BOISE — After leading by as many as 24 points midway through the game, the Moscow High School boys’ basketball team withstood a late rally to edge Kuna 63-60 on Friday in an Idaho Class 4A state semifinal at Borah High School.

The Kavemen (18-8) closed to within a single point at 61-60 with seven seconds remaining before the Bears’ Brayden Decker hit two free throws to make it a three-point game and establish the final score.

Moscow faces Preston for the title at 5 p.m. Pacific today at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

The Bears led 27-14 at halftime, shooting 12-for-21 for 57 percent up to that point. They were six points further ahead at 47-28 through three quarters, but Kuna exploded for 32 points in the fourth.

“They had us playing on our heels in the fourth quarter,” Moscow coach Josh Uhrig said. “We started playing very conservative, they got really aggressive. We started playing a little loose with the ball. ... We made enough big plays, made enough free throws to hang on.”

Decker (17 points, four assists) was the Bears’ top scorer, while Ben Postell scored seven and had nine rebounds plus five assists, and Blake Buchanan added a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.

“He didn’t play like a freshman out there,” Uhrig said of Buchanan. “He played like somebody with a lot of experience and really got the team rolling.”

Sean Austin of Kuna was the game’s high-scorer with 22 points.

After a 5-8 start to their season, the Bears have now won 12 of their past 13 games to enter the state final with a 17-9 record.

“Everybody’s jubilant,” Uhrig said. “All that mattered was that final score. They’re excited; it’s what we’ve worked all year for.”

Moscow’s last state title came in 1997. Today’s final will be its first since 2013, and the first in Uhrig’s five-year tenure as coach.

“We’d love to see a lot of Moscow people make the trip down,” Uhrig said.

MOSCOW (17-9)

Reef Diego 0 0-0 0, Brayden Decker 6 2-2 17, Barrett Abendroth 1 2-2 5, Hayden Thompson 0 0-0 0, Jamari Simpson 2 1-2 5, Joe Colter 3 0-0 6, Ben Postell 3 1-8 7, Blake Buchanan 7 1-1 15, Benny Kitchel 2 4-6 8, Tyler Skinner 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 11-21 63.

KUNA (18-8)

Lance Ray 1 0-0 3, John Evans 0 0-0 0, Cade Randall 4 2-5 10, Jake Williams 3 0-0 7, Zach Williams 1 7-8 9, Parker Chandler 0 0-0 0, Sean Austin 8 4-6 22, Diego Hernandez 2 0-0 5, Gavin Gordon 1 0-0 2, Zander Allen 0 0-0 0, William Hilderbrand 1 0-0 2, Justin Hagerman 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-14 60.

Moscow 10 17 20 16—63

Kuna 6 8 14 32—60

3-point goals — Ray, Randall 2, J. Williams, Austin 2, Hernandez, Decker 3, Abendroth.