MERIDIAN — Two trips to the free-throw line and two missed free throws equaled plenty of trouble of Preston.

After leading constantly but never comfortably since the first quarter of their first-round state tournament matchup against Twin Falls, the Indians’ charity-stripe struggles — back-to-back misses on the front end of one-and-ones — helped the Bruins cut their deficit to 44-43 with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.

That’s when Brecker Knapp stepped up, knocking down two free throws to give the Indians some breathing room. Twin Falls, needing to shoot a 3, got a good look at a game-tying shot but missed, and Gabe Hammons added one more late free throw for the final margin in Preston’s 47-43 win at Rocky Mountain High School on Thursday.

“You get to the state tournament and anything can happen,” Preston coach Tyler Jones said. “You have nerves, you have a different atmosphere. We’re just happy to survive, really. ... It was great to see (Knapp) step up there and knock those down with all that pressure.”

Preston will play Bishop Kelly in the state semifinals on Friday.

That Knapp was the hero of the first-round game was perfectly appropriate for Preston after the Indians lost almost everybody from last year’s team, the school’s fourth state title-winner in the last five years.

Only two players lining up for the Indians this year had any sort of experience on that team. Knapp, who’s perhaps better known as the quarterback for the football team, isn’t one of them.

It was yet another reminder that Preston doesn’t owe its recent success to one generation of special players. The names may change, but there are the Indians again, one game away from their sixth-straight run to the state championship game.

“In our town, they love basketball. We’ve always been a basketball community,” Jones said. “That tradition we have is obviously big, and that mentality. The kids come up here every year and watch, and when they get here, they expect to come up here and be successful and win.”

Gabe Hammons, one of the few links to that Preston does have to last year’s title team, led the Indians with 13 points. Braden Hess added 12 and seven rebounds as Preston outrebounded Twin Falls 30-20.

Knapp had 10 points.

The Indians jumped out to a 17-10 lead after one quarter. Their advantage held right around there — never under four points, never over eight — until a late third-quarter run gave them their first double-digit margin going to the fourth quarter.

That didn’t last as Twin Falls stormed back, upping the pressure and finally hitting some 3-pointers, but Preston was just barely able to withstand the onslaught in the end.

The Indians held Twin Falls to 3 of 21 shooting from 3-point range — with two of those makes coming in the fourth quarter — as Tyler Jones’ plan to force the Bruins into outside shots worked perfectly.

“They’re quick and they like to penetrate,” Jones said. “We just tried to stay in front of them and make them shoot outside shots, contest them. I’ve always told our teams, when you get to the postseason, defense and rebounding win games, and you have to be solid on the defensive end and rebound.”

Preston’s semifinal game will bring a familiar opponent. The Indians beat Bishop Kelly 42-37 in the state title game in 2016 to begin their run of three straight state titles. The two then met in the semifinals in 2017, with Preston pulling out a 65-62 win.

PRESTON 47, TWIN FALLS 43

Twin Falls 10 11 5 17 — 43

Preston 17 8 11 11 — 47

Twin Falls — Swafford 11, Emery 10, Swensen 9, Ball 5, Robbins 4, Hubsmith 2, Mahlke 2.

Preston — Hammons 13, Hess 12, Knapp 10, Roberts 4, Harris 4, Larson 2, Jones 2.