CALDWELL — Genesis Prep’s bid for a state three-peat came to an end at the hands of a spunky, headband-wearing Lighthouse Christian squad from Twin Falls on Friday afternoon at Caldwell High.

The unbeaten Lions, in their first trip to state, took down the two-time defending state 1A Division II champion Jaguars 56-53 in a semifinal game.

Genesis Prep, in just its fourth season as a program sanctioned by the Idaho High School Activities Association, placed third at state in 2016, then won it all the last two years.

“Lighthouse is a really good team,” Genesis Prep junior Seth Neely said. “I think we panicked, and pushed the ball a little too fast; we needed to slow it down.”

“We played hard,” Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert said. “We missed a lot of shots that we normally make. That’s basketball. Some days it’s just not your day. I thought they wanted the 50/50 balls down the stretch more than we wanted them. And they made their free throws down the stretch.”

Genesis Prep (16-9) will play Logos (16-6) of Moscow today at 10 a.m. at Caldwell High in the third-place game.

Lighthouse Christian (25-0), in its 14th season with a basketball program, will play Garden Valley (21-5) in the championship game today at 8:30 a.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Garden Valley beat Logos 54-48 in the first semifinal on Friday.

How did Lighthouse do it?

“Defense,” third-year Lions head coach Tony Standlee said. “That’s an amazing team, Genesis Prep. You’re talking a third-place, and two state championships in a row. This wasn’t easy. Genesis Prep has been the epitome for so long, you’ve got to get past them if you want a (first-place) trophy.”

Lighthouse Christian, which starts a sophomore and four juniors, took it at Genesis Prep early. The Lions got two quick fouls on Kon Ajang, Genesis Prep’s 6-foot-9 senior. Trailing 4-1 at the time, Lighthouse went to a 1-2-2 press and forced nine Jaguars turnovers in the first quarter. The Lions took a 19-12 lead after one quarter, and led by as much as 11 in the second quarter before the Jaguars pulled to within 32-25 at halftime.

“We just made some bad decisions with the basketball,” Colbert said. “We knew how to break the press, we just didn’t.”

Genesis Prep was without Carroll College signee Jonny Hillman for the second-straight game after the senior suffered a torn meniscus during the team’s district title game win over Lakeside.

Genesis Prep tied the game at 34 midway through the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Jacob Schultz. The Jaguars briefly took one-point leads in the fourth quarter.

With the game tied at 48, Collin Holloway, a 5-7 sophomore, drilled a 3-pointer from the parking lot to give the Lions the lead with 2:14 to play.

Genesis Prep then turned the ball over, missed two free throws, missed another shot, then started fouling. Alex Shetler and Tyler Munsee each hit two free throws for Lighthouse Christian to boost its lead to seven with 42.9 seconds left. Neely scored on the drive, and Shetler hit another free throw to make it 56-50 with 25.2 seconds left. By the time Schultz sank a 3, there was only a couple seconds left, and Lighthouse was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

“That was a big shot,” Colbert said of Holloway’s bomb. “When they hit that 3, we got a little flustered, and instead of taking the ball back down at them, we allowed that to rattle us a little bit. We don’t have to panic; we’re still in the game.”

“When the kid hit the 3-pointer … I think we panicked a little too much,” Neely said.

Munsee was most effective taking it at Genesis Prep’s bigs, finishing with a game-high 24 points. Casper Block added 11 points and nine rebounds.

“You don’t see that every day,” Standlee said of Ajang and Genesis Prep’s other shot blockers. “Our coaches (three assistants who played at College of Southern Idaho) say it all the time — they hate little guys that get physical with them, because not only do you get in foul trouble, but it’s so much harder to block a little guy that gets in the center of your chest. That’s what we talked about — try to get into their chest, and finish over the top, and if you can’t, keep going until you get your bucket.”

Ajang finished with 23 points and eight boards. Schultz had 10 points and seven rebounds, Neely nine points and five boards. Genesis Prep shot just 35.6 percent (21 of 59) from the field.

“Kon got in foul trouble, that didn’t help,” Colbert said. “Late in the game, they outworked us, I thought.”

“I know it hurts, but we have to accept today’s result and come out tomorrow and finish the season on a strong note,” Colbert said.

“We’re going to bring home a trophy,” Neely said.

Light. Christian 19 13 7 17 — 56

Genesis Prep 12 13 15 13 — 53

LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN — Holloway 7, Munsee 24, Block 11, Brandsma 2, Lookingbill 5, Stephens 0, Dastrup 4, Shetler 3. Totals 19-46 15-24 56.

GENESIS PREP — Ajang 23, Peterson 0, Mwinuka 6, Schultz 10, Neely 9, Gonzales 0, Bohannan 5. Totals 21-59 9-16 53.