Tigers grind out a crown

Feb. 10—LAPWAI — The girls basketball nightcap at Lapwai High School on Thursday pitted the Kendrick Tigers and the Deary Mustangs in the teams' third consecutive Class 1A Division II district final against one another.

For the third consecutive year, it was Kendrick that carried the day.

The Tigers (16-4) steadily dominated the first three quarters and quelled a late rally from Deary (16-2) to prevail 44-35, booking a spot in the Idaho Class 1A Division II state tournament.

The Mustangs will play at 6 p.m. today at the same site against Nezperce with the district's second state berth on the line.

Late charge brings final to life

Through much of its duration, the game had the makings of a straightforward rout in Kendrick's favor — which might have come as a surprise after Deary won the teams' most recent encounter 44-38 on Jan. 31 and finished the regular season with the No. 1 spot in the MaxPreps.com state ratings.

The Tigers were up 23-9 at halftime and led by as many as 18 points after intermission. They were sitting pretty at 42-26 with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter when the Mustangs — who had often seemed indecisive and struggled to convert from the field — finally broke loose with a nine-point tear in a minute-and-a-half stretch of play, tightening things up to 42-35 and changing the complexion of the game. The Deary fan section, which had never given up trying to spur the Mustangs on, was in a frenzy as Kendrick coach Ron Ireland had to call a timeout with just under two minutes on the clock.

"I said, 'Don't you dare let them do this,'" Ireland recalled. "We just tightened up, and we were leaving the (Kenadie) Kirk girl open ... I told them to tighten it up and quit fouling."

Dueling chants crescendoed through the gym from the respective fan sections during the break in play, with the Kendrick boys team — in attendance with game jerseys on display — leading the vocal Tiger support.

When action resumed, Kendrick point guard Hailey Taylor promptly broke the Deary run with a hook shot that danced around the rim before going in for a 44-35 edge. From there, the Tigers suceeded in slowing down the pace and running out the clock.

Ruby Stewart excelled on the inside and finished with a game-high 13 points for Kendrick. Taylor scored 12, half of which came from a pair of deep 3-pointers, and had five assists. Rose Stewart provided another eight points and 12 rebounds.

Deary still alive

This was only the second defeat of the season for Deary — both of those coming against Kendrick.

Triniti Wood and Kenadie Kirk each totaled 10 points for Deary, with a 3-pointer and fast-break layup from Kirk sparking the team's late surge.

"Kendrick just came out strong," Deary coach Kendra Keen said. "We had a hard time getting aggressive offensively. I think we had a great second half, and I hope to see (the Tigers) at State."

To get there, Deary will need its third win of the season against Nezperce. The Mustangs outpaced the Nighthawks 51-38 on Jan. 17 and 41-33 on Monday.

Deary placed third at last year's 1A DII state tournament.

Tigers on the hunt

With the district tournament behind them, Kendrick players were emphatic about their ambitions for the upcoming state tournament, which will take place next weekend at Nampa High School.

The Tigers have now claimed five consecutive district titles and reached the state final as recently as 2021, but they have never won it all at that stage.

"We really want to win State this year," Ruby Stewart said. "...We think we've got a good chance."

MaxPreps rankings had Kendrick in third going into this week, with the Mustangs and the Rockland Bulldogs occupying the top two spots.

"Deary's the No. 1, and we just beat them, so..." Stewart concluded.

DEARY (16-2)

Kaylee Wood 3 0-2 6, Kenadie Kirk 3 2-4 10, Araya Wood 4 0-0 9, Triniti Wood 2 5-6 10, Macie Ashmead 0 0-0 0, Dantae Workman 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 7-12 35.

KENDRICK (16-4)

Rose Stewart 4 0-0 8, Harley Heimgartner 2 0-0 4, Hali Anderson 0 0-0 0, Morgan Silflow 3 0-0 7, Ruby Stewart 5 2-2 13, Taylor Boyer 0 0-0 0, Hailey Taylor 5 0-0 12. Totals 19 2-2 44.

Deary 4 5 12 14—35

Kendrick 12 11 13 8—44

3-point goals — Kirk 2, A. Wood, T. Wood, Taylor 2, Silflow, Ru. Stewart.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.