Sports

A singular season ended on a sour note when the McCall-Donnelly boys basketball team lost to Teton of Driggs, 67-58, last week in Meridian to open the 3A State Tournament.Sam Penny scored 22 points and Luke Scott added 20 points but the Vandals quest to compete for a state title – and win a 19th straight game – was snuffed out when the Timberwolves pulled away with a late run.A special season up to that point – a district championship, regular season title and 18 straight wins – meant little as M-D players walked off the floor at Meridian High School, disappointed, devastated.“The kids gave the best effort they had today in a very tough game,” Vandal head coach Jason Tinney said.

If practice does not make perfect, it at least makes pretty good.Perhaps no better example is McCall-Donnelly boys basketball player Sam Penny, who was named the Snake River Valley Conference’s Player of the Year following a vote by league coaches.“To go from honorable mention to player of the year is extraordinary,” Vandal coach Jason Tinney said.

Cascade’s Tyler Thurston was recognized as the Long Pin Conference’s Player of the Year for boys basketball for a second straight season following a vote by league coaches.But Rambler coach Josh Hurley said his star point guard was most valuable this season in ways the box scores might not indicate.Hurley said he is convinced Thurston could score 30 points a game if he chose to.

John Hatfield headlines a class of seniors who hope to make their final season with the McCall-Donnelly baseball team a special one.Vandal head coach Riley Bevill, in his fourth year, said the group – Hatfield, Seth Julian, Owen Naugle and James Turlington – has what it takes to do just that.M-D opens the season Saturday by traveling to play former 2A rival New Plymouth.“If we play loose and have fun, this season should be a fun one to watch,” Bevill said.The Vandals struggled last spring, going 0-14 while having to play every single game on the road because of poor field conditions due to lingering winter weather.Hatfield, an All-Snake River Valley Conference second-teamer the last two seasons, is as key as anyone to help M-D turn those fortunes around.The left-hander served as the Vandals’ top pitcher last spring.

Senior Angie Dauphinais watched her big sister Carli lead the McCall-Donnelly softball team to the 2A state championship game back in 2019.Now the current Vandal is motivated to do the same for own team this spring.

The McCall Vandals wrapped up the 2023-24 season by advancing to the semifinals of the Idaho Amateur Hockey Association High School State Tournament, played over the weekend in Sun Valley.Carson McMindes found the net during the semifinal against Idaho Falls, played Sunday, but the Vandals were denied, 6-1.Idaho Falls, the top seed heading into the tournament, went on to win the state title.

Luke Scott’s 4-point play provided the exclamation point as the McCall-Donnelly boys basketball team slammed the door on a feisty Homedale team, 51-35, last week at the M-D gym to seize a 3A District III championship.Scott, who injured his ankle during a semifinal win over Fruitland, drained a 3-pointer, was fouled and hit the ensuing free throw.