MORELAND - Robert Coombs wasn't telling his Snake River boys' basketball squad anything it hadn't heard before.

Leading up to its home game against Bear Lake on Thursday, Coombs introduced a new help defense intended to contain the Bears' fleet-footed dribblers. And all through the game, he stressed defense over and over again.

The Panthers didn't seem to be absorbing those pleas - until the fourth quarter of their 52-49 win.

"For some reason, they decided to start moving their feet and do a lot better," Coombs said.

Snake River's defensive stand came just in time. The Panthers burst past the Bears with a 12-5 run in the final four-plus minutes and capped off that surge by stuffing the Bears on three key possessions late in the game.

That spell helped Snake River overcome a cold shooting night from the perimeter and a game-high 15 points from Bear Lake's Jordan Crane. Point guard Randy Resendiz led Snake River with 14 points.

"Our confidence is really high right now," Snake River's senior guard Marcus Hawker said. "We haven't ever played that good of defense in a long time. The defense really stepped up, and I was really proud of them."

The win sets up a showdown between the 3A Fifth District's two remaining unbeatens when Snake River (7-4, 2-0) hosts Marsh Valley on Jan. 22.

It appeared Bear Lake (7-6, 0-2) would spoil that matchup when it carried a 38-34 lead into the fourth quarter. Crane, who frazzled the Panthers all night with drives into the paint, gave the Bears a 44-40 lead with 4:36 remaining with another driving layup.

But that's when Coombs' message finally sunk in for the Panthers, beginning with Jordan Watt tying the game at 44-44 with a steal and a fast-break layup. McKay Harper, who scored 11 points, gave the Panthers the lead for good with a putback, and with 1:19 remaining, they held a 48-47 advantage.

Bear Lake couldn't muster much after that. Snake River post Devin Cook blocked two shots on one possession, Dallin Truman forced a five-second violation on the next, and Crane missed a last-gasp 3-pointer as time expired.

"I guess I was too excited, and I shot it hard," Crane said. "They started pressuring us more than they were earlier in the game, and we didn't respond."

That seemed an unlikely outcome at the end of the third quarter. Bear Lake appeared to seize control of the game by outscoring Snake River 12-6 in the period.

The Panthers didn't help themselves by shooting 0-for-8 from 3-point range in that span. Snake River only made it a game by abandoning that strategy and attacking the paint, which resulted in Harper's nine second-half points and the Panthers' 18 total free throws.

Snake River hit 16 of those, while Bear Lake converted on just 10 of its 21 foul shots, which allowed the Panthers to keep it close and launch their last-ditch defensive stand for the win.

"We just pounded them right in the middle," Hawker said. "We got it done."

Snake River 52, Bear Lake 49

Bear Lake 14 12 12 11 - 49

Snake River 17 11 6 18 - 52

Bear Lake: Jordan Crane 7 0-0 15, Spencer Smedley 4 2-7 12, Cooper Jensen 0 2-6 2, Brady Pitchford 2 0-0 5, Jordan Bills 1 2-2 5, Bradley Stevens 1 2-4 4, Trent Michel 1 0-0 2, Andy Isom 1 0-0 2, Jake Isom 0 0-2 2.

Snake River: Marcus Hawker 2 2-2 4, Randy Resendiz 3 7-7 14, Jordan Watt 2 2-2 6, Devin Cook 3 0-1 9, McKay Harper 5 1-2 11, Craig Trejo 2 2-2 4, Dallin Truman 0 2-2 2.