Bonners Ferry leaves no doubt in Avista tourney boys final win over Clarkston

It wasn’t long ago that the Clarkston Bantams were kings of the Avista Holiday Tournament hardwood and even back-to-back state champions.

A string of success quite similar to what Bonners Ferry is having now.

This year, with three promising but nonetheless inexperienced underclassman starters, Clarkston coach Justin Jones said his team is focused on development.

The Bonners Ferry Badgers, in pursuit of a second consecutive state title, beat Clarkston 74-27 in Saturday’s Avista Holiday Tournament final at the P1FCU Activity Center on the campus of Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.

“This is a difficult loss,” Jones said. “At times, an embarrassing loss. I don’t know if our program has been beat like that before.”

Bateman, Williams lead Badger attack

Thomas Bateman, named to the all-tournament team after the game, led the Badgers (10-0) with 23 points. Asher Williams, who will play basketball at Montana Tech at the end of the year, sank two 3-pointers and shot 71% from the floor (10-for-14) to score 22.

Williams was named tournament MVP for the boys bracket.

“Those guys are our backbone,” said Bonners Ferry coach Nathan Williams, who is Asher Williams’ father. “They’re both leading us in rebounds, leading us in steals, leading us in minutes, leading us in points. Game’s on the line, we’re going to them. And they’ve been that way.”

The Badgers opened the game with a 9-0 run, capitalizing off of Bantam turnovers and snagging rebounds.

Their first basket could be classified as third-chance points after the Badgers grabbed two offensive boards.

Brody Rice snagged Bateman’s missed layup and passed it to Asher Williams, who missed a 3-pointer that was rebounded by Sulay Abubakari, who hurried the ball out to a wide-open Eli Blackmore for three.

It was that kind of afternoon for the Badgers. Everything was clicking.

Isaiah Woods nailed a 3-pointer to put the Bantams on the board within the game’s first five minutes. He made another trey later in the half. Woods’ six points led Clarkston.

Nathan Williams said that he challenged his team to play better defense at halftime of Bonners Ferry’s Friday meeting with Moscow. The Badgers closed out the semifinal strong and carried that energy into the final.

“Today they came out with a sudden fire in their eyes with defense,” Nathan Williams said. “And I was just really pleased with our defensive effort and energy.”

Bonners Ferry led 23-7 after the first quarter, carved out a commanding 49-16 lead at the break, led 61-27 after the third and shut out the Bantams with a 13-0 Badger fourth quarter to win 74-27.

Bateman flashed his clutch factor by putting up a layup to beat the buzzer with about two seconds left in the second quarter and made a 3-pointer from way downtown to beat the buzzer yet again to close the third.

Asher Williams said that Bateman has really come into his own this year.

“We do ‘screen and roll 52,’ that’s our main offense,” Asher Williams said. “Thomas is great. He’s doing better than I think he’s ever done, scoring more points, growing into his game. He’s a great shooter.”

An encouraging third quarter for the Bantams

While the Badgers held the Bantams to fewer than 10 points in three of the four quarters — and shut out Clarkston in the fourth quarter — Jones said his team responded to his staff’s message and started the third quarter strong.

“That’s why I took that timeout right away,” Jones said. “I just wanted to tell them, ‘We’re capable of doing this if we do the right things, put the right effort in, have the right mindset.’ We’re so close, yet so far.”

Clarkston lost the third by just one point, 12-11, but started the quarter with a personal 4-0 run from sophomore point guard Niko Ah Hi, who drew a foul to open the half and took a loose Badger ball coast-to-coast for the layup.

“He has these intangibles, and one of them is he loves to compete,” Jones said. “He got out there and he set the tone for us. And again, the way Niko goes, is the way that we go, and that can be a heavy burden for a young player, but he’s accepted that burden and he’s flourished in that in many respects.”

Hoffman named to all-tournament team

While Clarkston has three underclassmen starting, Jones said senior Josh Hoffman is the leader his team needs.

“He’s the heart and soul of this program,” Jones said. “He gives us leadership. He gives us example, and at the end of the day, he gives us an immense effort. He’s a football player playing basketball, and you know, he’s the unsolicited and organic leader of this team.”

Hoffman was named to the all-tournament team for Clarkston.

“I told Josh yesterday during the game how much I’m already going to miss him next year, and how much I just really am honored that I get to coach him,” Jones said.

If you build it, they will come

Five years ago, Bonners Ferry was in the cellar of its league. An Idaho 3A state championship later and the Badgers are undefeated in January with a chance to get another one in what is now called the 4A classification.

The Badgers dealt Lewiston its first loss of the season on Thursday, then beat Moscow on Friday and Clarkston on Saturday to run the local gauntlet and win the Avista Holiday Tournament in their first year of participation.

They had a large contingent of Bonners Ferry fans, who made the three-and-a-half-hour drive south to Lewiston to support them.

Nathan Williams said this crew included current team parents, alumni and community members who did not have kids in the program but just wanted to support the team.

“It was really cool to see how much they love watching us,” Nathan Williams said. “And they come down and support us.”

Clarkston lost the Avista Holiday Tournament semifinal to Colfax 65-40.

However, because of WIAA scheduling limits, Colfax could not participate in Day 3 of the event.

Jones said the chance to play two defending state champions in back-to-back days helps him and his staff learn where their team’s weaknesses are.

“Bonners Ferry along with Colfax are really what we’re striving to become,” Jones said. “I just know that our best days are in front of us.

“I’m excited to see when we get there. It’s gonna be fun.”

BONNERS FERRY (10-0)

Ty Schrock 2 0-0 5, Eli Blackmore 5 0-2 12, Brody Rice 1 2-4 4, Peyton Hinthorn 1 2-4 4, Asher Williams 8 4-4 22, Thomas Bateman 10 1-1 23, Ivaan Cartwright 0 0-0 0, Sulay Abubakari 2 0-0 4. Totals 29 9-13 74.

CLARKSTON (4-6)

Isaiah Woods 2 0-0 6, Lee Brown 0 0-0 0, Braxton Forsmann 1 1-2 3, Jake Stewart 1 0-0 3, Niko Ah Hi 2 0-2 4, Otis Phillips 0 0-0 0, Josh Hoffman 0 3-4 3, Chase Brown 0 0-0 0, Kendry Gimlin 1 3-4 5, Jason Rinard 1 0-0 3. Totals 8 7-12 27.

Clarkston 7 9 11 0–27

Bonners Ferry 23 26 12 13–74

3-point goals — Woods 2, Blackmore 2, Williams 2, Bateman 2, Schrock.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.