NAMPA — Ambrose saved its best basketball for last—and, most importantly, for its cross-town rivals.

After losing a pair of games in overtime to Cole Valley earlier this season, Ambrose survived a furious late run by the Chargers and emerged with a 46-43 victory in the Class 2A state championship game on Saturday.

“The journey is more rich and more rewarding when it’s hard,” Ambrose coach Ken Sugarman said. “If we would’ve won twenty-seven games and never lost, we wouldn’t have learned as many things as we’ve learned.

“Diamonds become diamonds under pressure and we’ve had lots of pressure. And we came out diamonds today.”

Ambrose (21-6), which won its third state basketball title and first since 2020, shot 50 percent from 3-point range, hitting 9-of-18 shots to build a 40-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

But Cole Valley (24-4), which rallied from a 19-point deficit against the Archers earlier this season, nearly completed another unlikely 19-point comeback.

After Ambrose’s Tyson Hughes completed an old fashioned three-point play to start the quarter and push Ambrose’s lead to 43-24, Ben Beglinger and Eli Kingery combined for 12 points in a 17-0 run to pull Cole Valley within 45-43 with 22 seconds remaining.

Hughes was fouled on the inbounds pass with 17 seconds left and made the first of two free throw attempts to give the Archers a 46-43 lead—and Cole Valley a chance.

The Chargers melted the clock down before setting up for a final shot, kicking the ball to Kingery. His shot was too strong, rimming out and setting off a wild celebration by the Ambrose players on the court.

“Every game with them has been a dog fight,” Cole Valley coach Dan Waldeck said. “The difference was literally the number of threes they made.

“All the things that you typically need to do to win games, we did. But we just didn’t shoot very well. And it’s tough to win games when you only shoot thirty percent.”

Tristen Trevino, who scored 11 points and pulled down four rebounds for Ambrose, said he’d expected to be in this position after sitting in the stands for last season’s 2A championship game.

“Last year during the state title for 2A, I was watching at the Idaho Center with my teammates and coach was telling us that we have to come back here,” said Trevino, who hit three of his four attempts from beyond the arc. “And I believed it from that point on. I told my friends that we were going to come back and win a state championship.”

Hughes, the IdahoSports.com Player of the Game, thought the difference for the Archers this time boiled down to simple execution.

“We just shared the ball more and played as a team this time,” Hughes said. “We got our shots and knocked them down.”

After the first quarter ended 11-11, Ambrose went on a tear with Trevino hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Hughes adding four as the Archers build a 27-12 halftime lead.

Another strong shooting performance in the third quarter pushed Ambrose to a 40-24 lead heading into the final frame before Cole Valley started its comeback.

“I don’t know if we had an edge this time,” Sugarman said. “I just think these guys believed. We knew it was likely to come down to one possession and these teams are evenly matched and it did.

“Not a surprise to me at all. Not a surprise that they would make a hard run at the end. You got to earn it and we did that.”

Cole Valley was led by Beglinger and Isaiah Holsinger with 16 points each. Beglinger also led the team in rebounding with nine boards.

Eli Sugarman contributed nine points for Ambrose in the win.