Reflecting on a championship season: Tigers triumphant once more

The sight of fire trucks and police escorts accompanying a school bus full of triumphant state champions into town as crowds of elated citizens throng the streets has become a familiar one in the city of Kendrick.

The latest example came this past weekend when the Tigers returned home from their underdog run to the Idaho Class 2A state boys basketball title.

“We had people on the streets cheering for the kids,” Kendrick coach Steve Kirkland said. “They were mostly asleep until that point, and they woke up, and they were excited to see all the people that were welcoming them back.”

An unusual underdog story for the Tigers

It was an end to the season that might have been quite difficult to envision six weeks earlier, when the Tigers held a record of 7-7 overall and 3-4 in 2A Whitepine League play. They turned a corner beginning with a 52-20 victory over Troy on Jan. 28, and would ultimately win their last 13 consecutive games of the season — all by at least two possessions and 10 by double-digit margins — to finish at 20-7 after ousting the Kamiah Kubs 66-49 in the state title game on Saturday at Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center.

Four of the Tigers’ starters scored in double figures on that occasion: Ralli Roetcisoender (25 points), Maddox Kirkland (14 points, four assists), Hudson Kirkland (13 points, eight rebounds) and Cade Silflow (10 points, seven boards). Starting center Wyatt Cook sat out much of the game due to his defensive matchup, but Steve Kirkland was proud of the “leadership he showed” in other ways.

The team shot 54.8% from the field and an-even-more exceptional 64.7% from 3-point range.

“I’ve rewatched the state championship a number of times now, and the other games too, and when I look at our team this year, I think things kind of came together as far as what pieces we had,” Steve Kirkland said. “We had kids that could shoot the ball and scorers, but we also had other pieces — players that filled roles that were exactly what we needed at the moment.

“Kolt Koepp, for the second half of the season, became our guy that we would have guard the big players on the other team — and he was able to do that because of his size and athleticism,” he continued. “Cade Silflow did the same thing for us, and Maddox Kirland kind of filled that utility role.”

Beyond that, with most of the same athletes playing for its football and boys basketball teams, Kendrick has a cadre of young men who very much know what competing and winning in big games feels like.

A far-reaching dynasty

Across all sports, Kendrick High School has now added seven state banners to its collection within the last four years. The Tigers have claimed four consecutive state titles in football, two boys basketball championships in the past three seasons and a girls basketball crown last year.

Kendrick has appeared in both football and boys basketball state finals each of the last three school years. Perhaps most-impressive-of-all, the Tigers made the jump up in size classification from Idaho 1A Division II (now known simply as 1A) to Class 2A at the beginning of this school year, and not only rose to the occasion but landed state championships in both sports on their first try.

Will the Tiger dynasty persist into future years? With four of his five starters returning, Steve Kirkland feels “all the pieces are in place” for that to happen where boys basketball is concerned.

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