Skyline rebounds from championship loss to down Shelley and earn a berth to the state tournament

IDAHO FALLS – What a difference 48 hours makes.

Top-seeded Skyline struggled against Blackfoot in Thursday’s district championship game as the Broncos pulled away in the second half for an impressive win to claim the 5A District 6 title.

Saturday night it was reigning state champion Shelley standing in the way with a state tournament berth on the line.

While Shelley lost key pieces off of that championship team, the Russets stood toe-to-toe with Skyline through the first half.

But it was a different story in the second half as Skyline jumped ahead by double digits and then rolled to a 67-44 win.

The finish was in direct contrast to Thursday’s game where Blackfoot just dominated about every facet of the game in the second half and Skyline didn’t respond.

The Grizzlies responded Saturday.

“We talked about it in practice yesterday, we talked about in our shoot-around today … That was the big thing we talked about is that they had to be mentally ready to come out and not have a letdown in the third quarter,” Skyline coach Ty Keck said. “Girls came out and stepped up. We like to say defense leads to easy offense and that was the case in the third quarter.”

The momentum actually started in the second when Skyline scored 22 points after tallying just nine in the first quarter.

The Grizzlies turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 20-point advantage in the third and eventually upped that lead to 46-33.

Shelley senior Mia Williams, one of the top players in the state, did her part, finishing with 25 points.

But it was far from enough.

Shelley (11-15) played five games in 11 days to reach the district play-in game and looked tired down the stretch. Skyline pushed the pace and was solid defensively, holding the Russets to just one field goal in the third quarter.

Skyline (16-8) had two players in double figures with Shay Shippen finishing with 25 points and Macy Marlow adding 15.

Shippen, playing her last game in the Skyline gym, was on the court at the end and knocked down a long 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to cap the scoring.

The senior increased her unofficial state scoring record to 2,315 points.

State tournaments start Thursday. The 5A tournament will be at Mountain View High School.