BOISE – Ririe had no choice, but to go to Michael Ure.

The junior is the Bulldogs’ top scorer, towering giant and do-everything forward.

Thursday, he was their savior.

The Bulldogs (21-3) were down 47-45 against Aberdeen with less than a minute left in the game before the 6-foot-7 post scored four unanswered points to give Ririe a 49-47 comeback win in the first round of the 2A state tournament at Capital High School.

Aberdeen’s lead was as large as 16 points, at the start of the second quarter.

But as often happens in upset bids, the Tigers (14-12) tried holding on for dear life in the final minutes of the game, instead of continuing to be the aggressor like they were at the start of the game, and Ririe pounced.

“It shows we’re resilient, and we don’t give up and we make sure we keep doing what we do and attack the rim and stay aggressive,” said Ure, whose team faces St. Maries on Friday in the state semifinals. “We played hard with energy toward the end of the game, and we really came together.”

Ure kicked the ball out to Daeton Wheeler for a 3-pointer, trimming the Bulldogs’ seven-point deficit to a manageable 45-41 with 2 minutes, 32 seconds left in the game.

Fast-forward to the 45-second mark with Ririe down 47-45, Bulldogs coach Eric Torgerson called a timeout. Ure received a pass down low, went up with two hands on the ball to endure contact and scored while being fouled to tie the game with a half-minute remaining.

After Ure missed the free throw, teammate Stockton Johnson collected the offensive rebound to begin a new possession. It ended with Ure scoring from the right block with 5.6 seconds left in the game to put his team ahead for the first time, 49-47.

“He’s just so fundamental. He does such a good job getting to the basket,” Torgerson said. “If we didn’t go to Michael, it would’ve been the wrong thing.”

Ure scored a team-high 18 points, all coming in the second half after he went 0 of 7 from the floor in the first two quarters. Ririe had four field goals and a 15.4 shooting percentage in the first half. From the sideline, Torgerson was pleading with his dazed players in a loud tone to keep shooting.

“It was terrible,” Torgerson said. “You know you’re not going to have four bad quarters, but you get to the point where, are we ever going to turn it on, or are you just going to lay an egg like this, and put all that hard work into the season and have a terrible first game at state?”

While Ririe was struggling, Aberdeen was on fire, especially in the first quarter that was capped with a last-second triple by Dallon Elliot, who had 18 points. Teammate Jake Hall, who led the team with a game-high 19 points, had his own memorable moment, sending his defender to the hardwood on an ankle-breaking move before nailing a 3 off the backboard to put his team ahead 41-35 with five minutes left in the game.

Aberdeen watched another one of its 3-pointers — this time at the final buzzer – miss off the front rim on an attempt by Bo Knittel, sealing the Tigers’ fate. But the fact Aberdeen was at least going toe-to-toe with the reigning 2A state runner-up in the school’s first state tournament appearance since 2009 is an indication the Tigers were “a hell of a lot better than people thought,” said Aberdeen coach Joe Ingersoll.

Ingersoll told the team plainly that he wants a state trophy, something they can still obtain. Aberdeen faces Nampa Christian in the 2A consolation semifinals Friday at Capital High School.

“We’ve got a lot of people who came to support us tonight from a long ways,” Ingersoll said. “They deserve to watch us win. And our kids worked hard enough, they deserve another chance at a win.”

Video: Ririe 49, Aberdeen 47