BOISE — Moscow — using its length all around, a staunch defense and proficient shooting — stormed back from a 10-point deficit and made Idaho Class 4A state tournament opponent Minico play the Bears’ style of basketball.

The 56-47 Moscow victory Thursday at Boise’s Borah High School marks the Bears’ 11th win in the past 12 games, and their first appearance in the semifinal round since coach Josh Uhrig was hired in 2015. He’s guided his teams to four consecutive State trips since he took charge, but never this far.

Oddly enough, it was bittersweet. Uhrig topped his first cousin, Spartans coach Brady Trenkle, to get to the second round, where Moscow will face Kuna (18-7) at 7 p.m. Pacific today.

“It’s hard knowing one of us had to lose that game,” Uhrig said. “He’s four years older than me, and we spent a lot of time together when we were younger. I’ll always be cheering for him and wishing him success.”

But in between niceties exchanged before and after the game, it was all business. The Bears (16-9), after trailing the entire first half, found their footing in the second half. They outshot Minico (17-8) 50 percent to 32 percent, and outrebounded the Spartans 37-22.

Moscow held Minico to four third-quarter points. In that period, the Bears grabbed their first lead on a Ben Postell putback, and didn’t relinquish the edge, going up by as many as nine in the fourth quarter and holding off the pesky Spartans with late free throws.

Minico went 4-for-24 shooting in the final 16 minutes. Moscow controlled the glass and stepped up its perimeter defense, busting through screens. Offensively, the Bears’ ball movement created open looks.

“We got comfortable, and we just let them hang around, hang around,” said Trenkle, who coached Minico to its first tournament appearance in four years. “We went away from the scout. They could hit shots, and we couldn’t. They stuck to their style of play, and we broke away from ours.”

Junior Benny Kitchell — an important piece last year, when the Bears lost to Vallivue to open State — went for 22 points and eight rebounds, shooting 50 percent. He also held Spartan star Kasen Carpenter to 10 points on 3-for-14 from the floor. Freshman Blake Buchanan, who stands 6-foot-7, shook off some early nerves, and tacked on 14 points (on 6-for-7), and also corralled eight boards. Ben Postell had 12 rebounds and five assists.

“Benny’s just a fighter,” Uhrig said. “He’s been pretty sick. Sometimes kids play great when they’re sick, and he’s one of those.”

And of Buchanan?

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Uhrig said. “Once he got used to it, it was just another game. He did what Blake does. He had huge rebounds and baskets for us, just played his heart out.”

Moscow seized the momentum late in the second quarter. Buchanan scored seven consecutive points — including a hard-fought, traditional three-point play — to trim the halftime deficit to three.

Out of intermission, the Bears were composed. They didn’t lose shooters in Minico’s fast-paced attack, and started to stir offensively against the state’s No. 4 defense.

“Once they got used to the speed of the game and realized the physicality wouldn’t bother them, they went back to playing Moscow basketball,” Uhrig said. “... We knew every basket was gonna matter, you don’t know which one is gonna turn the game around.”

Kitchel nailed a 3 right away, and Moscow’s defense forced the Spartans into four consecutive giveaways. The sequence seemed to fluster Minico, which gave way to Moscow’s game-high lead midway through the final period — when Kitchel ripped an offensive board out of a Spartan player’s hand, then tossed it back in. A late Minico flurry, which cut it to three points at 1:45, was tempered by Moscow’s foul shooting (11-for-15 in the second half) and long possessions.

“We were communicating, had a lot of energy, and just contested everything,” Kitchel said. “We knew they were a good defensive team, so we just worked on finding opportunities with the mismatches we had.”

Minico led 14-4 midway through the first, but its momentum began to wane as the Bears got more floor time. Phillip Boettcher was the only other double-figure scorer (11 points). The Spartans were 5-for-23 from deep, and began to rely on the 3 when Moscow got hot.

The Bears are clicking, and they proved too much for Minico in the family-feud matchup.

“Just my luck in life,” Trenkle said in jest of drawing his cousin’s team in Round 1.

MINICO (17-8)

Kent Merrill 0 0-0 0, Brevin Trenkle 1 3-4 6, Dillon Ball 1 0-0 2, Kasen Carpenter 3 4-5 10, Ben Devries 0 0-0 0, Miah Nava 0 0-1 0, Phillip Boettcher 3 5-5 11, Rylan Chandler 3 0-0 9, Dakota Durfee 0 0-0 0, Connor Stocking 4 0-0 9, Saul Valdez 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 12-15 47.

MOSCOW (16-9)

Brayden Decker 3 2-2 9, Barrett Abendroth 0 3-4 3, Jamari Simpson 0 2-2 2, Joe Colter 1 0-0 2, Ben Postell 2 0-1 4, Blake Buchanan 6 2-5 14, Benny Kitchel 7 5-8 22. Totals 19 14-22 56.

Minico 16 11 4 16—47

Moscow 11 13 11 21—56

3-point goals — Trenkle, Chandler 3, Stocking, Decker, Kitchel 3.

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.