‘It was just Rockland’s day’: Genesee falls in 1A state championship game

Genesee only lost two girls basketball games all year.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, their second loss came in the last game of the season.

In a battle of Bulldogs, Rockland bit quickly and often, taking the lead in the second quarter, extending it to 17 points in the second half and securing the 56-39 win over Genesee in the Idaho 1A state championship game at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

“It stings a little bit right now,” Genesee coach Greg Hardie said. “We really thought we had a great chance to win, and we did (have a chance). We just didn’t quite have it today.”

Calyn Permann led Rockland (21-5) with 20 points while Kendra Meyer paced Genesee (22-2) with 13 points.

Rockland pulls ahead in first half

Rockland contained Genesee’s best scorer Chloe Grieser to two points in the first half — and just eight overall — after she dominated the semifinals with 28 points in a win over Salmon River.

Genesee exhibited a preference for the perimeter, living and ultimately dying by the 3. Genesee was 8-for-35 from beyond the arc.

Rockland missed its first seven shots of the game, but soon capitalized on Genesee mistakes, forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds.

The Bulldogs of Rockland beat out the Bulldogs of Genesee with a 45-36 rebound advantage and just 16 turnovers compared to the Genesee’s 21.

Rockland’s Alexa Permann drew a foul to extend the Rockland lead in the final seconds of the first quarter and made a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the half to accumulate seven points through the first half and 15 points overall.

Before Genesee could attempt a last-ditch shot before halftime, Permann’s cousin Calyn Permann stole the ball and took a short jaunt to the rim to expand Rockland’s lead to seven points.

Costly mistakes

Rockland did not let up in the second half, turning in a 19-10 third quarter that included a snazzy sequence of turning defense into offense.

First, Genesee’s Grieser made a 3-point shot to make it a one-score game at 29-26.

Then, Alexa Permann responded with a rangy 3 of her own and Grieser soon took another 3-point attempt from the top of the key.

However, Calyn Permann blocked Grieser’s shot before it could travel more than five feet and Trin Wiese gained possession and dumped it over Genesee’s heads back to Calyn Permann, who took the ball to the rim for a layup to forge a five-point lead.

Rockland bottled the momentum, added proverbial Mentos to it and rode the volcanic reaction all the way to the final buzzer of a 17-point win.

“They were just hitting open shots,” Hardie said. “It just seemed like nothing was really clicking for us. They’d always come up with a big basket when they needed it.”

Meyer was scoreless in the semifinal win over Salmon River, but led Genesee in scoring on Saturday.

The senior was 4-for-15 from beyond the arc and 4-of-18 overall. Grieser was 3-for-18 from the floor.

Senior Monica Seubert scored eight points and grabbed a team-leading three rebounds.

“We missed some key opportunities where I felt like we had opportunities to score, especially early on when we had the lead and we ended up turning it back over,” Hardie said.

For the history books

Although Genesee fell short of the ultimate goal of a state championship, Hardie said he is proud of his team and believes it largely overachieved this year.

Hardie said that Genesee’s two seniors, Meyer and Seubert, left a lasting impression on the program as four-year varsity players.

“I’ll miss seeing them in practice every day,” Hardie said of his team. “It’s a long season, but I still really enjoy every day with them and am really thankful to have the opportunity to coach with Travis (Grieser). He’s a great, great coach.”

The Bulldogs weren’t the most outspoken team and largely let their play on the court do the talking for them.

They also exuded a certain calmness that kept them in a slew of close games and led to a head-turning 22-2 overall record, Hardie said.

Despite moving down to the newly formed 1A classification in 2024 and no longer sharing a league with Lapwai and Kamiah, the Bulldogs played both schools this season, losing to the Wildcats and beating the Kubs.

Hardie said he will have some time to reflect on the season over the next several weeks but acknowledged how much of a bitter pill losing the championship is to swallow.

“Of course they’re upset,” Hardie said. “As time goes along they’ll realize what an accomplishment that they did do this year. We just told them we love them, we told them how proud we were of what they’d accomplished.

“It was just Rockland’s day.”

ROCKLAND (21-5)

Madison Radford 1 0-0 2, Harmony Boyer 4 0-0 9, Kinsey McHargue 0 0-0 0, Calyn Permann 8 2-2 20, Jada Farr 0 0-0 0, Sidney Freeman 4 0-0 8, Gracie Freeman 0 0-0 0, Brilee Steidley 1 0-0 2, Trin Wiese 0 0-0 0, Alexa Permann 5 3-3 15, Whitley Ralphs 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-5 56.

GENESEE (22-2)

Sydney Banks 1 1-2 4, Monica Seubert 3 1-2 8, Alia Wareham 0 0-0 0, Lily Scharnhorst 0 0-0 0, Rylie Baysinger 0 0-0 0, Miley Grieser 3 0-0 6, Chloe Grieser 3 0-0 8, Kendra Meyer 4 1-2 13, Sophie Johnson 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Herman 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 3-6 39.

Rockland 13 12 19 12—56

Genesee 9 9 10 11—39

3-point goals — C. Permann 2, A. Permann 2, Boyer, Meyer 4, C. Grieser 2, Banks, Seubert.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.