POCATELLO - The fog outside The Palace was nearly as thick as the misty stuff hanging around the Pocatello boys' basketball team during the first 11 minutes of its game against Skyline on Thursday night.

Although Poky came out of that fog midway through the second quarter and statistically outplayed Skyline for the remainder of the game - even taking a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter - the Indians were unable to close the deal and lost to Skyline 57-52.

"Somehow we are going to have to get these rough starts out of our system," said Pocatello coach Lee Ralphs. "We're playing catch up the rest of the game. It just makes it tough for us."

Pocatello senior Colter Morton, who finished with 16 points on the night, got the scoring started by hitting a shot just a minute into the game and giving Pocatello a 2-0 lead. The Indians didn't score again until Michael Decker was fouled going to the basket with 3:13 left in the quarter.

He hit both free throws, but by then, Skyline had already put nine points on the board. Poky was outscored 15-8 in the opening frame.

"It just seems every game we have a tough time starting that first quarter," said Pocatello senior post Shae Andrews.

Andrews, at 6-foot-2, had the task of handling 6-foot-5 Skyline post Robert Edwards. Ralphs had praise for how Andrews handled the assignment.

"Going up against Robert, who's a big kid, is tough," Ralphs said. "I think Shae played well in all phases."

Pocatello appeared destined for a long night when Skyline pulled out to a 23-10 lead with 4:55 left in the second quarter and was dominating the Indians in every area of the game.

But that's when the fog seemed to lift, and the Indians' game suddenly came alive. Poky went on an 11-5 run during the last 4:10 of the first half and went into the locker room down 28-21.

"We started moving the ball a lot more so we could get some open shots," said Decker, whose 17 points was best among all players.

The senior not only shot well from the field, hitting 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and shooting 45 percent from the field, but he also went 5-for-6 from the line.

That was a step above Tuesday's game against Preston when Decker shot just 24 percent from the field and hit just 3-of-9 from the line.

"Coach just told me to calm down a little bit," Decker said of his improved play.

Poky brought the same intensity it had during the final four minutes of the first half into the second half of the game, scoring 18 points in the third quarter to Skyline's 13 and cutting the deficit to just two points.

With under a minute to play in the third, Pocatello actually tied the game at 39-39, but gave up a final basket to Skyline.

The Grizzlies came out a little hotter than the Indians in the fourth, pushing their lead to 49-43 with 4:30 left in the game. But then Poky went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes and led the game 52-51 with 1:08 left.

By then, however, Skyline was in the bonus and went 4-for-4 at the line and hit another basket to close the game on a 6-0 run.

"I really thought Connor (Flaherty) worked his behind off," Shippen said. "He had a tough assignment handling Decker early. He gave us the stability we needed."

Shippen also pointed out the play of Skyline junior Jose Abreo, whose hustle earned him a couple of easy layups during the first half.

"I thought Jose ran the floor well in the first half. He got a couple of end runs that really got us going," Shippen said.

Abreo finished with 13 points on the night. The only Skyline player with more points was Braxton Facer, who scored 14.

With Thursday's loss, Pocatello fell to 4-6 on the season. The team is 0-1 in 4A Fifth District play. The Indians next play Saturday in Minico.