POCATELLO — Hanah Peterson’s day mercifully ended with 43.2 seconds to play.

Peterson exited Saturday’s 2A state play-in game after she was whistled for her fifth foul, but minutes earlier was slow to recover from a collision, and before that was hunched over by the Dragons bench with her head on a teammate’s lap.

Peterson finally walked off the Highland High School floor to loud applause from the Dragons faithful. The senior scored 22 points and her team was on its way to clinching its first state tournament berth since 2012.

Malad coach Jeremy Jones said Peterson played through the 59-47 win against Firth with the flu. Peterson said she was simply low on fluids.

Without debate, Peterson gave a gutsy performance.

“I’m a little light-headed,” Peterson said. “I’ve been dehydrated a little lately, so I just got a little sick. That’s all.”

Peterson scored 11 points in the third quarter and bothered Firth with her length and athleticism all game.

She drove into the lane for layups, pulled up for mid-range jump shots and sunk two of her five 3-point attempts. Her last bucket was a fast-break layup in the fourth quarter after she picked off a Cougars pass at the top of the key and galloped the length of the floor.

The multisport star, who helped the Dragons to two state volleyball titles, said she’s drawn interest from multiple college basketball programs.

“I think she’ll blow up (in) college,” Jones said. “No one knows about her. She’s only at about 55-60 percent of her potential.”

Peterson’s twin sister, Emmah, scored seven points, Shawnee Simpson added nine, Sadie Simpson pitched in eight and Britlynn Hubbard had seven. All six of Malad’s scorers tallied at least six points, and the Dragons’ bench outscored Firth’s 13-7.

Malad (17-8) eventually found its way inside Firth’s 2-3 zone defense and into the key to take advantage of its length. The Dragons stifled Firth’s offense with a half-court trap defense and executed transition offense to build and sustain its lead. Malad scored the game’s first points and trailed once — 7-6 in the opening quarter.

Malad led 24-16 at halftime and never let Firth get closer than five points after the break.

The Cougars (11-15), who went 1-2 against Malad this season, were met with the Dragons’ significant height advantage each time they looked to score from in close.

“That alters what you try to do, both offensively and defensively,” Firth coach Sharla Cook said. “I thought that was a factor.”

Two of Firth’s most consistent scorers, Abby Schiess and Cammie Gee, combined to score three points in the first half. Gee finished with a team-high 16 — 12 of which came in the third quarter — but Schiess was held to four.

Kelsee Harrison buried back-to-back 3-pointers to bring Firth within 43-36 and prompt a Malad timeout early in the fourth quarter. The Dragons then forced five missed shots in a row and converted 6 of 12 free-throw attempts down the stretch to seal the win and a date with Melba on Thursday in the first round of the 2A state tournament at Bishop Kelly High School.

Under Jones, Malad’s first-year coach who was an assistant in the college ranks a year ago, the Dragons matched their win total from the previous two seasons combined.

“They bought in,” Jones said. “For it being my first year, the way the girls bought in has been special. Normally that doesn’t happen, and they’ve done everything I’ve asked.”

To secure their first state championship since 1993, Malad has to get past Melba (20-2) before a potential state semifinal showdown with district foe Soda Springs (21-3) and a possible matchup with top-ranked Ririe (22-2) at the Ford Idaho Center for the championship.

All seven teams to receive a vote in the final statewide media poll of the season made the 2A state tournament.

“Everyone’s ultimate goal in going to state is winning,” Peterson said. “We have to have that mentality going into each game.”