“Shoot for the moon, for even if you fail you land among the stars.”  It may sound cliche to use such a quote to help describe the Lady Dragons as their 2025 season has come to an end but it clearly demonstrates what they have accomplished over the last four months.  The team set lofty goals and while they didn’t accomplish all of them, there is no denying their incredible success.

Earning the 3A 5th district champion title, the MHS qualified to compete in the 3A state basketball tournament held at the Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, Idaho beginning Thursday, February 20.  Over the three day tournament, Malad played three intense games as they battled it out on the court against the best teams in the state.  Through their hard work, hustle and pure grit, the Lady Dragons found themselves competing in the championship game Saturday, February 22, hosted in the Ford
Idaho Center.

Their state tournament journey began with a matchup against the North Fremont Huskies.  Traditionally, the Lady Dragons compete with the Huskies during the regular season, but this year they didn’t play head to head until this state game.  The first quarter of the game was dominated by defense, clearly demonstrated by the scoreboard at the end of the first period as it read, 9-1.  North Fremont didn’t score their first point until punching in a bonus shot late in the quarter.  

The second quarter finally saw a little pick up in offense as both teams began connecting with the hoop.  Izzy Haycock drove to the hoop, pulling up to put up an eight foot jumper for Malad.  Liv Nelson laid one off the glass after getting the lob pass from Mikell Keetch on the wing.  Brynnlee Jones found the sweet spot in the corner, swishing the three pointer off the assist from Haycock.  

On the other end of the court, the Huskies found success driving to the basket, laying in multiple runners off the block.  Breaking for half, Malad led 20-16.  Making adjustments to both their offense and defense, the Lady Dragons came back in the third quarter to put up 13 points while holding North Fremont.  The MHS team continued to expand their lead in the fourth quarter, winning their opening game 49-31.

Advancing to the semi-final game, the Lady Dragons were set against the Grangeville Bulldogs.  The quick northern Idaho team jumped to a low scoring lead to start the game, going 6-12 in the first quarter.  The MHS team was able to rein in the Bulldog offense in the second quarter, holding them to only 5 points, although not really getting their offense off the blocks as they only scored 5 points as well.  

Trailing still as they began the third quarter 17-11, the Lady Dragons knew something had to change and soon.  Almost three minutes into the game, things began to click for the MHS offense as Haycock dribbled down the right side of the court, stopping at the wing.  She pivoted and passed to Kiley Miller at the top of the key.  Seeing Paityn Ward open on the corner, Miller faked the shot and sent the ball over, Ward dropping the uncontested three pointer through the net.  

Moving to the defense in Bulldog territory, the Lady Dragons forced a turnover, smashing on their center as she made a move to the basket.  Now with possession of the ball, Haycock dribbled down the middle of the court, jump-stopping at the top and turning around to hit Ward with the pass.  Not even hesitating, Ward sent up the arc shot, draining a second three pointer to tie the game at 20.

The change of momentum was palpable, the Lady Dragon’s energy surging.  The Bulldogs weren’t giving up yet, putting up a quick shot to cling to their lead, 20-22.  But Malad’s comeback was hardly over as Haycock put up another big outside shot to finally take the lead, 23-22.  

Grangeville’s defense stepped up their intensity, making for tougher coverage on the Malad shooters. Seeing the posts more isolated, the MHS guards began exploiting the opening with a number of lob passes inside.  Nelson and Jones hit two crucial bank shots, the latter moving through the next just one second before the shot clock zeroed out.

As the Lady Dragons began taking over the game, the Bulldogs struggled to pull anything together offensively.  Over the final minutes of the game, Grangeville went 1/6 from the free throw line to finish out their third quarter scoring at 6.

Beginning the fourth quarter, the game was clearly at the mercy of the Malad team, dominating across the court.  Stringing together 21 points in the final period of the game, the Lady Dragons won 48-36 to advance them to the championship game.

Pitted against the only team that had rivaled their 3A #1 ranking, the Lady Dragons were set to play against the Parma Panthers, a team they had played in the opening weeks of their season.  Although a lot of games had been played since then, Malad knew that this team would be quick, physical, and could shoot inside and out.  They may have already put down the Bulldogs, but the Lady Dragons were set for dogfight in their final season of the game.

The Malad offense started off slow once again, something that had unfortunately been plaguing them of late.  In most of their previous games, their tough defense was able to hold back the opposing offense to stay within just a few.  This game, however, saw the Panther offense on fire, working the ball to the hoop and consistently scoring with nearly every shot they put up.  At the end of the first quarter, the Lady Dragons trailed 9-23.  

Whether it was the jitters of playing on such a big stage or something else, Malad was finally able to shake off whatever jinx was keeping their offense from taking off.  The MHS team won the second quarter, putting up 19 points to Parma’s 12, closing the gap to 28-35.

