From the Idaho Center, Borah and Coeur d’Alene tipped off the 5A Boys State Tournament. Cd’A jumped out to a 15-5 first quarter lead. But behind a rally led by Isaiah Wright, Borah tied the game at 20 heading into half.
Borah, in a rare occurrence, switched to a zone in the second quarter and forced Cd’A to outside shots, which they struggled with long enough to to let Borah back in.
In the second half, Cd’A got a big lift from Deon Watson (the most athletic player on the floor) and Joe Roletto. Watson drew attention and Roletto’s defense was impressive. He also hit big shots, including a half courter at the buzzer to end the third.
But with 3:00 in the third, Watson picked up his fourth foul and had to sit, while Borah took advantage of the new mismatches, looking mostly to Cody Spjute. Spjute showed his outside range and a post up game and Borah extended to an 8 point lead in the fourth.
Cd’A wasn’t going away. They forced turnovers and started to hit some big shots. None bigger than Roletto’s 3-pointer to cut the lead to 1 with :30 to go.
A break away lay up by Borah’s Ben Tucakovic extended the lead to 3 with :15 to go. A Roletto 3-point attempt was short after a controversial no-call and Wright’s free throw sealed the win for Borah, 49-45.