Poky begins quest for repeat championship with victory over cross-town rival Highland

POCATELLO — The Pocatello Thunder won their first-ever girls state basketball championship last season, before seeing four of five starters graduate. For a team in need of a single returning starter to build around, however, reigning 5A All-State Player of the Year Abby Lusk is a great option.

The Thunder (1-0, 0-0) opened their season at Highland High School Tuesday night, taking down the Rams (1-1, 0-0), 39-31, in a hard-fought battle of cross-town foes, and Lusk figured heavily into the outcome, scoring a game-high 16 points.

Head coach Sunny Evans said that her team, which included two juniors and one sophomore in the starting lineup, played a bit discombobulated at times, but added that she was OK with that because it was a product of the effort the girls put forth.

“They played like they really, really wanted to do well,” Evans told EastIdahoSports.com after the game. “They played like it was really important to them to establish themselves together, establish themselves for their teammates, establish themselves for me. Sometimes, our effort was off the charts, it was just a little bit unorganized.”

After making a pair of free throws to open the night’s scoring, Lusk looked to be more of an offensive initiator early, feeding her teammates, primarily sophomore Madysen Torngren, who scored four points in the opening quarter. The 6-foot-1 senior and recent Gonzaga commit began to force her offense a bit in the second quarter. Then she took over in the third, helping turn a 13-10 first-half lead into, what was at one point, a double-digit advantage.

Matched up with Highland freshman Mylee Stucki, who had matched Lusk’s point total with four in the first half, Lusk came out of the halftime break with a much more aggressive attacking approach. She got to the rim for a quick deuce to start the third. Then made one of two free throws the next time down the court, following that with her first made 3-pointer of the night.

Unfazed by the competition, Stucki hung tough on the defensive end while also producing on the offensive end. The freshman finished the night with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Trying to erase a late 36-29 deficit, Highland called timeouts on back-to-back possessions. Both times, they triggered ball screens to give Stucki the ball in the corner with a step on Lusk. Both times, Lusk went straight to the screener and snatched possession from her.

She finished with five steals and seven rebounds to go with those 16 points.

Lusk’s running mates were senior Oakley Hirschi, who finished with eight points, two rebounds and one steal, and junior Brynlee Pool, who scored eight points to go with four rebounds.

Junior Peyton Pieper’s 13 points paced the Rams. She added four rebounds and a steal.

The Thunder trailed just once all game, when a Pieper 3-pointer gave Highland a 9-8 lead late in the first.

Poky led by as many as 10, several times late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, when the two teams traded baskets and stops.

The Rams, who do not have a senior on their roster and relied on production from three freshmen, made a run late. But they and that run were undone by Lusk’s aggressive defense.

Pocatello is also a young team, with just three seniors on the roster. Evans said that she has been “presently surprised” by the work ethic her overall inexperienced squad has shown at practice.

“I feel like our chances to improve are good — we have a nice upside,” she said. “We’ve got to remember who we are … that means that nothing is handed to us. We’re willing to go out and earn everything.”

The team last year earned the banner and blue trophy it brought home from Nampa last year. And this young team saw first-hand what it took that group to accomplish that, she said.

“They’re not completely unfamiliar with me and how we do things; they kind of grew up watching those seniors last year, and Abby, and how they carry themselves through those expectations,” Evan added. “And sometimes, when you’re young and inexperienced, you don’t know any better, so you just go out and play.”

The Thunder continue their season on the road Thursday, when they face a Hillcrest squad with its own title aspirations. The Knights (0-1, 0-0) opened their season Saturday with a 48-43 home loss to Preston.

Highland will also play Thursday, at the Idaho Falls Tigers (2-1, 0-0).