The pause of halftime rejuvenated the Panther team, swinging the control of the game back into their hands.  Putting up only 6 points in the third quarter, the Lady Dragons found themselves trailing by 16.  

With only eight minutes left to play, Malad knew that their comeback had to start now.  On the first Parma possession, Haycock stood her ground to take the offensive foul from the Parma drive.  Stopping the Panthers from a scoring opportunity, the Lady Dragons worked to make the most of theirs.  Not wasting any time, Jones put up the three pointer, hitting after one dribble to get away from the oncoming defense.

Stopping Parma on their end of the court again, the MHS team drew the gap a little closer as Miller hit two bonus shots after being fouled on the baseline drive.  Malad snagged another turnover as they crashed down into the key on the Panther offense.  Taking the ball down the court, Haycock found Jones open once again to tickle the net with her left wing three pointer, the score 42-50.

Despite their run, Malad still had a lot of ground to make up still before the game would be over, but with 6:37 left on the clock, taking the lead was suddenly a real possibility.  Nelson, thanks to the help of Keetch, grabbed another Panther loose ball that turned into another Lady Dragon score thanks to Miller’s constant driving.

On a 10-0, Malad was only gaining momentum.  The defense forced errors and grabbed steals, using them to frustrate Parma’s game and keep their offense from settling in.  Jones tallied up six more points, hitting a deep three from the top of the key and later a lay up with the foul shot to tie the game at 50 points.  

Parma banked in a left block shot of an inbounds play to take the, hanging on to it over the next minute.  The game, now at an all time high of intensity and aggression, found both teams working desperately to make something of their offense.  With just under two minutes left to play, Haycock hit a corner three, stepping in after inbounding the ball to get the pass back from Miller to take the lead 53-52.

The lead traded twice more as the Panthers added two bonus points and Malad hit a shot from the key.  Trailing by one and with only 10 seconds left of the game, the MHS defense got tagged with a shooting foul.  Now up 55-58, there was only enough time for a three point shot to tie the game to send it into overtime.  Unfortunately, the Parma defense was hardly willing to let Malad get a shot off in the remaining time and the final buzzer rang out.

“It was a heartbreaker, for sure,” shared Head Coach Trevor Jones.  “Winning a state title was our final goal to accomplish this season.  It stings to come up so short at the very end.”

He continued, “But at the same time, we couldn’t be more proud of what these girls did this weekend.  They showed what Dragon basketball is really all about- the fight and desire within them isn’t something you can teach. We tell them the game isn’t over until the last whistle and tonight they played with hope to the very end.

“Ending on a loss like this is hard but recognizing that we are the two team of the state is a great accomplishment.  Making their way to the championship round in their first ever trip to the state tournament shows that they are a great team.  It will hurt for a while yet, but the future of Malad Lady Dragon basketball still burns bright.”

Malad vs N. Fremont

Quarter-Final Game

Thursday, February 20

1 2 3 4 T

Malad 7 13 13 16 49

N Fremont  1 15 3 12 31

# Name PTS TRB AST STL BLK

2 Kiley Miller 7 0 2 2 0

4 Teagan Daniels 5 0 0 0 0

5 Brynnlee Jones 10 5 0 0 0

10 Izzy Haycock 6 8 4 0 0

11 Mikell Keetch 8 4 1 1 0

12 Paityn Ward 2 4 0 1 0

13 Scarlet Hawkes 1 1 1 0 0

14 Mady VanBebber 2 4 0 0 0

24 Liv Nelson 8 10 2 1 5

TEAM TOTALS 49 37 10 5 5

Malad vs Grangeville

Semi-Final Game

Friday, February 21

1 2 3 4 T

Malad 6 5 16 21 48

Grangeville  12 5 6 13 36

# Name PTS TRB AST STL BLK

2 Kiley Miller 6 6 3 3 0

4 Teagan Daniels 3 0 1 1 0

5 Brynnlee Jones 7 6 0 0 2

10 Izzy Haycock 15 3 3 1 0

11 Mikell Keetch 0 0 3 1 0

12 Paityn Ward 8 5 0 3 0

13 Scarlet Hawkes 0 2 0 0 0

14 Mady VanBebber 0 5 0 0 0

24 Olivia Nelson 9 10 2 1 3

TEAM TOTALS 48 37 12 10 5

Malad vs Parma

State Championship Game

Saturday, February 22

1 2 3 4 T

Malad 9 19 6 21 55

Parma  23 12 15 8 58

# Name PTS TRB AST STL BLK

2 Kiley Miller 6 4 3 2 0

4 Teagan Daniels 0 0 2 0 0

5 Brynnlee Jones 24 3 2 5 1

10 Izzy Haycock 10 1 3 5 0

11 Mikell Keetch 2 2 5 4 0

12 Paityn Ward 4 0 0 0 0

13 Scarlet Hawkes 0 1 0 0 1

24 Olivia Nelson 9 7 2 1 1

TEAM TOTALS 55 18 17 17 3