NAMPA — Four years ago, Shae Neal celebrated Rockland’s first state championship with his son Jett in his arms, barely a year and a half old.

On Saturday, Jett — now 6 — was right there on the bench next to him, wearing his favorite blue No. 25 jersey, watching the Bulldogs make more history.

“He probably doesn’t know what it means to me,” the Rockland head coach said. “But seeing him down there, putting the work in with the boys — it’s just fun. Full circle.”

Rockland (25-2) made it complete.

The Bulldogs rallied from a 10-point first-quarter deficit to defeat Garden Valley 70-67 in the Class 1A State Championship game at the Ford Idaho Center, claiming the program’s second state title and first since 2022.

“Revenge tour complete,” Neal simply put it.

A phrase born out of heartbreak.

Twelve months earlier, the Bulldogs were upset in the semis by Challis — a team they swept during the regular season by double digits. To make matters worse, they squandered a double-digit lead, senior Woodrow Lowder missed a game-tying 3 and senior Ethan Permann threw the ball out of bounds on a crucial possession to end it.

While Rockland did take third place for its fifth straight state trophy, the loss haunted them all offseason.

“We knew we could beat them and we knew we were one of the better teams in the state,” junior Zach Permann said. “It hurt really bad. But winning this just washes all that away.”

Now the only thing this group will be remembered for is being arguably the best in program history.

Rockland ended the year on a 21-game winning streak — the longest in the state — went a perfect 20-0 against 1A competition and the 25 wins are the most in a single season in program history.

Their only two losses came against 2A Butte County in overtime and 3A Ririe, which took third at state. All but two of Rockland’s wins came by double figures, with an average margin of victory of more than 25 points per game.

And the Wolverines (22-3) on Saturday were the only 1A team it didn’t blow out this season. For comparison, the 2022 title team went 23-3 — with all three losses coming within the classification — and won 20 games by double figures with an average margin of 29.7 points per game.

“I think the resume is better on this team,” Neal said. “Going undefeated in 1A and beating the top teams in the state multiple times — that resume is better than 2022. But both phenomenal teams.”

Zach wasn’t as diplomatic.

“I think we’re the best team in history,” he said. “Put me on record saying that. We are the best team in history.”

But it nearly wasn’t.

For the first time in nearly three months, Rockland found itself trailing by double digits. Garden Valley’s Maxon Yearsley was unguardable in the first quarter — scoring 15 of his 19 points — and capped a 14-2 run with a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 20-10 with just a little more than a minute to go.

Things didn’t get much better in the second.

The Bulldogs were plagued by eight uncharacteristic turnovers and shot just 29.4% from the field, including 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. They managed just one field goal in the quarter — eight of their 10 points came from the free throw line, all from junior Brayzen Gibbs. It all resulted in them heading into the locker room down 30-25.

“Going into halftime, we got our butts chewed out,” junior Xavier Parrish said. “We’re like, ‘Man, we gotta lock in here.’ We came out just a different animal and got the job done.”

And Parrish delivered.

He scored the first seven points of the third quarter to give the Bulldogs their first lead since the game’s opening minutes at 32-31 in just under a minute. It was all part of a 14-4 run in less than a three-minute span.

More on Parrish later.

“He’s our leader,” Neal said. “In the first half, he had a little scatter brain. Once he got that mentality of ‘nobody’s gonna stop me,’ you could see it in his eyes. We just let the reins go and told him get to the bucket. Take us to the end of the revenge tour.”

And he did just that.

Parrish hit back-to-back 3-pointers to break a 59-59 tie, the second of which pushed Rockland ahead 65-59 with just 1:34 let in regulation. It was all part of a dominant second-half performance in which he went 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3 after shooting just 1-of-5, including 0-of-3 from beyond-the- arc, in the first half. He finished with 18 points.

“This is something I’ve wanted my entire life,” Parrish said. “Watching my older brother play in Caldwell and never really get to this spot — it’s crazy. I’m so happy.”

The Bulldogs still had to survive a late Wolverine rally.

Garden Valley converted the rare four-point play when Madix Miller drained a 3 while being fouled and sank the ensuing free throw to suddenly make it a one-point game at 68-67 with 6.3 seconds remaining.

But Gibbs calmly stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining to seal it. He came off the bench to go a remarkable 17-of-20 from the charity stripe for a game-high 23 points — and it wasn’t his first rodeo at the free throw line.

“When I was little, my dad would have me shoot 25 free throws in a row and just see how many I made,” Gibbs said. “I did that for a couple years. So when I got to the line, it just felt natural. Felt like normal.”

The Wolverines had one last chance. But Payson Kelly’s desperation 3 at the buzzer rattled off the back iron and the celebration was on.

Especially for senior Woodrow Lowder, who was playing his final game in a blue and white uniform.

His final stat line read 16 points on 54.5%. He did foul out with 1:06 remaining, but was still up there hoisting the trophy when all was said and done.

Not a bad way to go out.

“When I was little I was always out there shooting at night, inviting friends over,” Lowder said. “It just feels great to have this completed as a team with all the people I grew up with.”

Not to get lost in the fold was the play of Zach.

While the stat sheet only read three points, he was critical to the game’s outcome. After Yearsley exploded for 15 points in the first quarter, Neal put Zach on him for the rest of the game. Yearsley scored just four more points the rest of the way — including only two in the second half, going 0-of-5 from the field and 0-of-4 from 3-point range.

No one on his team fared much better. Garden Valley shot just 22.5% from the field in the second half, going 9-of-40. Yearsley and Cody Perrin each finished with 19 points to lead the Wolverines, while Miller added 12.

“He (Zach) sways the momentum of a game from a loss to a winner,” Neal said. “The more failures he has, the tougher he gets. Most players start to dwindle — he just gets tougher. A solid rock on both sides.”

Zach, for his part, was fine with the unsung role.

“I know I’m not going to score points,” he said. “It’s a role sport. You win it with five dudes.”

And with a community of approximately 199 people — nearly all of whom were on hand to witness the program’s latest milestone.

“The whole city of Rockland was practically out here,” Lowder said. “It means a lot for us to win it for them.”