Amari Whiting shares special moment with brother after leading Burley to Idaho 4A state championship game
NAMPA - Amari Whiting’s phone rang as soon as she got back to the locker room.
It was her older brother Jace Whiting, who is serving an LDS mission in Finland. It was almost 1 a.m. there, but he wanted to personally congratulate her. It was the biggest moment for his baby sister and best friend.
After two painstaking years, the Burley High School junior guard had just reached the Idaho Class 4A State Championship game with a 49-36 win over Preston on Friday night.
“Honestly, it’s just amazing,” Amari said. “... When he called me, he was just so proud of me. It’s a great feeling to have him here even though he’s miles apart.”
It’s 4,849 miles to be exact.
Jace, who will play for Boise State next season, accomplished the same feat his sophomore year. The Burley boys basketball team lost to Preston 61-56 in the 2018 final. But Amari was able to exact a small measure of revenge on the same school by nearly outscoring them herself with a game-high 29 points, 8 steals, 7 rebounds and two assists. The University of Oregon commit played all but 8.3 seconds too. She only came out in the closing moments with the game all but over. The No. 32 junior recruit in the nation got a standing ovation before getting hugs from Burley head coach and mom Amber Whiting and dad Trent Whiting. The three of them all got in on the call with Jace afterwards.
“He woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday (Thursday) to watch us play,” Amber said. “I hadn’t even gotten into the locker room yet and he was FaceTiming her. So we’re sharing this with him halfway across the world. Family is everything.”
The Bobcats had been ousted before the title game in each of the last two seasons. They lost a 40-39 first-round heartbreaker to Sandpoint in 2020 and were routed 47-30 by eventual state champion Blackfoot last season.
So Amari wasn’t about to let it happen a third time.
“I honestly think they were definitely learning moments,” Amari said. “If I could do it again, I’d have the same thing happen. I personally grew from it as a leader, as a player especially. It hurts to get so close. But I think that now seeing it all pay off, makes it that much sweeter.”
But it wasn’t as easy as the score might indicate.
No. 3 Preston (17-7) scored the first five points of the game and held Amari to just three points in the first quarter. The Indians also began the second half on a 7-2 run to cut the Bobcats’ lead down to 25-24 with 4 minutes and 26 seconds left. It prompted Amber to call a timeout.
“Amari actually came unglued in that timeout,” Amber said. “She was like, ‘I need help.’ Because she can’t do it all herself.”
The team responded with a 12-2 run over the seven and a half minutes to put the game out of reach for good.
This will be Burley’s first championship game appearance since winning it in 2018 - two years before Amari joined the program. The Bobcats will look for the third title in program history.
“We’re excited,” Amari said. “We want to just leave it all out on the court and give everything we got. It’s our last game of the season. No regrets.”
Senior wing Hailey Meeks had 11 points for Preston in the loss.
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(All photos by Loren Orr)
