Julian Bowie’s incredible fourth quarter leads Pocatello to first 4A championship since 2000

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - They never quit, and they are finally over the hump. The Pocatello Thunder won the 4A state championship Saturday night in their third try against the Hillcrest Knights for their first title since 2000.

The story of round three between the Thunder and the Knights was Pocatello's Julian Bowie fighting through an injury to step up in the biggest moment of the season, and perhaps his high school career.

Late in the first half, Bowie took a hard fall after jumping to attempt a block. He returned to start the second half, but showed pain while playing part of the third quarter.

But in the fourth quarter, playing through pain with only four points through three frames, Bowie took over.

"This is my last ever high school game with the boys," Bowie said. "I got to do something."

He did something for sure. The Boise State commit scored 16 of his 24 points in the quarter to help Poky grab the lead and take it home for the title.

Hillcrest had won this matchup in the state championship each of the last two seasons, but Pocatello didn't quit.

"They've been here three times, and it's gone bad for two years," Pocatello Head Joe Green said. "They pulled together. They never doubted it. They knew they were going to win a state championship this year."

Drey Contreras was the leading scorer for Pocatello, tallying 22 points in another big game. Hillcrest's Isaac Davis picked up the most points among all players with 23 in the contest.