GRIMES — The balance between fun exhibition and high-stakes prize fight tipped quickly toward the latter. You can’t assemble a bunch of basketball players this good and not expect them to compete.

Marshalltown’s Kyle Smith and East Marshall’s Jackson Bidwell were teamed together as part of the Northeast squad for Saturday’s Pizza Ranch Senior All-Star Games at Dallas Center-Grimes High School, and both local standouts represented themselves well.

Smith scored 11 points and Bidwell 6 in the Northeast’s thrilling 96-94 win over the Northwest club in Saturday’s opening round, but a juggernaut Southwest squad stole the show in the championship game, 95-82.

Both local preps showed the sort of rust that could develop in four weeks or more without a steady source of competitive basketball, but both Smith and Bidwell eventually found their rhythm on the court while surrounded by more of the state’s best across all four classes.

Smith was one of five Class 4A players on the Northeast roster, joined by first-team all-staters Will Gerdes and Jaydon Kimbrough of Cedar Falls, second-teamer Tyler Hilton from Linn-Mar, and fellow Iowa Alliance Conference first-team all-conference pick Marcele Whitner.

Bidwell, a third-team all-state pick by the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA), was one of only two 1A players on the roster. The other was Mick Hoffman, a first-teamer from Cascade.

Bidwell was, however, one of four North Iowa Cedar League (NICL) all-stars on this squad, joined by 2A all-staters Judd Jirovsky of Grundy Center, Benny Waller of Aplington-Parkersburg, and Briggs Boehme from Wapsie Valley. First-teamer Zander Murray of Cedar Rapids Xavier was the only 3A representative on the Northeast squad, which was coached by Mason City’s Nick Trask and Dunkerton’s Dan Knebel.

Instead of game planning how to limit Smith, Trask was happy to draw up a play for him or celebrate when he made a 3-pointer.

“I’ve been the Mason City head coach for 12 years, but I feel like I’ve coached against Kyle for 15,” said Trask. “When we started looking at the roster and the kids that we’re choosing, he obviously was a kid who was at the top of my list. I said ‘we’ve gotta get him,’ and it was just a lot of fun.”

Smith, who led 4A in 3-pointers made in two of the last three seasons for Marshalltown, said it wasn’t hard playing for or with former foes.

“It was awesome, honestly, being with (Whitner) and his coach,” Smith said. “They did a great job and I’m just grateful to be a part of this team and grateful that I had them as my teammates.

“Every single dude I’ve talked to, they’re just super-easy to connect with and they’re all in the same boat here. We just want to go out there and win and just play some basketball. So it was really fun and I’m really glad I was able to be a part of it.”

The Northeast squad started slow and trailed the Northwest for the entire first half and roughly half of the second. A three-point play by Hilton gave the Northeast its first lead at 62-61, and the Northeast eventually stretched its lead to 84-75.

Both Smith and Bidwell were on the court for the final two-minute stretch, which saw three lead changes — the last of which was a 3-pointer by Kimbrough with 2.2 seconds remaining to give the Northeast its 96-94 lead.

Northeast’s full-court inbounds pass intended for 2026 Iowa Mr. Basketball Jaidyn Coon of Storm Lake was off-target, delivering the victory for Trask’s team.

Smith shot 4-for-8 in the game with three 3-pointers and a breakaway layup after one of his two steals. He added four rebounds and played more defense than most in a high-scoring all-star exhibition game that eventually came down to the wire.

Smith sank a pair of 3-pointers in a second-half sequence that brought the Northeast back from down 57-50 to within 61-59, helping to set the stage for an exciting finish.

The Marshalltown High School senior and three-time first-team all-conference performer was one of only two players on the Northeast squad (Whitner) who wasn’t an IBCA All-State selection, but he certainly belonged on the team.

Bidwell finished with two first-half 3-pointers for six points, two rebounds and two steals, oftentimes guarded by 1A Player of the Year Hunter Horn of Fort Dodge St. Edmond.

By height, width and volume, the 6-foot-1 East Marshall senior was usually the smallest player on the court, but that didn’t deter him from proving his place in the all-star setting.

“It’s just a great experience with a great group of guys,” Bidwell said. “I’ve played against three of these guys — Judd, Benny and Briggs — and they’re all great. But it’s even better just to play with kids from all across the state.

“You’ve just got to face adversity sometimes. You might be the smallest guy on the court, but you can’t be the biggest guy in the head, you know? You’ve got to maintain your composure and just play well.”

In the championship game, Northeast was knocked off by the Southwest squad that featured Nebraska commit Colin Rice of Waukee Northwest, Texas A&M commit Evan Jacobson, and Navy recruit Charlie Crane of Dowling Catholic.

“It starts off and you want to just win the game,” Smith said. “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t want to win, so it was pretty fun. Once we got on the court it was like ‘we can compete with these guys, we can go out there and win it,’ and I think we did a decent job. We just couldn’t make shots at the end.”

The Southwest squad outscored the Northeast 19-7 over the final six minutes of the first half to take a 40-29 lead, and the margin never shrank below seven the rest of the way.

Trask drew up an inbounds play to get Smith a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 10 — 87-77 — before a 3-pointer by Waller got it down to seven. Smith stole the ball at the point of Northeast’s full-court pressure on the next possession, but the Southwest staved off the comeback attempt for the title.

Trask, against whom Smith has made 22 3-pointers, was quick to call Smith’s number and the first to celebrate when the ball went in the basket.

“It was way more natural than I thought it would be,” Trask said of cheering for Smith. “He’s a great kid, came right up to me at practice and we talked and made a connection. He’s a really awesome, fun kid, and I was glad I got a chance to coach him. I even got a chance to draw a play up for him, so it was a good time.”

Smith finished with five points, four steals and two rebounds in the title game, while Bidwell had six points, two assists and one blocked shot against Kuemper Catholic’s first-team all-state center Ryan Clair.

“I feel like I could have made some shots in the first game, and I didn’t get very many up in the second game, but I’m not going to complain,” Bidwell said. “I’m just glad to be here. It’s a blessing. I’m here playing with the best kids in the state.

“It was great to play with Kyle and have him on my team and compete against all these great guys. I mean, we just played the entire Des Moines metro — there’s like one guy on that team who wasn’t first-team all-state.”

At the end of the day and throughout, it was a celebration of the state’s top outgoing basketball players and a way for fans to watch them one last time together at the same venue.