Mustangs come up narrowly shy of state title game
Feb. 18—For three-plus quarters of semifinal-round play Friday at Nampa High School, the Deary girls basketball team looked poised for its first trip to an Idaho state title-game appearance since 1982 and first-ever final at the 1A Division II level.
Poised for it or not, the top-seeded Mustangs ultimately missed their chance. They fell to No. 4 Dietrich by a single point, 32-31, after the Blue Devils took their first lead of the day in the final five seconds of play.
Tables turned
Dietrich (22-3) started off slow, but Deary (18-3) finished that way, with each team logging one two-point quarter.
The Blue Devils were ice cold in the early going, bricking one shot after another, as Deary sisters Triniti and Araya Wood came out strong to combine for all of the Mustangs' points in a 10-2 opening quarter. Dietrich raised its level to narrow the gap slightly in competitive second and third, leaving Deary with a 29-25 advantage.
Come the fourth quarter, it was the Mustangs who would find themselves in the scoring doldrums. The pace of play had been up-and-down the court in the middle stages of the game, but both teams grew cautious in the closing minutes, exchanging long possessions marked by numerous passes around the perimeter and few field goal attempts.
From those few there were, Dietrich found slightly more success, as Deary repeatedly punctuated prolonged possessions with turnovers or unsuccessful attempts. The Blue Devils were not clicking from the field either, but had more success in drawing fouls, with a pair of free throws from Alathea Robinson with 2:23 on the clock tying things up at 31.
Eleventh-hour disaster
A wayward pass from Kenadie Kirk aimed for Triniti Wood with a minute left on the clock resulted in a turnover that would prove fatal for the Mustangs. Dietrich kept possession by passing the ball in rotation near the half-court line for most of that minute, running the clock all the way down to four seconds as Saige Hubert finally drove in to shoot, drawing a foul for two free-throw attempts.
"I think that Dietrich had a good strategy," Deary coach Kendra Keen said.
The first bounced on the side of the rim, hit the backboard, found its way into the hoop to give Dietrich the winning edge. The second missed, and the Blue Devils recovered the rebound to seal the win.
Mustangs gave it their all
Triniti Wood finished with a game-high 13 points for Deary.
"She was giving it her all to get us to that championship," Keen said of the senior who suffered a nosebleed after a fourth-quarter fall, but returned to finish out the game. "They all were."
Triniti's two younger sisters — junior Araya and freshman Kaylee — added five and three points, respectively. Outside of the Wood family, Kirk made the biggest statistical contribution to the Mustang effort, providing four points, nine rebounds and two assists. Hailey Astle powered the Blue Devils with 12 points.
Deary outpaced Dietrich 32-28 in rebounds and 8-5 in assists, but critically committed 16 turnovers to the Blue Devils' 14.
"The thing is that all the girls played really hard," Keen said. "I'm not disappointed with their effort whatsoever. It's all you can ask for."
The Mustangs will play Rockland at 11 a.m. Pacific today at the same site for third place.
DIETRICH (22-3)
Hailey Astle 5 0-0 12, Jessika Power 0 0-2 0, Jazmin Van Tassell 0 0-0 0, Saige Hubert 1 2-6 4, Ellie Hoskisson 2 0-0 4, Paje Van Tassell 0 0-0 0, Aleigha Robertson 0 2-2 2, Abby Hendricks 2 0-0 6, Katilyn Wanamaker 2 0-0 4. Totals 12 4-11 32.
DEARY (18-3)
Kaylee Wood 1 0-0 3, Kenadie Kirk 2 0-0 4, Araya Wood 2 1-1 5, Triniti Wood 5 2-4 13, Macie Ashmead 2 0-0 4, Dantae Workman 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 3-5 31.
Dietrich 2 12 11 7—32
Deary 10 9 10 2—31
3-point goals — Astle 2, Hendricks 2, K. Wood, T. Wood.
Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.
