‘Legendary.’ Austin Bolt puts on one last show, carries Borah to another state title
Austin Bolt set 10 Borah High School football records.
He owns the career rebounds record in the Lions’ historic basketball program.
And Borah basketball coach Jeremy Dennis said he leads the school in a couple more categories — heart and desire.
The senior star put on one last dominant performance in his final basketball game Saturday, pouring in a career-high 35 points to carry the Lions to a 65-56 win over Post Falls in the 5A state championship game at the Ford Idaho Center.
“Legendary,” Dennis said. “He’s going to go down as one of the best athletes in the state of Idaho. He is probably the best athlete to come through Borah, that I know of.
“He’s an amazing, amazing talent. Hopefully he has a bright future and we see him down the road.”
Post Falls held the future Boise State tight end relatively in check in the first half, limiting him to nine points and two rebounds. But Bolt took over the second half, scoring 26 points to carry Borah to back-to-back state championships.
He dominated the paint, cleaning up Borah misses, muscling his way through defenders and showcasing a hook shot Post Falls had no answer for. He made 12-of-16 shots from the floor, few from outside of 5 feet.
“Austin Bolt dominated significantly more than an NBA lottery draft pick we’ve played or two future NBA draft picks we’ve played,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said in the postgame trophy ceremony. “Austin, it was a pleasure to watch you.”
True to his character, Bolt deflected any praise.
“It was pretty easy when all of our guards would get by someone and just dish it to me for an easy layup,” Bolt said. “I can’t take all the credit. It was just like little 2-footers, right? I was pretty open.
“I can’t ask for anything more than these guys. They gave it their all and came out with the win.”
The night nearly started as a disaster as Bolt picked up his second foul 2 minutes, 1 second into the second quarter. Dennis considered pulling the two-time All-Idaho basketball player off the floor as his never-ending motor doesn’t mix well with playing in foul trouble. But Bolt wasn’t going anywhere, giving two thumbs up to his coach before snapping back into focus.
Bolt played with controlled aggression, putting Post Falls’ top interior defender into foul trouble. Alex Horning picked up his fourth foul and took a seat on the bench with 4:02 left in the third quarter. Bolt then took over the game, scoring 10 points during a 12-0 run that proved insurmountable.
Never the tallest, strongest or quickest player on the floor, the 6-foot-4 Bolt put Borah on his back as only he can.
“He just wants it more than everybody else,” said Borah senior Isaac Dewberry, who added 19 points. “That’s what the difference is. He’s a competitor, and he decided I’m gonna use what I got and be better than whoever is in front of me.”
Post Falls cut the lead to five points with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter. But Dewberry put the exclamation point on the title with a one-handed dunk off an inbounds play 20 seconds later.
“Him making that big play kind of just sealed the game for us,” Bolt said. “He’s a special kind of kid and athlete and basketball player.”
Borah entered the state tournament with limited outside expectations. The defending state champs lost four starters, including 5A All-Idaho Player of the Year Ellis Magnuson, to graduation. Bolt and Dewberry were the only key returners from a year ago, and the Lions stumbled a couple times this season, dropping all the way to No. 4 in the final state media poll.
But Borah found its identity down the stretch, relying on the state’s top defense and the grit inspired by Bolt to win the 13th state championship in program history, the most by any boys basketball team in Idaho history.
“It just shows how much this team wanted to win,” Bolt said. “Because a lot of people weren’t even counting us in as one of the top two, top three teams in the state.”
PRESTON HANGS ANOTHER BANNER
The Preston juggernaut kept rolling, reaching its fifth straight 4A state championship game and routing Moscow 59-43 to win its fourth title in the past five years.
The Indians (26-1) jumped out to a 20-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to their 22nd straight win. Cooper Hobson scored a game-high 17 points off the bench, Luke Smellie racked up 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Ty Hyde added 12 points for Preston, which is 121-12 in the past five years.
The championship is the fourth for Preston coach Tyler Jones and the 13th in the Jones family. His father Terry Jones won six titles with Malad, and his older brother Justin Jones has won three with Rigby.
SUGAR-SALEM REPEATS AS 3A CHAMPS
The Diggers added to their recent championship haul, topping Kimberly 72-54 to repeat as 3A boys basketball state champions, win the school’s fifth state title this school year and its 12th in the past two years.
Crew Clark poured in 21 points, and Hadley Miller racked up 20 points and seven assists as Sugar-Salem (20-5) took the lead early and never relented. It shot 55% from the floor, including 58% (11-of-19) behind the 3-point line.
Dawson Cummins scored 19 points to lead Kimberly, which beat the Diggers twice earlier this season by three and 16 points.
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 9:30 PM.
