NAMPA — After a slow start, Owyhee flexed its collective muscles and showed why it’s the class of 5A boys basketball in Idaho, crushing District 3 foe Timberline 57-36 on Saturday night to win the school’s second state title in only its third year of existence.

Top-ranked Owyhee (24-3), which only lost to schools from outside the state, erased the pain of last year’s shocking first-round upset with a resounding victory.

“That’s in the past now,” Owyhee coach Andy Harrington said with a chuckle. “We can just forget about that now and move on. The future is really bright here and this program isn’t going anywhere.”

Timberline (22-5), which had a successful season by any metric, were outclassed by an Owyhee team loaded with top-tier talent.

However, that wasn’t apparent early as the two teams finished the first quarter knotted at 15.

But the Wolves didn’t make a shot from the field in the second quarter, getting outscored 9-2 and trailing 24-17 at the break.

However, Owyhee found another gear after halftime, overwhelming Timberline with a torrid run to start the third quarter.

USC signee Liam Campbell heated up, scoring eight points in an 11-0 run that all but buried the Wolves.

“At halftime we talked about how we we needed to bring some more energy and speed up our play,” said Campbell, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds. “And once we started doing that, we forced some turnovers and started to open the game up. I just felt like we needed one big push and that would win it for us.”

Campbell was right, though the Wolves didn’t go quietly.

Timberline finally found some life late in the quarter, stringing together a modest run, but by then it was all but over with the Storm carrying a commanding 45-24 lead into the final period.

Owyhee kept up its defensive pressure, padding its lead in the fourth before salting away the game and making way for the reserves late.

Campbell left the court in the final minutes, giving coach Andy Harrington a giant bear hug once he reached the sideline as the Owyhee faithful roared.

“We’re disappointed in the outcome, but this was still a really special season for us,” Timberline coach Travis Noble said after guiding the program to its first state title game since 2000. “They were just really physical and really hands-on defensively, and we struggled to get any downhill momentum on offense.”

Timberline didn’t have any players reach double figures in scoring, but point guard Reece Elder paced the Wolves with nine points and four rebounds. Bryce Heinz added six points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

Jackson Rasmussen led Owyhee offensively with 13 points, while Boden Howell and Logan Haustveit chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

TIMBERLINE (22-4) - Reece Elder 9, Alex Ko 7, Bryce Heinz 6, Bryce Elder 6, Jacob Heyne 5, Ryan Buehler 3, Sol Stands 0, Carson Huegerich 0, Kole Hudson 0, Jackson Kelly 0, Andrew Bridges 0, Bode Burns 0, JD Focarile 0, Collin Morris 0

OWYHEE (23-3) - Jackson Rasmussen 13, Boden Howell 11, Logan Haustveit 10, Liam Campbell 8, Jackson Rogers 6, Cameron Downie 4, Parker Leaf 3, Jordan Allen 2, Jayce Allen 0, Gavin Knowles 0, Ryan Brekke 0, Jaxon Jamerson 0, Heath Sasser-Gunson 0