The annual All-Idaho girls basketball teams hosted by the Idaho Statesman are now out.
And Southeast Idaho was well-represented.
It totaled 17 all-state selections spread across five different classifications and nine teams.
Grace led the way with not only the most in the area, but the entire state with four honorees on the Class 1A Division I team. The Grizzlies, who went 22-3 and won the fourth state championship in program history with a 16-game winning streak, which was the second longest in the state this past season, swept both of the major categories.
Sydnee Smith was the Player of the Year.
The 5-foot-10-inch forward averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. She saved her best for last with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds in a 47-40 win over Lapwai in February’s state final.
“She did a ton of things for us. She brought a lot of attention from other teams every night and showed up and gave it her all,” Grace head coach Kyle Christensen said. “I know she was a little disappointed last year in how it finished for us. So I felt that she was determined this year to give her best effort and I felt like she did just that. She came out, worked hard and never complained and did whatever as a coach I asked her to do. It complimented the rest of our team as well.”
Christensen was named a winner himself.
He was the Coach of the Year after winning his second championship in four seasons. Christensen also guided Grace to its sixth district title in the last seven years. The 22 wins in 2024 are the most in program history and all three losses came to higher classification teams, including Bear Lake, which won the Class 2A crown.
“I remember going to the first practice of this season, and coach Kyle already had big goals set for us,” Smith said. “He turned every setback or loss into motivation to try to reach our goals. I know I appreciate and have enjoyed high school basketball so much because I had Kyle as a coach.”
Senior point guard Jacie Christensen (8.1 ppg, 3.5 assists) and senior wing Melodie Straatman (10.1 ppg, 3.6 steals and 1.5 blocks) rounded out the honorees for the Grizzlies with their first-team nods. Grace was also the only team in the state to boast three first-team selections.
“To have three first-teamers, I was actually quite shocked,” Kyle Christensen said. “But it just shows the respect the coaches around the state had for our team.
“It wasn’t about any one player and having three first-team selections, kind of backs that up a little bit.”
Snake River(three), Bear Lake (three) and Pocatello (two) all had multiple all-state picks, as well.
Rylie Edlefsen was once again the Class 3A Player of the Year for the Panthers.
The senior point guard averaged 18.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.1 apg and 2.5 spg to lead them to back-to-back state titles. This came after having to miss nine games to what was thought to be a season-ending injury with a broken right shooting hand. The Northwest Nazarene University signee racked up a game-high 23 points, five 3-pointers, six assists and four rebounds in a 53-45 win over Teton in the state final, while still donning a hand brace.
It was the first repeat in program history and the fourth championship, overall.
“The story within that story is special for her,” Snake River coach Lincoln Driscoll said. “Just seeing how amazingly well she dealt with that adversity. Because that was obviously crushing for her to go through that injury. But her response and her attitude and her positivity was beyond amazing.”
Senior center Reese Baldwin (8.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg) and senior point guard Camdyn Dunn (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.3 apg) each got second-team nods for Snake River.
The Bears’ Ken Wells was the Class 2A Coach of the Year.
He needed just two seasons to turn the long-struggling program completely around. Bear Lake went just 6-19 in his first year at the helm. It was the 11th time in the last 12 years that the Bears had failed to produce a winning season.
But this year, he oversaw them to a 23-3 mark. This included the first district championship in 16 years and the first state title in a quarter century.
Junior point guard Saydee Shaul (12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2.9 spg) and freshman forward Halle Wells (11.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.1 apg) − his daughter — joined him with their first- and second-team selections, respectively.
Soda Springs senior wing Jinettie Garbett (15.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 3.0 spg, 2.0 bpg) and Malad senior forward Hallie Horsley (14.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.1 apg) also made the 2A all-state teams. Garbett, an Idaho State signee for track and field, made the first team, and Horsley the second.
Pocatello, which posted its most wins (19) in nearly three decades, got both sophomore forward Abby Lusk and junior center Kenna Garza on the 4A all-state team.
Lusk (16.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 3.7 spg, 2.4 apg), who owns offers from Idaho State, Idaho and Weber State, was a first-team pick. Garza (17.6 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.2 spg), who went over 1,000 career points this past season, made the second team.
Blackfoot senior forward Marlee Pieper (16.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.6 apg), who just signed with Utah State Eastern, was also a second-team selection in 4A.
North Gem senior point guard Hayden Corta (17.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 5.4 apg, 3.1 spg) and Rockland junior point guard Calyn Permann (11.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 7.4 apg) capped the Southeast Idaho all-state players by both being on the Class 1A DII team. Corta was a first-team selection and Permann a second-team pick.
The teams are selected by the state’s coaches via a voting process hosted by the Idaho Statesman. The Idaho State Journal just publishes the results.
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