March Madness kicks into high gear in the Treasure Valley

NAMPA, Idaho — Thursday marked the start of the Real Dairy Shootout for most teams as they came from all over the state and here locally to compete for a state championship.

The Idaho basketball state tournament will feature all classes and they will be played at a number of different venues throughout the valley.

The Ford Idaho Center hosts the 5A and in the first game of the day Lake City fended off a furious comeback by Rocky Mountain to advance with a 65-57 win.

The venue allows 900 fans split between the two schools playing with a break between each game to sanitize the arena, it's up to the schools to determine how to distribute the tickets.

"I think we are just blessed to have the 900 we weren't even sure if we would have a tournament a couple of months ago so we will take the 900," said Jarred Young a fan of Rigby.

The smaller schools will play at different high schools and allow between 200 and 300 fans depending on the venue.

The state championships will all be played on Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center, click here for brackets and a link to scores.

Next week the college conference tournaments kick into high gear as Boise will host the Big Sky Tournament for the third time.

The women begin on Monday with the men starting up on Wednesday, limited tickets will be allowed but it's up to the Big Sky schools to distribute those.

Next week also give the Boise State Broncos a chance to redeem themselves after a tough stretch losing two at San Diego State and their final home game to Fresno State on Tuesday night.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently has the Broncos as the last team to get into the NCAA tournament, but the Broncos will likely need a strong showing to get into the big dance.

They will play Nevada next Thursday in Las Vegas and if they can get past the Wolfpack they will get a rematch with San Diego State, however BSU has gone 0-4 against those teams this season.