Century vs. Pocatello was good, let’s do it again

Ah, the life of a journalist, forever writing on deadline. It does wonders for focus but sometimes the ticking clock prohibits a young, I’d like to think improving sports writer from fully capturing and celebrating a great game.

It all happened Tuesday night at Century High School when the Diamondbacks beat the Indians 49-45 in overtime.

Wait, wait, before I relive some moments from the game, I should first explain what was at stake.

The Pocatello Indians were 3-4 overall and 2-0 in the 4A Fifth/Sixth District. The Century Diamondbacks were also 2-0 in district play but 4-3 for the year and ranked No. 5 in the 4A poll.

In a 10-game district schedule, this matchup is only a blip on an entire season, but still, one team would walk away with its first conference loss of the year.

I’d like to think that in certain aspects, both teams can take away some positives from the night.

"In any game, there’s always some positives and always some negatives,” said Pocatello head coach Laraine Cook. “We can focus on taking away what we did well tonight and also what we didn’t do and fix those for the next game.”

It was an even matchup throughout with nine lead changes and seven ties. It was 7-7 after the first, 20-20 at half, 29-28 Pocatello to start the fourth and 40-all heading into overtime.

Along the way, heroes emerged from both sides.

For Pocatello, it was senior wing Abby Jones. Not necessarily a sharpshooter, Jones had two big threes late in the fourth quarter that jump-started an Indians’ comeback and tied the game at 38-38.

When she banked in a 3-pointer from the left wing to start the overtime period, I thought to myself, “OK, it’s her night. The Indians just have something tonight.”

But I was dead wrong because Henny Hearn’s height and her power at the rim was just too much for Pocatello. She had a quick 7-0 run in overtime that provided a crucial four-point lead with a 1:56 left.

Her last basket felt like the proverbial dagger.

Century point guard Sarah Holt stole the ball, raced down to the other end and eventually the rock worked its way to Hearn under the basket.

While in the air for the layup, Hearn drew contact as she finished. She knocked down the free throw for her 16th point of the night.

“I’ll tell you what, we came alive in overtime,” said Century head coach Chris Shuler. “Henny came alive. ... They couldn’t stop her and we finished it from there.”

Not to sound fulsome in my appreciation for Hearn’s play, but the D-backs won their fifth game of the season and third district game, because she came alive in overtime.

(All I’ve talked about is her play offensively. I could mention how she had a key block with 30 seconds left and Century up 47-45.)

Ultimately, this game is simply one of the 20 plus games both Pocatello and Century will play before the season ends. And this had to have been a tough one to swallow for the Indians, but these two will see each other again.

“We knew [the] city, cross-town rival was going to be a tough game,” Shuler said. “It always is with Poky. They’re a great team. We battle with them every single year, and we’ll battle with them all year. This is only the first one.”

At some point, the game will fade away in memory. We’ll look back on it in time as just an early season, tough December district game that Century pulled out in the end.

But let the record show that myself and perhaps a few others in the area were there, and we’ll remember it for Jones’ deep threes, her half-court shot that rimmed in and out at the buzzer, Henny Hearn’s big second half and a matchup where no one could gain a decisive advantage.

The D-backs and Indians, sadly, don’t clash again until the season finale Jan. 24, this time at Pocatello High School.

But the Indians are back in action tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Preston in the Palace. And Century, going for its fourth-straight win, welcomes Blackfoot at 7:30 p.m.