NAMPA, Idaho — Inside the gym at Columbia High School, there aren't any banners to commemorate the storied past of the boy's basketball program.
That's because they don't exist.
For years, winning didn't come easy for the Wildcats on the hardwood. In fact, winning hardly came at all.
On their quest to do that, one thing was clear: you can't change the beginning of a story, but you can try to impact how it ends.
LIVE BLOG: 2019 Idaho high school boys state basketball tournament
Somewhere in the middle of this journey is where you will find Columbia High senior Jake Poutlon, a 5-foot-8, 130-pound, bridge between a historically bad era of basketball at Columbia, and newfound heights the program had never experienced before.
As a freshman back in 2015, Jake was good enough to make the varsity team, but the team was hardly good.
When all was said and done, Columbia was one of last teams standing at 4A District III Tournament.
Last Thursday, they met Vallivue with the district championship on the line.
A program that was once accustomed to losing simply refused to accept that type of outcome.
Down six points with just over five seconds to go in regulation, Jake his back-to-back threes to force overtime.
Then, with the game tied at 64 in overtime, Jake answered the call again, hitting the game-winning three at the buzzer to deliver the school their first-ever district basketball championship.
It's hard not credit some of those early losses for helping Jake, and the entire Wildcats program, get to this point.
On Thursday, they will take the floor for the first time ever at the Idaho high school state basketball tournament.
When they do, Jake will once again display his unwavering approach: big shots don't intimidate and neither does the big stage.