Celebrate good times: Pocatello girls earn the program’s first state championship

NAMPA – So apparently there’s already a spot in the Pocatello High gym for a first girls basketball state championship banner.

Of course, the second order of business is to win that banner and celebrate like a team that just made program history.

“We wanted to win this game and we fought so hard for this,” said senior Kennasyn Garza, adding that even before the season began that the senior-laden team looked like it could be special.

As the clock ticked down in Saturday’s 5A state championship game, Garza said she tried to contain her emotions.

“You don’t really show it out there,” she said. “It’s all very exciting and its going to hit at some point later tonight.”

As the buzzer sounded, the Thunder celebrated a 62-46 win over Middleton as players received their first championship banner and blue trophy.

It’s been awhile in the making, but not necessarily something unexpected this season.

“I think we walked into the gym our first day after tryouts and we had this big group of seniors who’ve been playing together for who knows how long, and we had these girls who just came in and have been such an asset to our team and we looked at each and we’re like ‘We can do it this year’ … honestly, from Day 1 we just said we want this so bad,” said Abby Lusk, just one of two juniors on the team.

Like a good championship game, Saturday’s atmosphere was tense and physical at times and the score was close throughout.

That was until the fourth quarter when Pocatello started to pull away.

The Thunder (24-2) led 38-34 after three quarters, but opened the fourth with an 11-2 run highlighted by a pair of baskets by Taylee Rogers and an inside score by Garza. Garza followed that up with a 3-pointer that put Pocatello up 47-34.

The lead eventually ballooned to 19 points as Pocatello scored 24 points in the quarter to put the game out of reach.

“My mind was going crazy,” Lusk said of the closing minutes. “It’s a surreal feeling. It hasn’t really hit me yet.”

Lusk credited the defense of Alivia Marshall down the stretch for slowing Middleton, which shot just 27% in the second half.

Lusk had a big third quarter before leaving with her third foul. She finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Garza finished with 20 points

“We took it as a moment where we don’t get this back,” Lusk said of playing for a championship.

Coach Sunny Evans said she saw the resilience in the team back in early January when the Thunder lost two games in the East Idaho Holiday Tournament but found a way to get refocused.

Players talked about taking those losses and turning them into a positive learning experience.

“Then they came out and proved it,” she said. “The way they approached practice and games and preparation and everything from that point on was with complete dedication and maturity, so when I started seeing that happen, they meant that.”

Pocatello finished the season with 13 straight wins.

“I think we had some seniors that refused any other outcome than to get that state championship and they played that way. They were absolutely as good as they could be in that fourth quarter,” Evans said.

Like her players, Evans said she was still trying to process the team’s historic season.

“We talk about things like this all the time, but often times it never comes to fruition, so what a credit to these kids for staying the course and believing in themselves so that we could make this happen,” she said. “It feels pretty good right now.”

EastIdahoNews.com comment boards are a place for open, honest, and civil communication between readers regarding the news of the day and issues facing our communities. We encourage commenters to stay on topic, use positive and constructive language, and be empathetic to the feelings of other commenters. THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Click here for more details on our commenting rules.