Senior Abby Lusk and “gritty” Pocatello headed back to the state championship game

NAMPA – The Pocatello girls basketball team won its first state title last season.

The program celebrated.

The banner was hung.

For junior Abby Lusk, the moment was bittersweet.

Most of her teammates, girls she had played with on youth teams while growing up, graduated and moved on with their lives.

“They were all gone and I could feel that,” coach Sunny Evans said. “‘Who are my friends going to be, who am I going to hang out with?’ … All of those things, she was in her comfort zone for awhile, but she just decided she wasn’t going to check out early.”

Lusk secured her future, signing with Gonzaga, but it was the present that was unknown.

Early in the season, even Evans wasn’t sure how the year would play out with young and relatively untested players all trying to get on the same page as the star senior.

“But she decided to put this team on her back and bring some of these young kids along and she’s loved them and coached them and trusted them,” Evans said. “It’s been pretty great to see her do that.”

The end result?

It was Lusk near center court as the final buzzer sounded Friday, throwing the ball in the air and raising her hands in celebration as Pocatello advanced to the 5A state championship game for the second straight year with a 52-45 win over Lakeland.

Lusk finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks, doing most of her damage in the second half as Pocatello pulled away.

The Thunder will play for a second-straight title when they face Sandpoint at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Idaho Center.

Lusk said there may have been some nerves early in the game.

“But I put a little bit on my shoulders and I wanted to give the girls a chance,” she said. “They followed with me and it worked out.”

Pocatello (18-7) lost to Lakeland 63-47 earlier this season at the East Idaho Holiday Shootout tournament. The team was in foul trouble and couldn’t recover.

The Thunder have won 10 of 13 games since, with the only losses coming against 6A teams.

Evans said she’s seen the team evolve over the second half of the season and echoes of chasing another championship seemed possible. She said the team was gritty and willing to buy into the program.

“There are things you talk about, ‘We’re going back-to-back.’ Sometimes they’re just phrases or figures of speech that you throw around,” Evans said. “So to be with this group and they’re making their own mark … To be able to play in that game again tomorrow is pretty cool.”

Madysen Torngren finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Oakley Hirschi added nine points for Pocatello.

Lusk is the reigning 5A Player of the Year and is Pocatello’s all-time leading scorer and entered the state tournament with 1,494 career points, 819 rebounds, 260 assists, and 252 steals.