krobinett@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Jeff Hough had a bad feeling heading into the fourth quarter.

Considering his Pocatello girls' basketball team had just held Blackfoot to two points in the third quarter and built a seven-point lead with eight minutes to go, the emotion seemed out of place.

But he had seen this before. The Indians were about to tire out, and he knew it. In the end, they couldn't hold off the Broncos and suffered a disappointing 40-37 loss Tuesday at The Palace.

"The girls got tired, lost focus and started turning the ball over," Hough said. "This isn't the first time that's happened. This is our seventh game in 15 days, and that has been tough. We just couldn't close it out."

The main reason for that was the sudden drop-off in offensive production from senior forward Brenna Brigham. During the first three quarters, Brigham was the best player on the court.

She drove past defenders for easy layups and made contested shots from the outside to lead all scorers with 19 points.

Said Blackfoot coach Mike Kirkham: "She's almost unstoppable."

But in the fourth quarter, with flu-like symptoms finally catching up to her and Blackfoot keying on her every time she touched the ball, the Broncos closed the game with a 15-5 run to win.

Pocatello (1-9), after outscoring Blackfoot 10-2 in the third quarter, still held the lead until 1:43 remained in the game. But once the Broncos went ahead 38-37, they never trailed again.

"The kids just seemed to find a way to win," Kirkham said. "They were determined."

Leading Blackfoot (3-8) in its comeback were Olivia Gardner, who scored 11 points, and Bailey Brown, who posted up to score several of her eight points in the final quarter. Maria Ballesteros also helped out by scoring nine points, and Lindsay Hunt came in with seven.

That type of balanced scoring is what Hough said did in the Indians.

Sure, he said, Brigham played a spectacular game, but she scored more points than the rest of her teammates combined.

In the fourth quarter, when Brigham couldn't carry the load by herself, Hough felt those teammates needed to respond better.

"Brenna has been sick, and you could tell she wasn't the same player out there during the fourth quarter," he said. "But if we have balanced scoring, that's not a problem. Brenna can't do it all on her own. I told the kids that. It's time for other people to step up and do their jobs."