POCATELLO — The Palace was packed for Highland and Pocatello’s rivalry game on Tuesday night. People wanted a show.

And they got just that from Highland’s Stefan Gonzalez and Connor Harding.

Gonzalez and Harding combined to score 39 points in Highland’s 54-34 win over the Indians.

Harding scored 11 straight Highland points in the first quarter including three buckets that drew fouls.

The duo combined to score all of Highland’s 10 points in the second quarter, and the Rams led 28-14 at the half.

Harding and Gonzalez were aggressive early, going right at the basket. Highland’s defense was locked in, forcing the Indians to settle for deep jumpers that rarely found the net. Pocatello made four field goals in the first half.

Poky players aggressively defended Harding in the second half, often surrounding him with three or four defenders whenever he touched the ball in the post. Harding was limited to two points in the second half, but the show continued.

Gonzalez hit Harding on a fast break for a give-and-go alley-oop midway through the third quarter. Harding finished with two hands, emphatically pushing Highland’s lead to 41-20.

“We always practice that,” Harding said. “We had a chance to make it work. (Gonzalez) gave me a little signal to go up for it and I was like, ‘OK, let’s do it,’ and he lobbed it — perfect pass by Stef and thank goodness I got it and put it in.”

Gonzalez scored nine of his 20 points in the third and Highland led by 23 (43-20) heading into the final period.

The Indians had a miserable shooting night, connecting on 24.4 percent of shots from the field, 5 of 26 from three.

“They played really good defense,” said Pocatello coach Joe Green. “We obviously had a really hard time scoring so that’s a credit to them.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well. We had some open looks but you can’t live on the 3-point line,” Green said. “We were afraid to go inside ... If you live and die by the 3-point line a lot of time you’re going to die by it, and that’s what happened tonight.”

One bright spot for Pocatello was junior Jeremiah Kampwerth, who recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

“Jeremiah Kampwerth worked his tail off,” Green said. “I felt like he was nonstop energy. We’ve got to get eight or nine guys playing like Jeremiah mentality-wise. I thought he was a highlight for us.”

No. 2 Highland (3-1) bounced back nicely after losing to top-ranked Borah last Saturday.

“I thought we did a good job,” said Rams coach Chris Frost. “We got to the rim ... Stef and Connor (went) to the basket pretty hard and they had no answer for that.”

Against Borah, Harding shot 4 for 14 from the field and 0 of 6 from deep. In a win over Capital, Harding shot 3 of 10. The 6-foot-6 junior was due to break out offensively. He played with confidence and did just that.

“Tonight I came in with a different attitude,” Harding said. “One thing my parents told is ‘just have fun. Go play as hard as you can.’ That’s one thing you control: Play as hard as you can.”

“ He was a little more aggressive,” Frost said. “He’s a good one so he’s got to step up sooner or later and we knew it was going to happen.”

Harding pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and went 8 of 15 from the field.

Gonzalez played 26 minutes and was all smiles after the game, but they don’t call it the Black and Blue game for nothing.

Gonzalez was on the ground a number of times Tuesday night. He wound up on his back after driving to the hoop and drawing fouls, or just being a victim of what was an all-around physical game.

“It was a really rough game,” Gonzalez said. “I got beat up left and right but we knew that it was going to be rough coming in. Pocatello is scrappy and that’s what they do is rough us up a little bit. But we were ready for it.”

Gonzalez was carrying an ice pack for his lower back after the game.

Highland’s next game is Friday at home against Twin Falls. Pocatello (0-3) hosts Minico on Thursday.

Highland 54, Pocatello 34

Highland — 18    10    15    11 — 54

Pocatello — 9    5    6    14 — 34

Highland — Stefan Gonzalez 20, Cooper Anderson 2, McKay Roper 2, Connor Harding 19, Mav Woodward 2, Kyler Manu 2, Hunter Eborn 2, Dillon Brown 2, Braydon West 3. Pocatello — Tyson Belnap 2, Kobi Gardea 3, Mitchell Nielsen 3, Treyton Palmer 2, Riley Whaley 9, Will Reichelt 4, Jeremiah Kampwerth 11.