Late Night Drama in Idaho Falls Metro

<p><strong>Pocatello finally beats Century</strong></p> <p>On Tuesday, with the season on the line, the fueling rage of three losses to Century fueled Pocatello to a 58-56 win over Century. Pocatello will now need to beat Preston twice to earn a berth at state. Pocatello will play at Preston on Thursday and, with a win there, Pocatello will host the district title game on Saturday.</p> <p>The team made the little plays to get the last laugh after Century having Pocatello’s number all-season until it mattered with all the chips on the line. </p> <p>Pocatello started slow but was able to negotiate only a five-point deficit after the first. Poky’s first lead didn’t come until almost midway through the third. The lead didn’t last long and they didn’t make their final push until midway through the fourth behind several Matt Christensen threes. </p> <p>Matt Christensen made some clutch threes and finished with 10 points. </p> <p>Poky grabbed a five-point lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Star-studded freshman Julian Bowie led the way for Pocatello with 15 points but it was a balanced effort and the squad had four players in double-figures. </p> <p>In their fourth try, Poky finally got their win over Century. [player_tooltip player_id="919705" first="Emmett" last="Holt"] led the way for Century with 18 points. </p> <p><strong>Marsh Valley Shockingly Romps Snake River</strong></p> <p>In their fifth matchup of the season, it did not look like a fair fight as Marsh Valley blew out Snake River 58-34. The game was never in question from the tip with Marsh Valley playing on a different level all-night long. </p> <p>You would have never thought these two teams in the previous meetings were a differentiation of only 10 points with multiple overtime games. </p> <p> The Eagles emphatically snapped a run of games between the two, punching their ticket to the state tournament in shocking fashion.</p> <p>If the teams had gone to overtime again, it would have been less surprising than showing up and seeing an absolute romp.  Marsh Valley figured something out on Monday night on both ends of the court and exploited it with a vengeance. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="919677" first="Bracken" last="Howell"] led Marsh Valley with 14 points, but in a balanced effort, [player_tooltip player_id="969724" first="Karter" last="Howell"] and Michael Belnap both added 11, Stanton Howell had eight and [player_tooltip player_id="969659" first="Cody" last="Hansen"] had seven.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="969629" first="Noah" last="Watt"] had 12, Mitch Lindsay 9 and Cole Gilbert 7 for Snake River, but they were the only Panthers to score more than two points.</p> <p>Snake River will play Sugar-Salem on Thursday in a regional play-in game. If they win that, they will have a state play-in game Saturday in Pocatello.</p> <p><strong>Bear Lake Pulls Away Late</strong></p> <p> Bear Lake pulled away late in a loser-out matchup to send themselves into the state tournament and send Soda Springs home empty-handed.</p> <p>In a tight contest throughout, Bear Lake’s 15-4 fourth quarter represented almost all of the Bears’ final 12-point scoring margin.</p> <p>Brady Shaul and Owen Teuscher had 17 points apiece for Bear Lake, while Brittan Bergholm’s 20 points led Soda Springs.</p> <p>The Bears will play West Side at 5 p.m. Thursday at Preston, needing to win to force a rematch for the district title on Friday.</p>