Preston leads start to finish to dismiss upset-minded Jerome

MERIDIAN — Preston must have gotten the memo about all the upsets that were occurring in Thursday’s first round of the Boys Basketball State Championships.

Apparently looking to nip in the bud any hope eight-seed Jerome (11-14) had of another upset, Preston (23-1) led from start to finish. The 5A one-seed never trailed. In fact, the game’s only tie was in its opening seconds, at 1-1.

Preston followed that with a 9-0 run, never looking back on their way to a 64-33 victory inside the Rocky Mountain High School gym.

Head coach Tyler Jones said that, being the program’s first time competing at state in four years, he believed his team understandably came out a little slow.

“In that first round, you know, you always want to get through it,” he said after the game. “We took a minute to get through it, but we’re excited to move onto the first round.”

Asked how much better he expected his team to start, if a 10-1 lead to open wasn’t good enough, Jones laughed before noting that Jerome seemed to be a little shaky at the onset as well.”

“You could see nerves a little bit, on both sides,” Jones said.

Preston entered the tournament with the top scoring offense (averaging 64.7 points per game) and defense (allowing 43.8). Both were on display during the opening run, and throughout the game.

Jerome finished the contest with 18 turnovers, 13 of which were live-ball steals from Preston.

Jones said that his team uses its defense to fuel its offense.

“When we defend, normally, that leads to our offense getting easy buckets,” he said.

Five times, Preston swiped possession leading to a runout and dunk, each being followed immediately by a raucous celebration from the “home” side of the gym — Preston, as the higher seed, sat on the home side.

Jones agreed that explosive plays, like breakaway dunks, do a lot for the energy level of the team on the performing end.

“This is my 15th year here and, of all the teams we’ve had — and we’ve had some great teams — this is probably the most athletic team we’ve had,” the coach said. “When you get those steals and those dunks, it’s gets a lot of excitement and energy for the team. It really feeds us, for sure.”

The Preston defense was relentlessly aggressive looking for those steals, often losing position by overplaying the passing lanes. The momentary blunders did lead to some easy buckets for Jerome, but, as Jones said, it was a huge net win for his team.

“We like to be aggressive because we have some length down low, to protect (the rim) if we get beat,” he said. “When we’re really good, we’re doing it without being too wild. Sometimes we get out of position and (the opponent) get(s) easy buckets, but we do like to put pressure on the offense, for sure.”

Because so much of their offense came in transition, Preston did not need a massive performance from stars Reggie Larsen or Cruz Harris, each of whom averaged more than 17 points per game this season.

Instead, Preston got a balanced scoring output, with six players scoring seven or more points and none putting up more than Larsen’s 11. Parker Galloway added to Larsen’s efforts with 10, while Seth Capps led the way for Jerome with nine.

Preston’s Trip Beckstead makes a pair of free throws in the third quarter of Preston’s victory over Jerome. | Kalama Hines, EastIdahoSports.com

Preston grabbed a strong grasp on the outcome with a 19-11 lead after the first quarter. But they stole any hope Jerome had of putting together a miracle comeback by outscoring the Tigers 32-11 in the second and third quarters combined.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Preston was able to bench its starters and give some tourney run to its bench players. Harris, who finished with nine points, had ice on his knees at the start of the fourth.

For a team that relies so heavily on its starters on a short bench, Jones said, getting them some rest will be huge going forward.

“All season, we’ve mainly played six guys, so anytime we can get them some extra rest. And we know, three games in three days is going to be a lot, so anytime we can get them a little break will help us.”

With their win, Preston sets up a showdown with Bonneville, who beat Middleton, 53-48, Friday night at the Ford Idaho Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.