Congratulations to all the 12 Idaho Select players that were selected to their classification’s all-state teams.

5A First Team – Matt Grooms (Rocky Mountain), Cody Spjute (Borah), Clark Wilkinson (Highland)

5A Second Team – Austin Andreasen (Highland)

4A First Team – Alec Meyerhoeffer (Twin Falls)

3A Player of the Year – McKay Cannon (Shelley)

3A Second Team – Wyatt Johnson (Teton)

2A Player of the Year – Mitch Orme (Firth)

2A First Team – Michael Wilson (Grangeville)

2A Second Team – Trevor Thomas (Cole Valley)

1AD1 Second Team – Brooks Malm (Troy)

1AD2 Player of the Year – Leighton Vander Esch (Salmon River)

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

With a competitive opening day at the Fruitland Christmas Tournament, several players emerged that fans in the Treasure Valley (and Baker City) will want to keep their eyes on. CLICK HERE for game recaps.

It was great to get two very competitive games (Baker vs. New Plymouth and Fruitland vs. Emmett). Close games always bring out the best players and give them an opportunity to shine when it matters most.

But don’t let the top players listed below make you think they were the only guys that went noticed. Several players, like Baker’s Braden Phillips and New Plymouth’s Nate Woods, may not have put up huge numbers but their contributions will keep their teams competitive all year.

Top Players

Dillon Blakenship (6’1 Senior, Baker, OR) – the senior guard was a dominant player vs. New Plymouth, finishing with 28 points to go along with a bunch of rebounds (stats not available). Blankenship was the sole dependable source of offense and kept his team in the game. At 6’1 and built like a linebacker, he was finishing in the paint and at the rim to go along with several second half 3-pointers.

Chase White (5’9 Junior, New Plymouth) – White may not be the tallest player on the floor but you better respect his fire and ability to shoot from anywhere. He finished with 24 points, mostly from behind the arc, and though he struggled at times keeping Baker’s Blankenship in front of him, he is what makes his New Plymouth team go.

Porter Gustin (6’3 Sophomore, Emmett) – Gustin was having one of those games where he drove Fruitland defenders crazy. If he caught the ball at the high post he could shoot or get to the basket. If you left him alone on the perimeter, he would knock down the 3-pointer, hitting four of them in the first half. Fruitland eventually moved their more athletic defenders on to him in the second half which helped but Gustin showed that he could be clutch from the free throw line, hitting his attempts down the stretch to lock up the victory. He finished with 32 points.

Noah Williams (6’1 Junior, Emmett) – Williams finished with 21 points, a quiet 21 points, that fits his demeanor perfectly. You won’t see a ton of emotion out of him but by the end of the game you realized that he was getting to the basket at will off the drive. And what you won’t see in the box score is his ability to defend guards. He isn’t a big 6’1 but he knows how to defend in a zone defense, how to defend the drive with his body and kept Fruitland guards out of the paint.

Fruitland, both the Varsity and JV teams – though both teams lost games on Thursday, you will be hard pressed to find two groups of players that play as hard they do. From the starters to the reserves, freshmen to seniors, Fruitland flat out gets after teams. They defend hard, run hard and rebound hard. Very impressive.

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

From Idaho Falls, the Hillcrest Knights hosted the Rigby Trojans in front of a great crowd and fun environment.

Rigby started hot on 3-pointers from senior Jenner Heyrend and the inside play of senior JonRyheem Peoples. But Hillcrest never panicked and continued to execute their offense and apply pressure on defense. The upped their pressure in the second quarter with a half course press and built a 36-25 halftime lead.

Hillcrest’s experience really show in the small details of their game. They are led by senior Blake Phippen but they do their damage from every position. Their one major flaw tonight was free throw shooting.

Though Hillcrest was up by a lot late into the fourth quarter, they missed a lot of free throws. And to Rigby’s credit, they never quit and went on a big run led by the shooting of senior Hyrum Prestwich and sophomore Hadyn Landon. They would cut the lead to 5 but ultimately time ran out on the Trojans and the Knights escaped with a 69-65 win.

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

Players in Idaho and much of the northwest (such as Wyoming, Montana, northern Nevada and eastern Oregon) suffer from the same problem – lack of exposure to college programs. Often the best players never get to be seen because they play in a small town or in an area that colleges never get a chance to make it to. This can make the basketball recruiting process very frustrating.

But there are ways to get your game in front of these coaches. One of them is as simple as it comes: game film and/or highlight reels.

Today, with DVD burners, the internet, email and digital camcorders, getting your game film in front of college coaches has never been more available. Here are a few tips, challenges and benefits of doing so.

Highlight clips vs. full game video – There are pros and cons to both. Highlight clips can take a lot more effort to create because you need multiple games and the ability to cut and paste the highlights together. And since you are just putting in your best plays, coaches know that they aren’t seeing a complete picture of the player. But, coaches may like it because they are shorter and can show off a particular strength of a player (great shooting, athletic, etc.). Roster spots are never given based on a highlight reel, but they can create interest and generate a follow up look. Plus, short 5-10 minute highlight clips can be easily uploaded to sharing sites such as YouTube, which is much easier than mailing out DVDs. Here’s a great example from an Idaho player that was offered 7 Division I scholarships. It shows a little bit of each part of his game.

Full uncut game film is usually easier for the player to get. Generally players can work with their coach or a parent that has filmed the game to get a copy. They also provide a better context for the college coach, which gives a more complete picture of the player. Plus, there is little editing needed. The downside is that a college coach will need to block an hour of his time to watch the game (most coaches have limited time for this) and sites like YouTube generally don’t let you upload more than 10-15 minutes of video (though you can break them up in to separate four quarter segments). That means that to get the full game to a coach in its entirety, a player would need to burn it to a DVD and then physically mail it to the college.

