By Katie Banning
As Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis once said, “You lost…Only the Race.”
The Badgers may have lost tonight, but they have also won so much. They have won games, they have won tournaments, they have won relationships and friends, they have won skills and discipline, and they have won hearts.
The Bonners Ferry Badgers basketball culture is a force to be reckoned with. It’s a lifestyle that will live on in the lives and hearts of coaches, players, fans, family and friends.
“We were a Cinderella story.” Assistant Coach Jesse Banning said. “The evil stepmother didn’t have anything on the Badgers!”
Even though Cinderella didn’t quite catch her prince tonight, the story is not over.
The Badgers are going home champions no matter what that score board showed.
The Badgers ended the last game of the 2026 season with a score of 35-71 against the Cole Valley Chargers. They wrapped up their season tonight with a record of 15-9, the Intermountain League District Champions and Idaho State High School Activities Association 4A runner up. This weekend, they made history. With their fourth appearance in a row on the state championship court, they made Bonners Ferry proud.
It was a season full of growth and change and though the outcome tonight was not what they had dreamed, they will lay their heads down tonight knowing that they made it, they played their best and fought ’til the end and that’s what they can hang their hats on. Until next year!
Go Badgers!
