Pocatello stomps Century to earn fourth showdown with top-seed Preston

POCATELLO — The Century Diamondbacks and Pocatello Thunder met inside The Pit at Pocatello High School on Tuesday for the right to travel to Preston and face the top 5A team in the state.

The cross-town rivals met three times previously this season, with the Thunder winning all three matchups — twice in nail-biter fashion. But there were no nails being bitten this time around, as the Thunder never trailed en route to a 61-44 victory.

With 4:15 left to play in the game, junior Hunter Cordell threw down a contested alley-oop dunk serving as the defacto dagger through the heart of Century’s season.

Senior Hunter May celebrated, but not as intensely as the rest of his team, because he knew that his coach has a rule against lob plays when the team is leading by fewer that 20. Cordell’s dunk put Pocatello up by 16. Still, May was not shy when asked about the play after the game.

“It was sick, bro,” he said.

Cordell, who just barely got the ball over the top of the rim, said the exclamation point play almost didn’t happen.

“Honestly, I thought I jumped too early on that one, so I thought I was going to get rim-checked,” he said.

Pocatello’s Tavin Williams (5) celebrates with Hunter Cordell (11) following an and-one finish at the hoop in the fourth quarter of Pocatello’s victory over Century Tuesday. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com

The dunk was not Cordell’s only highlight reel-worthy play. Earlier in the fourth, the 6-foot-5 forward challenged multiple Century defenders at the hoop, finishing through contact. He converted the and-one to put the Thunder ahead by 14. Then, a few minutes later — less than a minute before the dunk that sent The Pit into hysterics — he completed another and-one three-point play.

Cordell finished the game with 14 points, 11 rebounds and a block.

He may have been the finisher, dominating the paint on both sides of the court in the fourth, but his running mate, May, got Pocatello started early.

The senior guard was 3-for-3 from deep in the first half, scoring 11 points before the break. He finished with 18 points and four rebounds, and upped the intensity on the defensive side in the second half to finish with four steals.

“When those two are clicking, we’re tough to beat,” Gardea said about the inside-outside tandem of May and Cordell.

Led by Justus Mangum, Century tried to battle back. But every time the Diamondbacks even threatened a rally, Pocatello had an answer.

Mangum finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals. He was Cordell’s victim on two of three highlight plays. After each though, the two shared pleasantries — and after the first and-one, Mangum, who was called for the foul, gave Cordell a pat on the backside.

“There’s a friendship, for sure. We love each other — at the end of the day, we’re all friends,” Cordell said about the frenemy rivalry between Pocatello and Century basketball.

Even with the love between the two sides, May said, there is an added juice when the two teams meet — especially when a potential State qualification lays in the balance.

“We’re always talking smack, crowds into it,” May said. “There’s definitely added intensity. It’s good to come out and perform.”

Pocatello’s Hunter May attacks Century’s Ron Fluker off the dribble during the fourth quarter of Pocatello’s victory. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com

With the win, Pocatello set itself up for a showdown with the state’s top-ranked 5A team, Preston, at Preston High School on Thursday.

The Thunder will need to beat Preston twice if it is to win the district and earn the district’s lone State bid.

Gardea said he was happy with his team’s performance, but said that he believes Century — along with his Pocatello squad and Preston all belong at least in a play-in to qualify for one of the State tournament’s eight spots.

“I was proud of them. We’re gritty,” the coach said. “Century’s a good team — it sucks that there’s only one team going to State out of this conference, because all three teams should be there. … I want the best teams at State. It just sucks it’s this way.”

Preston, who beat Pocatello, 63-31, to start the district tournament, needs just one more win to earn that one District 5 spot. Pocatello has dropped all three matchups with Preston this season, by a combined 55 points.

If they are to win Thursday and force a winner-take-all game on Saturday, Cordell said, Pocatello will have to “do our thing.”

“We’ve got to come out and compete,” May added, “we’ve got to come out and take care of the ball. We know we can beat them — our coaches always talk about belief, we’ve really got to believe and go out and perform.”

Gardea said:

“Preston’s very good — they’re No. 1 in state for a reason, they’ve lost one game for a reason. Now, I think that we’re very good when we’re clicking and playing on all cylinders.”

In other district playoff action

Marsh Valley celebrates a victory over Snake River and berth into next week’s State Tournament. | Courtesy photo

Marsh Valley, who upset Snake River at Snake River High School last week, beat the Panthers again Tuesday night at home, by a final score of 67-62. The Eagles, by winning the 4A District 5 Tournament, earned a spot in the State Tournament.

Snake River will play a play-in game on Saturday to earn a potential at-large bid into the tournament.