Pocatello sweeps Century to force decisive third match

POCATELLO — After losing both matchups with the Pocatello Thunder during the regular season, the Century Diamondbacks earned a 3-2 victory Tuesday night to open the two-team conference tournament.

With the win, Century (13-14, 1-3) set itself up for a chance to win the conference at home on Wednesday. The Thunder (21-16, 3-1) had other plans, however, grabbing a straight-set victory to set up a winner-take-all match back at Poky on Thursday.

Pocatello asserted itself early, grabbing a 25-16 first-set win.

Century jumped out ahead in the second set, taking a 6-3 advantage. But a well-timed timeout from head coach Paige Leatham set the Thunder right, preceding 4-0 run. Poky never let up that from there, taking the second set, again, by a score of 25-16.

The Thunder dominated the third set, taking an early lead before cruising to a 25-14 win.

Pocatello High School will host another rematch Thursday, with the winner earning a district championship and spot in this weekend’s state play-in.