In some alternate reality where James Naismith has a chance to check out the film of Pocatello’s 43-39 overtime win over Century on Thursday night, a game that endured so many swings that this town may soon see a spike in Prilosec sales, perhaps he would frown. Maybe he would switch it off entirely.
“We'll watch it,” Poky coach Sunny Evans said, referring to Century coach Chris Shuler, “and probably both of us will be pulling our hair out the whole time we watch the film.”
The seesaw nature of the Thunder’s win felt exciting. The numbers looked brutal. Pocatello’s first points of the fourth quarter came with 92 seconds to play, when Miah Lusk knocked down two free throws. The Diamondbacks scored just one point in the extra session, a free throw from Libby Evans, while the Thunder managed five, which was enough to seal this victory. Pocatello forward Kennasyn Garza tallied 15 points and 15 rebounds, a valiant effort in a game that the Thunder trailed by three with 1:15 to play in regulation.
To scale that mountain, Poky got a mid-range jumper from guard Elle Hokanson, which trimmed Century’s lead to one with 65 seconds left. On the other end, the Diamondbacks lost a turnover, and the Thunder called timeout. That led to a trip to the free throw line for Garza, who sank one of two shots, tying the game with 25 seconds to go.
In overtime of this regular-season finale for both teams, Poky raced to a two-point lead, courtesy of a Taylee Rogers jumper on the right wing. Turns out, that was the game-winner. For good measure, the Thunder added free throws from Rogers and Garza, who made this a two-possession game with two free throws at the four-second mark — the nail in the coffin of this insane game.
“That's just two teams who are competitive. They know what they want,” Evans said. “They know what's at stake in these games. You know that everybody knows each other really well. So that's just two teams coming to battle. And that’s what it was. It was super physical.”
Check out some of the numbers and, if you weren’t on hand to watch this one, you’ll see what she means. Poky shot 23% from the floor. Century hit 25% of its shots. The Thunder made just 12 of 24 free throws. The Diamondbacks connected on 11 of 20. The hosts lost 16 turnovers. The visitors coughed up 20. To say scoring came at a premium would be to set a Guinness World Record for biggest understatement of the year. It was nearly nonexistent.
The interesting part is that three weeks ago, when these teams met for the first time this season, Pocatello cruised to a 54-39 win. On Thursday night, the Thunder might have needed another two quarters to hit that point total. Chalk part of that up to the physicality of this clash. Chalk the other part up to the offensive aggressiveness of Century star Taylor Smith, a Weber State signee who looked determined to make a difference in the scoring column this time around.
It showed in the box score. Smith totaled 19 points, keeping her team afloat — even ahead for some stretches of the game — during this one. Thing is, it didn’t always last. From the third quarter on, Smith registered just one field goal, totaling six points across the final three periods.
“That was an adjustment we knew we had to make at halftime, was do a better job on her,” Evans said. “She's just such a good player. She's great offensively in every aspect, as far as a passer, she can shoot it from three. Of course, she can get into the paint and make plays. She's just a really, really good player. Any opponent’s gonna know that they've gotta try to limit her.”
Because they did, the Thunder can celebrate a win, which was critical for its postseason outlook. With this victory, Poky moves to 4-0 in 4A District 5 play, a full two games ahead of Century. That means the Thunder will take the top seed into the district tournament. It means they will play at least one more home game. Evans — and Shuler, for that matter — will hope a potential third meeting goes a little easier on the blood pressure of everyone involved.