A championship season
Lions’ special group of basketball
athletes
finish a remarkable run with
another 5A crown
By Bruce Smith
MatchupBorah High School opened in 1958 and quickly became known as a football school. A little over 50 years later, it’s remarkable how times have changed.
This year, it was guys like Ben Tucakovic, Isaiah Wright, Braden Corpus, coach Cary Cada and several others who helped it along.
The Lions secured the school’s 10th state basketball title in early March, using a combination of height, athleticism and a strong defensive effort to beat Post Falls at the Idaho Center in Nampa.
“It’s still a grand feeling,” said Cada, who won his third at Borah since taking over in 1995. “There was no turning point; that’s what was weird about it. We learned to be stronger, tougher and bigger as a team and stepped it up when we had to.
“The kids came in dedicated to every practice and every game.”
Borah’s accomplishments during the year were many. The Lions won a school record 25 games, including 23 in a row. They captured the Southern Idaho Conference title and district tournament. They missed what could have the school’s first perfect season by only one point. They won the Griffin Cup for the fourth straight year vs. Capital and the school took home the 5A sportsmanship award at the state tourney.
Tucakovic was the top player. The 6-foot-6 senior averaged 15.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds and was named the SIC’s top player. Wright averaged 12.0 ppg and led the team in steals and assists. He made the first team, despite being just a sophomore. Both players also were on the all-state squad.
“Defense was the reason for our success all year,” said Cada, whose team gave up an average of 40.6 points per game and held Post Falls to just 31 in the state championship game. “Post Falls was our best game. That was a game where the kids came in and just knew they weren’t going to lose.
“This was a complete team,” Cada added. “We had three players who could lead us in scoring, but if one struggled, someone else would step up. Nobody cared about the credit. They were best friends. Our team chemistry was huge.”
Early on, the Lions weren’t the team to beat. Defending champion Mountain View was the favorite, and handed Borah its only loss back on Dec. 9. But after the Lions won the rematch, there was little doubt. Borah reached the postseason by dominating most others.
They beat their opponents by an average of 14 points per game, yet virtually everyone felt it could have been worse. When they got rolling, no Idaho team could stop them. However, it was only at the end of the season when they reached their peak.
“I told them that if they starved, they would starve to death,” Cada said. “If we got teams 10-12 points down, we would back off. We couldn’t smell blood in the water.”
That started to change in the postseason. A rebound basket by Corpus saved the Lions in the opener of the district tournament, but they were all business in whipping Mountain View for the title. Once again at state, they got a scare in the first round but took care of Timberline and then finished it off.
Cada said the football team’s turnaround (a 5-4 record and its first winning season in 17 years) got the school year off to a good start.
“Our team’s best game was Post Falls,” said Corpus, who was also the football team’s quarterback. “We just dominated them completely. I thought it would be a lot closer, but we took it to them.”
Even Post Falls agreed.
"We gave it all we had, we just got outplayed," said Post Falls senior Marcus Colbert, who earned the state’s MVP award. "Borah played a good game, and they hit shots. They just flat-out beat us."
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