Behind another standout performance from Abby Lusk, Pocatello downs Sandpoint to earn back-to-back championships

NAMPA – Coaches typically don’t like to compare teams year-to-year.

The cast of characters changes as players come and go, while the good coaches work to build and nourish programs and focus on building a winning culture, one that sustains time and graduations.

Every team has its own story to write every year, no matter what happened in the past.

After Pocatello won its second straight 5A state championship Saturday, coach Sunny Evans had time to reflect on the Thunder’s back-to-back championships.

“Last year there was no other possible outcome,” she said the 2025 team that was loaded with experience and lofty expectations.

“This group was different.”

Indeed.

But the end result was the same, as Pocatello celebrated at center court of the Idaho Center, raising another blue championship trophy after Saturday’s 62-49 win over Sandpoint.

“It’s hard to put into words,” senior Abby Lusk said of the team’s journey to being back-to-back champions. “It’s such a fulfilling experience. We’ve been wanting this for so long and I think nobody believed in it (so) that makes it feel so much better that way. I’m so excited … it’s so amazing.”

Evans noted that on paper, last year’s team seemed destined to make a run at a title.

On paper, this year’s team may have been blank.

Lusk, the team’s lone returning starter said she wasn’t sure what to expect once the season started.

“There’s so much progress in the room that I couldn’t see in the very beginning, but these girls have proven me wrong every single day,” she said. “They are such an amazing group of hard working girls who are willing to grow.”

Lusk said she felt some pressure to be the leader of the team, and once everyone started to gel, she knew that was her role, especially as the postseason approached.

“I’d been here before and it was important for them to see that role model,” she said.

Lusk said that last year’s team, with so many teammates that she played with for years, was like a family.

This year’s team was like an unfinished project that started to take shape midway through the season.

Evans said that after Friday’s semifinal win, she knew the players were locked in.

Pocatello (19-7), which had own seven of eight games heading into the state tournament, jumped out to a 30-23 lead at the half of Saturday’s championship game and eventually built its lead to 21 points in the second half.

Lusk finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Madysen Torngren scored 14 points and had seven rebounds.

“It means the world to me,” Lusk said of her experience at Pocatello. “Everyone dreams of having that impact on a program … adding the end of the journey and starting something new, it’s hard to let it go … right now it feels good and I’m super happy to celebrate with this team.”