Ultimately, doing both a highlight reel and full game is great and gives coaches the option to choose whether they watch one or the other or (in a perfect world) both.

If you are going to send a full game DVD there are some basic pieces of information that you’ll need to include. Some are more obvious but all are important. Be sure to include your profile info like name, class, position, height, school, mailing address, email and phone number. Also, make sure you identify what your jersey number is and which team is yours. You’ll want to give a little context of the game like who you are playing and how good they are, when and where it was played and whether it’s a regular season game, tournament game or a championship game. And be honest. College coaches do this for a living so they will eventually find out if your aren’t being honest. Finally, the video should be good quality, not grainy or zoomed too far in or out.

Once you have your profile information and game DVD or highlight reel ready to go the next step is deciding where to send it. Keep in mind that you have limited resources to mail DVD, mostly money and time. To get the game film, burn a DVD, make copies of the DVD, package the DVD in protective mailers, address the mailers and then get them to the post office to mail can take dozens and dozens of hours and hundreds of dollars. But, the more you mail the more likely one or more of the schools will watch your DVD. And when that happens then the recruiting process really takes off!

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

Navarro (Vallivue) scores 19 in loss to Bishop Kelly; Stanley scores 15 and leads Kuna to win over Capital

CLICK HERE for box socres

Connor Meyerhoeffer (Twin Falls) scores 24 in win over Idaho Falls

CLICK HERE for summary

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

It was a back and forth game from Capital between the Capital Eagles and Kuna Kavemen. Both teams ran good stuff and executed well on offense. But in the end, it was Kuna that made more winning plays, hitting big shots and getting more loose balls. They took the win 53-44.

Kuna was led by senior Cameron Francis and junior Shawn Stanley. Francis’ game may look a bit awkward, but he scored in a variety of ways and did a good job keeping plays alive. Stanley handled Capital’s pressure and made key plays when it mattered.

Capital was hitting their shots in the first half but their shooting percentage dropped off in the second. Capital is still a young team and got production from various players toward the end but the Kavemen were able to hit their free throws down the stretch.

Keep your eye on Kuna freshman Jake Johnson. The 6’4 forward showed signs that he could develop into an important player in Kuna’s future.

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

Dennis (Centennial) scores 11, hits game winner over Bishop Kelly; Bruneel’s double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds) leads Rocky Mountain past Nampa

CLICK HERE for box scores

Late scores from Friday – Saetrum (Timberline) leads Wolves past Middleton with 13 points; Thomas (Cole Valley) scores 22 in win over Nyssa; Vander Esch’s double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds) leads Salmon River past Highland of Craigmont

CLICK HERE for box scores

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

For Centennial, this was a chance to remain undefeated. For Bishop Kelly, it was a chance to get their first win of the season.

Centennial came out fast and grabbed an early 9-2 lead. But BK answered with a 12-1 run to end the first quarter behind 10 points from junior Luke Meyers. From there it was back and forth and the half ended with Centennial up 24-23. BK was able to neutralize Centennial in the half court with some zone defense but they had no answer for Centennial’s transition game.

The fourth quarter was also tight (both teams combined for 5 points in the third so we’ll leave that out) and would come down to clutch plays from both teams. With the score tied at 34-34 and :29.5 remaining, Luke Meyers was fouled on a drive to the basket and proceeded to knock down both free throws to take a 36-34 lead. Centennial used their last time out to draw up a play.

It was an isolation for Hunter Dennis. Two dribbles to his left he elevated from behind the arc and connected to give Centennial a 37-36 lead with about :13 to go. It would turn out to be the game winning shot. Check it out below.

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

Lado (Columbia) sets school record versus Meridian with 23 rebounds

CLICK HERE to read the article

Lado (Columbia) goes for big double-double (23 points, 23 rebounds) in OT win over Meridian; Spjute (Borah) scores 25 to lead Lions past Kavemen; Dennis (Centennial) leads Patriots to win with 22 points (and the early candidate for Dunk of the Year)

CLICK HERE to read the box scores

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News

From Eagle, the Mustangs and the Bishop Kelly Knights opened their seasons in a 5A vs. 4A Southern Idaho Conference match up.

Eagle jumped out quickly behind 2 quick 3-pointers from junior guard Jacob Talbot. Eagle would run the score to 10-2 before BK settled down.

The Knights used a combination of pressure man to man, a 1-2-2 zone press and some half court zone. Initially, it helped keep the Mustangs off balance and keep them in the game, though they trailed 26-18 at the half.

In the second half, Eagle began to gain more confidence. While BK always scrapped and never fell completely out of it, Eagle showed maturity and really started to let the game come to them. And with about 6 minutes to go, they started to find senior forward Braiden Shaw.

Shaw was held in check during the first half and early in the second half by the Knight’s Spencer King. But as the game wore on (and King got into foul trouble) Shaw was able to settle into the post and was basically unstoppable. Maybe the most impressive part of Shaw’s performance wasn’t his scoring or rebounding (he scored 15 points on 7 of 9 shooting in the key and grabbed 13 rebounds). It was his ability to make great passes that had the biggest impact. He had 5 assists and even more hockey assists. He can look over a defense and his feel for the game guides him where to move the ball.

The game ended with an Eagle win, 55-40.

Idaho Select Basketball Idaho Basketball News