NAMPA - It’s not often a championship game lives up to the hype, but Saturday’s 4A state title game did just that.
Hillcrest, playing for its third straight state title faced, who else, nemesis Pocatello.
It was the Thunder that had to watch the past two seasons as the Knights celebrated at center court of the Idaho Center and collected the elusive blue trophies and banners.
That wasn’t the case Saturday as Pocatello star guard Julian Bowie took over in the fourth quarter to propel the Thunder to a 73-67 win and end Hillcrest’s run for a 3-peat.
Bowie finished with 20 points, 16 coming in the fourth quarter.
In a battle between two of the state’s top players, Bowie finally got a title as good friend Isaac Davis and the Knights settled for runners-up.
“You always want that last game to be a W,” Hillcrest coach Dave Austin said. “But our kids fought hard, they played hard, and as I (told them) you can’t judge everything on this last game. They’ve had great careers and they’ve accomplished a lot of things and I’m so proud of them for everything that they’ve done.”
Hillcrest dominated the championship game two years ago, beating Pocatello 76-44. Last year the Knights won a hard-fought game 62-58.
As expected, Round 3 proved entertaining as both teams came out hitting 3-pointers and attacking. Hillcrest, which likes to set the pace, couldn’t get away from Pocatello.
Davis worked inside and had little trouble getting to the rim. With Bowie off to a slow start, the Thunder had other players step up and led 37-32 at the half.
Bowie took a hard fall in the closing seconds of the half when he jumped to block a shot by Davis and landed awkwardly.
Davis stayed by his side as Bowie was eventually helped to the bench.
Hillcrest opened the third with a 6-0 run to force a Pocatello timeout less than two minutes into the third quarter. Both teams traded baskets the rest of the third and entered the fourth tied 49-49.
That’s when the Bowie Show started. Bowie had returned to play in the third, but looked to be struggling after the earlier fall.
That started to change in the fourth as Bowie, who only had four points through the first three quarters, nailed a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a 55-53 lead.
Davis continued to work inside as Hillcrest kept within reach, but every time the Knights looked to make a run, it was Bowie stepping up. He found his way to the free-throw line and finished 9 for 9 from the line in the fourth quarter. That was enough to keep Hillcrest from overcoming the slim deficit.
Davis, a BYU signee, finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Ike Sutton scored 18 points and Talan Taylor added 13 points and a team-high three assists for the Knights (19-7).
Drey Contreras led Pocatello (22-5) with 22 points and Kesler Vaughn added 18 points and connected on 4 of 7 3-pointers. Bowie also finished with 12 rebounds.
“They just played better than us today,” Austin said.
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