Yale’s band missed the NCAA Tournament. Another school stepped up.

“You know, bands stick together,” Schultz, 19, said.

On Sunday, the Idaho band showed up again to support the No. 13 Yale Bulldogs in their second-round matchup. If Yale could clinch a Sweet 16 spot, the school’s marching band would be able to accompany the basketball team to its next game as spring break would be over, said Spencer Martin, Idaho’s director of athletic bands.

“We were playing for the Yale band students as much as the team,” Martin said. “They didn’t win, but we tried our best.”

On March 17, less than a week before Yale’s first tournament game, Martin got a call from the University of Idaho’s athletic director, who explained the spring break issue and asked if the Vandal marching band could fill in.

Their equipment was ready.

They had just performed for Idaho’s basketball teams during the Big Sky Conference Tournament held in Boise and were preparing for an upcoming event for prospective students.

Though the games were not played in the state, the University of Idaho won a bid to be a host school, lending volunteers and other operational support during the first and second-round games this year. And Yale, Martin said, would cover costs for Idaho to get its band to Spokane, Wash.

“I thought, you know I think we can pull this off,” Martin said.

He quickly sent out a request to his students and by the next morning had heard back from enough to fill 29 spots, the maximum number school bands can bring under NCAA Tournament guidelines.

By Wednesday, Martin sent those students a recording of Yale’s fight song so they could familiarize themselves with “Bulldog.” They weren’t able to practice it as a group until Friday morning, about half an hour before they boarded a bus to the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Schultz said.

Though the rehearsal went smoothly, Schultz felt nervous. She’d never…