Hillcrest wins first Idaho boys basketball state title in style in 76-46 rout of Pocatello in 4A final

NAMPA - Hillcrest head coach Dave Austin knew it when he saw them in the sixth grade

Senior guard Cooper Kesler personally told members of the 2018 team - previously, the last to reach a final - that his class would come back and win it.

That the first state championship in program history wasn’t too far in the future. They were both proven right on Saturday.

The Hillcrest High School boys basketball team made quick work of Pocatello 76-46 Saturday in the Idaho Class 4A Final at the Ford Idaho Center to finally get that elusive banner.

“It’s been a long three years,” said Kesler while grasping the state championship trophy in his hands. “We’ve been working hard for this. Not a better group to do it with.”

A group and a program that had experienced setback after setback in recent years.

After getting to their first-ever final in 2018 and losing in double-overtime to Rocky Mountain at 5A, the Knights failed to make the postseason at a lower classification. They didn’t even post a winning record in each of those two seasons.

Hillcrest made it back last season, but suffered a narrow 6-point loss to eventual state Middleton in the semifinals before leaving without a trophy in a 2-point loss to Bishop Kelly in the third-place game.

“Last year being their first year over here, some of them were a little shell-shocked and not sure how to react to things,” Austin said. “Having that experience is huge.”

It showed as the Knights (25-2) tore through the entire classification this season.

Their only two losses were to teams from Utah in the first three games. After that, they led the 4A in scoring (66.5 points per game) and ended the regular season with 21 straight wins - 15 of which were by double figures. Hillcrest also beat both Rigby and Madison during the streak. Rigby took third place at state, while Madison was the consolation champion.

“We took what we wanted,” said Kesler, who chalked up 18 points. “So we put in work in the offseason and we went out there and we took it.”

Saturday was no different.

Hillcrest never trailed and the outcome was seen earlier on. The Knights jumped out to a 23-8 first-quarter lead and forced the Thunder (23-4) to their worst shooting half of the season at 21.4%. Pocatello faced a 19-point deficit at halftime alone.

“We said the first three minutes are going to be key,” Austin said. “If you come out with the energy, you come out with the effort, we can put this game away early. They rolled with it and kept going for the next three and a half quarters.”

Shooting - something the Knights didn’t have in their semifinal win against Middleton 24 hours earlier - certainly helped that. They shot 51.7% for the game and 53.3% in the second half alone. It’s why the lead ballooned to as many as 30 before Austin pulled the starters in the closing minutes. But they walked over to the Hillcrest crowd and started pumping them up before going to the bench for good.

“It’s absolutely crazy,” said sophomore Isaac Davis, who bagged another double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s amazing.”

Junior Kobe Kesler - Cooper’s younger brother - tallied up a game-high 20 points to go with six rebounds for the Knights, who finished the year having won their last 24 games. It’s the second-longest active winning streak in the state only behind Lapwai (36).

“We knew it was coming,” Austin said.

He sure did.

Sophomore Julian Bowie, who has several Division I offers from the likes of Boise State, led Pocatello with 19 points. It was the Thunder’s first finals appearance in 13 years.

PHOTO GALLERY

(All photos by Loren Orr)