3A State Tournament, Middleton High School, Middleton

Sugar-Salem 40, Filer 36

Sugar-Salem had beaten Filer twice in the regular season, 63-30 and 58-17. Nothing was on the line in either of those games. In comparison, winning the semifinal game at the 3A state tournament was a shot for a spot in the championship game on Saturday at Middleton High School.

The two teams fought each other, fouled each other and battled for four quarters. If that wasn’t enough, they had to play overtime to determine the win.

The in-your-face, tightly contested defense played by both teams resulted in 45 turnovers, 25 by the Wildcats and 20 by the Diggers. Filer held the lead after the first quarter, 8-5, Sugar-Salem led 15-11 at the half, and Filer led 25-22 into the final quarter where the two teams ended up tied 33-33 forcing the OT.

The Diggers scored seven points and the Wildcats only three giving Sugar-Salem the third win over Filer. Senior Ella Fischer playing in her last game led the Wildcats with a hard-earned double-double, 16 points and 10 boards and junior Alexis Monson tossed in 14. For Sugar-Salem, Kennedy Gillette and Mardee Fillmore each finished with eight points and Katie Miller pulled down rebounds.

“We stalled a little bit trying to take them out of their game,” Filer coach Mike Amaya said.

Filer will play Parma in the third-place game at 12 p.m. Saturday.

4A State Tournament, Mountain View High School, Meridian

Blackfoot 47, Burley 30

The Burley Bobcats lost in the semifinals of the 4A state tournament to the No. 1 Blackfoot Broncos at Mountain View High School. Blackfoot led 8-4 after the first quarter and 17-16 at the half.

The Broncos offense caught fire in the third period and held the lead at seven, 25-18, with four minutes remaining. With just over two minutes left, they stretched their lead to 32-21. In the end, the fourth quarter belonged to the Broncos, out-scoring the Bobcats 15-9.

Both teams committed eight turnovers. There were three lead changes and one tie. Burley sophomore Amari Whiting finished with 14 points and junior Lynzey Searle had eight points. For Blackfoot, junior Kianna Wright had a team-high 13 points and sophomore Esperanza Vergara had 11.

Burley will play Sandpoint in the third-place game at 12 p.m. Saturday.