Madison, Lake City both punch tickets to Class 5A boys basketball tournament with district title three-peats

Bobcats win 15th game in a row while nationally-ranked Timberwolves remain unbeaten

Shane Humphreys’ message before the game was simple.

“Stay humble and hungry,” the Madison High School boys basketball coach said.

His team responded, accordingly.

Madison won its 15th consecutive game by cruising over rival Highland 53-32 for a third consecutive Class 5A District V-VI championship Tuesday night. It also gave the Bobcats (18-6) their seventh trip to state in the last eight years.

“Feels fantastic,” Humphreys said. “Proud of my guys. I’ve been telling my guys that we have proved that we belong at state the past few weeks, but we haven’t earned it. Tonight we earned it.”

Nash Humpherys led three different players in double figures with 18 points. Chase Chrane and Berrett Wilson had 14 and 10 pointes, respectively.

Jayden Wright scored 15 points for the Rams (13-12) in the loss.

LAKE CITY 85, COEUR D’ALENE 54: It was close - for a quarter.

But then the Timberwolves (23-0) showed exactly why they're the 25th-ranked team in the country with a 32-5 second quarter. 

University of Virginia signee Blake Buchanan recorded 11 of his 20 points alone during that stretch. The 6-foot-10 post went 8-of-11 from the field and added 12 rebounds for a double-double. He also had four blocks and a pair of steals to lead Lake City to a third straight Class 5A District I-II championship.

“It was a great feeling tonight,” Buchanan said. “Our crowd was amazing and for (my) last ever game at Lake City, it was a great way to end that with all the support we got from fans, family, students and the Coeur d’Alene community. We are going to enjoy this one, but the job still isn’t done.”

His running mate Kolton Mitchell was pretty impressive as well. The Idaho State signee put up a game-high 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. He also racked up six rebounds and a steal in the win.

Carter Rupp and Kruz Wheeler totaled 13 and 12, respectively, for the Vikings (15-7) in the loss.