Pocatello bounces back against previously unbeaten Teton in Holiday Shootout
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REXBURG – The East Idaho Holiday Tournament has taken over the area as 118 boys and girls basketball teams converge for some spirited competition to start the new year.
Perhaps no game was as intriguing – at least on the girls side – as Friday’s matchup between Pocatello and Teton.
Both teams have state tournament aspirations and have sprinted out to solid starts this season with the Thunder ranked No. 1 in 5A and the Timberwolves No. 3 in 4A.
That was enough to earn EastIdahoNews.com Game of the Week.
As for the game itself, the significance of the final result depends on who you ask.
“Today I really liked us,” Pocatello coach Sunny Evans said after the Thunder rolled to a 61-24 victory. “Yesterday we weren’t as successful doing the things we wanted to do … I was really proud of their response today. They made a decision to bounce back and they really did get all aspects of the game going.”
Pocatello suffered its first loss of the season on Thursday, falling 65-52 to Westlake (UT) in the tournament opener.
The Thunder (11-1) didn’t waste much time on Friday as their full-court pressure set the tone early and Teton (10-1) couldn’t hit its shots. The Timberwolves trailed 17-6 after one quarter and had no answers for Poky’s Kennasyn Garza inside or Abby Lusk from anywhere. Lusk finished with a game-high 18 points.
Lusk connected on a pair of 3-pointers late in the quarter to force a Teton timeout, but the Timberwolves never recovered. They trailed 35-14 at the half.
“We didn’t show out like we wanted to,” Teton coach Pat Hogan said. “We could have made it a game and controlled the ball a little better.”
Hogan noted that Teton hadn’t seen the level of play they faced Friday, so despite the score, the net result might be a positive.
“We’ve been able to get by with athleticism, but not doing the little things, against a good team like Pocatello you got to do the little things,” he said.
The loss was the first for Teton, but the Timberwolves’ season will ultimately come down to conference play, where South Fremont (11-0) and Sugar-Salem (11-0) each entered the day unbeaten, meaning the Mountain Rivers Conference was a combined 32-1 after Teton’s loss and all three teams are ranked in the latest 4A state medial poll.
As for Pocatello, Evans said she was happy to see how the team responded after a loss.
“We got some good inside-out, knocked down some 3’s, and got some inside stuff from Kenna and Abby. Guard play was good and good defense … I like my team.”