| Patriots
win their way to State
The Summit Academy Patriots used free throws to great advantage as they beat Salmon River 58-42 in a state tournament play-in game held Saturday, Feb. 28 at Grangeville. 
With the win Summit advances to the state tournament where they will open against Mackay at 12:15 PST Thursday, March 5 at Caldwell High School. For most of the first 3 quarters the game was very close with the lead changing hands a few times. Salmon River jumped out to a 2-5 lead but Summit came back with a 7-2 run to take the lead at 9-7 at the end of the quarter. David Johnson’s turnaround 10 footer with 1:03 left in the quarter gave Summit the lead. In the second quarter Summit led just 16-14 with 5 minutes left in the half but finished the half with a 5-0 run to take a 21-14 lead. A steal by Josh Frei led to a putback by Johnson. Dustin Lustig added a free throw and Dylan Prigge rebounded the Dustin’s missed second shot and put it back for a 21-14 lead with 2:40 left in the half. Neither team was able to score the rest of the half. Salmon River opened the third quarter with a 2-9 run that tied the score at 23 with 4:20 left in the period. Johnson scored a couple of free throws and Dustin Lustig added another one for a 26-23 lead but Salmon River answered with a basket to cut the lead to 1 at 26-25 with 2:20 left in the third.  From
that point on it was all Summit.
Johnson scored a putback, Frei drove in for a basket, Prigge and Johnson scored 2 free throws each and Dustin Lustig added another free throw as Summit closed the quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 35-25 lead into the fourth quarter. Salmon River spent much of the fourth quarter bombing away from 3-point range, hitting 3 of 14 from long range, while Summit was scoring lay-ups and free throws as they steadily built their lead to the final 16-point margin. Johnson came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 20 points and added 13 rebounds. Prigge added 14 points while Frei also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Dustin Lustig scored 5, Joseph Lustig 4 and Chase Nuxoll and Derek Nuxoll scored 2 points each. Rebounding was even up at 43 each. Prigge had 3 steals while Chase Nuxoll and Frei had 2 each. Dustin Lustig had 4 assists. Summit was 17 for 48 from the field, 35% while Salmon River was 18 for 63 from the field, 29%. The real difference was at the free throw line where Summit was 24 for 40, 60%, whole Salmon River didn’t even attempt a free throw. Summit committed just 9 fouls in the game while Salmon River was whistled for 25. Three of their starters fouled out while the other two had 4 fouls each. With the win Summit Academy makes their first ever trip to state with a 17-10 record. Summit 9 12 14 23 -58 Salmon River 7 7 11 17 -42 Summit-J. Lustig 1-1, 2-4, 4; D. Lustig 0-6, 5-8, 5; Prigge 5-11, 4-6, 14; C. Nuxoll 1-3, 0-4, 2; Frei 3-8, 5-7, 11; Johnson 7-14, 6-9, 20; Chmelik 0-5, 0-0, 0; Rehder 0-0, 0-0, 0; D. Nuxoll 0-0, 2-2, 2; Schlader 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-none. Salmon River-Jaramillo-Swan 2-16, 0-0, 5; Rinker 3-9, 0-0, 8; Cornwell 4-11, 0-0, 11; Rean 4-11, 0-0, 8; Manley 2-5, 0-0, 4; Klobetanz 0-1, 0-0, 0; Hollon 0-1, 0-0, 0; Couie 3-9, 0-0, 6; Joyce 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Cornwell 3, Rinker 2, Jaramillo-Swan. Summit to open against Mackay Summit Academy is in the 1A Division 2 tournament and will play Mackay, the District 5-6 champion, at 1:15 MST Thursday, March 5 at Caldwell High School. If they win they would play the Richfield-Clark County winner at 1:15 p.m. MST Friday. If they lose they would play the Richfield-Clark County loser at 6:15 MST Friday. Both games also at Caldwell High School. The consolation final and 3rd place game are at the same times as the 1A D1 games with both at Caldwell High. The championship game is at 9:30 a.m. at the Idaho Center. Nezperce is in the other half of the bracket and opens play against Carey at 8 p.m. MST at Caldwell High. 
All times shown are Mountain Standard Time. 
The Summit Academy boys basketball team. Back from left are head coach Don Schlader, Dustin Lustig, Josh Frei, Dylan Prigge, Chase Nuxoll, Davis Johnson, Joseph Lustig and assistant coach Kevin Rehder. Front from left are Josh Schlader, Austin Chmelik, Derek Nuxoll and Michael Rehder. |
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