Bishop Kelly let a 19-point lead slip away. Then a 28-year drought came to an end
The Bishop Kelly High School football team has enough state championship trophies to fill an entire case.
Now the boys basketball team has something to brag about, too — after a long title drought.
The Knights withstood a furious fourth-quarter comeback by No. 1 seed Lewiston, prevailing 59-58 in the 5A state tournament championship game Saturday night at the Ford Idaho Center.
It was just the third state title in program history for BK, and the first since 1998. The other championship came in 1991.
“Being able to bring (a championship) home to my school was just a really, really amazing feeling,” Bishop Kelly senior Conor Goss said. “… We all just had that vision of us holding the trophy at the end of the game. We just were really, really set on making it happen.
“I just really think all the preparation — from the summer to the preseason all the way up to every Saturday practice, every practice after school — was calculated just for this last game. I’m just really fortunate I can end my Bishop Kelly career on a win.”
The Knights dominated the first three quarters of Saturday’s championship match, leading by as many as 19 points late in the second quarter.
Bishop Kelly (21-6) shot 63% from the floor in the first half and held a 43-29 advantage at the break, and the Knights led 55-42 at the start of the fourth quarter.
But the Bengals (22-4) clawed their way back in the final eight minutes, outscoring BK 16-4.
Lewiston took its first — and only — lead of the game with 1:17 remaining when junior guard Brady Rudolph went 1-of-2 at the free throw line.
A back-and-forth stalemate ensued, ultimately leading to Bishop Kelly sophomore Nick Hebert heading to the free-throw line with the Knights in the bonus with 39.5 seconds left. Hebert made both freebies, resulting in a 59-58 lead.
But Lewiston still had a chance to steal away the victory.
With 6.2 seconds left, the Bengals got the ball across half-court and called a timeout. Leading scorer Royce Fisher had fouled out seconds before, leaving Lewiston to look for another hero.
Sophomore guard Andrew Haines fielded the inbound pass and got off the potential game-winning jumper, but he missed the rim entirely, and Bishop Kelly sophomore Eli Richins grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
Although Richins missed both free throws with the Knights in the bonus and 2.7 seconds remaining, Hebert eventually corralled the rebound and set off the championship celebration.
“We expected a tough game. That’s a really good team. Credit to them, they didn’t give up,” Bishop Kelly coach Andrew Ammann said. “But credit to our guys for just not getting rattled.
“We’ve played in so many close games. I told them in the locker room, ‘Yeah, of course we had to make it close and pull it out at the end. That’s just what we’ve done all year.’”
Senior center Andrew Johnson was the top scorer for the Knights with 16 points, and he added seven rebounds. Goss totaled 15 points and four rebounds, and junior guard Cash Davis had 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Fisher, a Lewis-Clark State college commit, racked up 34 points for Lewiston, and senior guard Jordan Walker added 10 points and two assists.
COLUMBIA 58, PRESTON 47: The Wildcats knocked down seven 3-pointers and led by as many as 17 points to defeat the Indians for the third-place trophy Saturday at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian.
It was the best finish in program history for Columbia (19-8), which was making just its third state tournament appearance.
Junior wing Easton Lott finished 7-for-10 from the floor for a team-leading 15 points with five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Marcus DeLeon was 6-for-8 with two 3-pointers, totaling 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
TWIN FALLS 59, VALLIVUE 54: The Bruins brought home the consolation trophy with a win over the Falcons on Saturday at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian.
Four players reached double figures for Vallivue (20-9), as seniors Zakary Hogg and Noah Mitchell had 14 points each, and sophomore Victor Gutierrez and senior Xander Wilson added 10 points apiece.
This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 9:49 PM.
