-round game on Thursday at Nampa High School in Nampa.

The first quarter featured nine lead changes and the Lumberjacks had a two-point advantage to start the second frame.

Council, the defending state champs, led the rest of the way and notched a decisive 71-43 victory over the Savages.

"We were trying to do too much," Salmon River coach Levi Anderson said. "But credit to Council's defense. They played faster than we can handle for a whole game at this point."

Salmon River (17-7) will next play Leadore (17-5) in a loser-out game at 6 p.m. Pacific at the same site.

Here's how this Long Pin Conference showdown at the Big Dance went down:

An electric start

Rhianna Iveson of Council (12-5) scored off a Rylee Walters turnover to put the Lumberjacks in front 7-5 with 5:16 remaining in the first quarter.

Walters redeemed herself with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to tie the score at seven apiece with 4:52 left in the frame.

It was a teeter-totter affair between the conference foes for the rest of the quarter, and a midrange jumper from Taylor Ewing gave Salmon River a 15-14 lead with 1:14 left in the first.

That was the Savages' final lead of the game.

A Cora Bingham triple with 18 seconds left in the opening quarter put the Lumberjacks in front for good, 17-15.

"I thought we played extremely hard," Tucker said. "It started good."

A slow second quarter

Salmon River was sluggish throughout the second quarter and didn't register a field goal until midway through the frame.

The Lumberjacks outscored the Savages 19-8 and had a 10-2 run to put themselves ahead 27-17 with 3:58 remaining in the second quarter.

Council exploded on the glass during its run and finished with an 18-12 rebounding advantage in the first half.

The Lumberjacks' persistent efforts on the boards led to them having a 10-5 advantage over Salmon River in second-chance points.

Both teams took relatively good care of the ball throughout the first half and only combined for 13 turnovers. But Council made the most of its opportunities and scored 11 points off turnovers compared to the Savages' five.

Players of the game/stats of note

Walters paced Salmon River with 18 points and took twice as many shots (16) as any of her teammates.

The Council defense made it difficult for the inexperienced Savages and held them to 15-of-47 shooting (31.9%).

Walters, a sophomore, contributed an additional five rebounds and five assists.

"She played exceptionally tonight," Tucker said. "She led us in every stat category, and she guarded her assignment very well."

Freshman guard Ewing pitched in nine points and five assists for Salmon River.

"She is fast and plays extremely hard," Tucker said. "She is really starting to figure out that she can play with anybody."

Hope Zollman (23 points), Iveson (19) and Ava Eppich (13) were all in double figures for the Lumberjacks.

Eppich played a big factor in Council's rebounding advantage and finished with 16 boards. Bingman added 10.

The Lumberjacks outrebounded the Savages 40-25 on Thursday.

Council was 29-of-59 (49.2%) from the field.

The defending state champs will next play Kendrick in semifinal action at 1 p.m. Pacific today at the same location.

SALMON RIVER (17-7)

Audrey Tucker 2 0-0 5, Liz Markley 0 0-0 0, Raydin Hayes 3 0-0 6, Taylor Ewing 4 0-0 9, Rylee Walters 4 7-11 18, Kennedy Wilson 0 0-0 0, Raney Walters 2 1-2 5. Totals 15 8-13 43.

COUNCIL (12-5)

Rhianna Iveson 7 2-2 19, Ava Eppich 6 1-1 13, Jaycee Dougherty 0 0-0 0, Hope Zollman 10 0-0 23, Natalie Yantis 0 0-0 0, Kassidy Iveson 2 0-0 6, Hattie Nunn 0 0-0 0, Eliza Bingham 0 0-0 0, Sara Conaway 1 0-0 2, Cora Bingham 3 0-0 8. Totals 29 3-3 71.

Salmon River 15 8 10 10—43

Council 17 19 17 18—71

3-point goals — Ry. Walters 3, Ewing, Tucker, R. Iveson 3, Zollman 3, K. Iveson 2, C. Bingham 2

Pixley may be contacted at tpixley@lmtribune.com, (208) 848-2268 or on Twitter @TreebTalks.