Kendrick takes down Kamiah to win 2A state boys basketball title
Tigers rose to the 2A challenge to defeat their familiar foes on the biggest stage Saturday
There are few places the Kendrick Tigers are more at home than in a state sports final, and few moments they shine brighter than in the crunch-time of one.
Between football and basketball, the boys of Kendrick High School have reached seven total state title games within the last four years, winning six of them.
The latest of those came on Saturday at Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center as the third-seeded Tigers closed things out on a run of 16 unanswered points to upset the No. 1 Kamiah Kubs by a score of 66-49 in the Idaho Class 2A boys basketball championship game.
“We talked about that today, my assistant coaches and I,” Kendrick coach Steve Kirkland said. “We feel like winning and losing are both habits that you can have, and right now, I think our kids are in the habit of winning.”
The Kubs, meanwhile, are still hunting for their first elusive blue trophy in boys hoops. Kamiah dropped to 0-6 all-time in state finals.
A back-and-forth battle
Though Kendrick (20-7) would prevail convincingly in the end, Kamiah (23-3) was not without its moments on Saturday. The Kubs led early, opening a gap as wide as 16-8 in their favor after a pair of 3-point goals from Jaydon Crowe and Dave Kludt en route to finishing the first quarter ahead 20-16.
The second quarter would change the complexion of the game, as the Tigers exploded for 24 points to take a 40-30 lead into halftime with the help of four 3-pointers and five free throws from Ralli Roetcisoender. Through the first half, Kendrick converted 13-of-18 field-goal attempts for a rare accuracy rate of 72.2%. In an even-more-eye-popping figure, the Tigers sat at 6-for-7 (85.7%) from 3-point range.
“I thought we executed pretty well,” Steve Kirkland said. “We ran our sets pretty well and we got open shots, and the kids moved well offensively. We found the open guys — Maddox Kirkland got in the middle of their zone when they were running their zone was able to find the open shooters, and they knocked them in.”
Rising up to the challenge
Though rattled by the Kendrick barrage, Kamiah was not prepared to go away quietly. The Kubs mounted a rally that would see them pull back within a possession at 50-47 by the end of the third quarter, then draw within a single point at 50-49 after a Lawson Landmark layup to start the fourth.
One might have supposed at this juncture that Kamiah was moments from retaking the lead and surging to victory, or that the game was headed for a down-to-the-wire conclusion. Instead, as it turned out, Kendrick was just getting started, while the Kubs had scored for the last time.
Cade Silflow hit a 3-pointer off a feed from Maddox Kirkland on the very next possession to kick off another surge that saw the Tigers rattle off 16 points while the Kubs went cold and watched their title hopes rapidly fade away.
“Just really proud of this group,” said Kamiah coach Aaron Skinner, whose team made its second state runner-up finish in the last four years. “We played hard all season; it was just Kendrick’s day today. Ultimately, we ran out of gas and couldn’t hit shots where Kendrick did.
“Happy for Kendrick and the north, showing that our brand of basketball leads the state in the 2A division. We will miss our four seniors and appreciate their dedication to the program.”
By the numbers
In the end, Kendrick shot 23-of-42 (54.8%) from the field, including 11-for-17 (64.7%) from distance, and went 9-of-12 (75%) from the foul line. Contributing the most to those gaudy figures was Roetcisoender, who finished with 25 points off 7-for-11 shooting from the field — including an incredible 6-for-7 effort from beyond the arc — and a perfect 5-for-5 free throw performance, snagging seven rebounds along the way. Maddox Kirkland (14 points, four assists), Hudson Kirkland (13 points, eight rebounds) and Silflow (10 points, seven boards) were the other top contributors to the title-winning effort.
Kludt, a 6-foot-6 College of Idaho signee, led Kamiah with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Crowe added another 11 points for the Kubs, who finished at 20-for-61 (32.8%) from the field and 4-for-7 from the foul line. Kamiah had a 15-12 edge in field goals from inside the arc, with Kendrick’s exceptional long-range shooting providing the key scoring differential between the teams.
All the pieces in place
Kamiah had defeated Kendrick 60-53 and 65-58 in a pair of regular-season Whitepine League meetings, but the Tigers struck back to upend the Kubs 52-46 in the district final and now repeated the feat at State. Kendrick, which went through what its coach has called an “adjustment period” as it moved up a size classification this season, started out struggling to a 7-7 record in its first 14 games before dramatically turning a corner to go undefeated in its last 13, winning all of them by at least two possessions and 10 by double-digit margins.
“I think we went through a little bit of adversity early on, so I thought that if we could get everybody healthy, we could be competitive down the stretch — but I don’t know if I anticipated this kind of success,” Steve Kirkland admitted.
First-year coach Kirkland said he is looking forward to coming back with “all of the pieces in place” as his Tigers enter the 2025-26 season with an eye toward defending the top spot in their new division. With four of their five starters — and all of their top-four scorers — set to return, they might bring confidence to the task of continuing their winning ways.
KENDRICK (20-7)
Maddox Kirkland 6 2-5 14, Cade Silflow 3 2-2 10, Ralli Roetcisoender 7 5-5 25, Kolt Koepp 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Cook 0 0-0 0, Landon Sneve 0 0-0 0, Brock Boyer 0 0-0 0, Nathan Kimberling 0 0-0 0, Blake Morgan 0 0-0 0, Hudson Kirkland 5 3-4 13, Morgan Boyer 0 0-0 0, Jerry Anderson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 9-12 66.
KAMIAH (23-3)
Todd Roberts 0 0-0 0, Jaydon Crowe 5 0-0 11, Matthew Oatman 3 1-2 9, Jack Engledow 0 0-0 0, Everett Oatman 1 2-4 4, David Kludt 10 1-1 23, Rylan Skinner 0 0-0 0, Lawson Landmark 1 0-0 2, Logan Keen 0 0-0 0, Sawyer Wimer 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 4-7 49.
Kendrick 16 24 10 16—66
Kamiah 20 10 17 2—49
3-point goals — Roetcisoender 6, H. Kirkland 3, Silflow 2, M. Oatman 2, Kludt 2, Crowe.
Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.
