That’s one hurdle down.
Pocatello finally got past the team that had its number during the regular season when it mattered the most. The Thunder downed rival Preston 58-46 for its third straight Class 4A District V championship to clinch a coveted spot at next week’s state tournament Thursday night in the Pit at Pocatello High School.
“It feels really good,” Pocatello head coach Joe Green said. “Preston is so tough and getting out of our district is such a challenge. So it means a lot to be able to get three in a row and to beat a team like that.
“They’re really well-coached and such a great team. So it feels good to beat those guys and earn the trip to Boise.”
Thursday’s game was the fourth encounter between two of the top-4 teams in the state. Pocatello (19-5) came in No. 2, while Preston (18-6) was fourth. The Indians spent most of the year ranked second and was at one point, the No. 1 team in the state. But the 4A South East Idaho Conference only gets one qualifier to state being just a three-team league.
It was up in the air on who was going to get it too.
Preston swept Pocatello during the regular season and had the homecourt advantage. But the Thunder were undeterred.
They became the first team in nearly three months to beat them at home with a 66-61 win Tuesday. It gave Pocatello the one-game advantage heading into round two Thursday.
“I think we all just felt like we’re the best team,” senior guard Julian Bowie said. “We’ve been there before. We have experience. They’re a great team still. But I feel like we knew we had it in the bag all along.”
The Thunder showed just that with an explosive second quarter.
After a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the game tied at 13 apiece, Pocatello took control and never gave it back. The Thunder exploded for 20 points on a barrage of 3-pointers from a variety of different players.
Better yet, they held Preston to six points to head into the locker room with a commanding 33-19 lead.
The Indians didn’t get any closer than six points, which didn’t come until the final minute of the game at 52-46.
“In those two losses, they killed us on the boards,” Green said. “So I thought we played a lot better defense in both of our wins. We handled the boards pretty well and then we defended the best we probably defended all year.”
The Thunder also had Bowie, who even at less than 100%, was still by far and away the best player on the floor.
The Boise State signee put up a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. He also had three assists and three steals all on nearly one leg.
Bowie is still recovering from a partially torn plantaris tendon in his right foot. He suffered it in the regular season finale at Century on Feb. 9. This was just after being fully cleared from a nagging hamstring on that same leg. Bowie also came into the season with an injured Achilles from football.
The torn plantaris tendon caused him to miss the first-round game against Century four days later. It was the first time he hadn’t played in a game in more than three years.
“He’s just so resilient,” Green said. “He’s played hurt for a while. But he just rebounded well. He contested shots and some of the things that don’t show up on the stat book too, I thought he did tonight, which helped us win against a good Preston team.”
Senior guard Keslar Vaughan added 17 points for Pocatello, which will now get ready for the start of the state tournament. It gets underway on Feb. 29 at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian.
The Thunder have lost to Hillcrest in the state finals in each of the last two years.
“We’re the team to beat this year,” Bowie said. “We’ve had a great year. We’ve had a couple unfortunate losses. But I think we all have the mentality that we’re gonna go in there and win it.”
Cruz Harris and Reggie Larsen scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, for Preston in the loss.
ROCKLAND 60, WATER SPRINGS 55
Teague Matthews recorded a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Bulldogs (19-4) won their third Class 1A Division II District V-VI championship in a row Thursday night.
“I take in every moment and enjoy every championship win to the fullest,” Rockland head coach Shae Neal said. “This team has been so determined since falling a little short last year at state.
“When you see the boys get a win like this, you just enjoy it for them. They deserve it and it’s satisfying to see them be the heroes in the community.”
Abraham Held chipped in with a game-high 20 points to go along with his five assists. Xavier Parrish rounded out Rockland players in double figures with 12 points and six assists.
The Bulldogs will now prepare for the state tournament that gets underway at Caldwell High School next Thursday.
BLACKFOOT 74, SKYLINE 54
Carter Andersen racked up a game-high 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 3 3-pointers as the Broncos (10-13) kept their season alive with a Class 4A District VI Tournament elimination game win Thursday.
Austin Arave and Colby Bodkin also reached double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively, for Blackfoot, which plays Shelley at 7 p.m. Saturday in a winner-to-state game.
GRACE 50, BUTTE COUNTY 47
Kai Clegg logged 18 points as the Grizzlies (14-12) forced a winner-take-all Class 1A Division I District V-VI championship game with a win Wednesday night.
They’ll play the Pirates (18-6) at 7 p.m. Friday inside Thunder Ridge High School.
NORTH GEM 65, LEADORE 46
Ryver Hayden netted 26 points as the Cowboys (17-8) won the Class 1A Division II District V-VI Tournament third-place game Wednesday.
Evan O’Brien added 15 points for North Gem, which will now play a state play-in game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Council High School.
Local News
Comments / 0