Middleton grad played for BYU in the Sweet 16. Now she’s rebuilding her prep alma mater
Change has been a constant for the Middleton High girls basketball team, which has had six different coaches over the past six seasons.
Marianne Blackwell hopes to give the Vikings a sense of stability.
The 1998 Middleton graduate, who went on to play for a BYU team that advanced to the Sweet 16, is in her first season as the Vikings’ head coach. And her players seem to be buying in.
Middleton overcame as much as a 14-point deficit to defeat Borah 51-50 in a 5A Southern Idaho Conference matchup Tuesday night at Borah High. The Vikings improved to 12-3 overall and 4-1 in league action, and are just one victory away from tying their total wins from all of last season.
“I feel like our coaches are really committed to us this year,” Middleton junior Elsie Wyatt said. “They just really want the best of us and they put day-and-night effort into the team.”
Middleton moved up to the 5A classification last season after years of success at the 4A level, and the Vikings are just beginning to find their footing in the state’s largest classification. Before moving up, the Vikings had won three of four 4A SIC district titles and made it to state six years in a row. The Vikings also won five 4A state championships under former coach Andy Jones, who is now at Timberline, with their last coming in 2017.
Blackwell now aims to restore the same pride in the program that she felt growing up.
“From the day I got hired, it was change the culture, get the buy-in from everyone and really show them that I am about Middleton basketball,” Blackwell said. “I am an alumni of Middleton. I love that place, and it’s a great place to raise a family and to grow roots.”
Blackwell isn’t leading the turnaround at Middleton alone. Daughter Zoey Blackwell is a starting guard for the Vikings. The 5-foot-7 sophomore scored a game-leading 20 points with eight steals, five rebounds and four assists against the Lions. She earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman.
“It’s been fun. I love it,” Zoey Blackwell said. “She brought the game into my life, and I’ve loved it ever since.”
Middleton has won nine straight games, but the Vikings nearly let one get away Tuesday against the Lions. Borah freshman Kya Davis scored the first six points of the game, and helped the Lions build a 27-20 lead by halftime. That lead grew to 37-23 with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Borah sophomore Abi Howington.
But the Vikings turned to a full-court press in the fourth quarter and slowly chipped away at Borah’s lead. Zoey Blackwell sank a triple with 1:26 remaining to pull Middleton within 48-47, and sophomore Aysha Fried gave the Vikings their first lead of the game, 49-48, on a layup with 45 seconds to play.
Borah freshman Nakiyia Percell responded with a driving layup with about 36 seconds left to retake a 50-49 lead, forcing Middleton to call a timeout.
“We were all in,” Wyatt said. “We knew that we were going to win this game. Everyone was on the same page. Everyone had that dog mentality, and we wanted to win really bad.”
Wyatt made sure the Vikings didn’t load the bus disappointed. She scored the game-winner on a layup with about 10 seconds to play. Borah then called a timeout with 9.8 seconds on the clock to set up one final look, but the Lions’ potential game-winner was off the mark.
“I am just so proud of the effort that they gave,” Marianne Blackwell said. “It’s hard to win on the road. I’m just so proud of the heart that they gave today.”
Wyatt finished with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Fried added 13 points for the Vikings, who host Capital at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Davis paced Borah (10-6, 4-3) with 14 points, five rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot, and Percell contributed 13 points, eight boards and two blocked shots. The Lions, who start three freshmen, have made a huge jump in their second season under head coach Ebony Norman, bouncing back from a 3-19 campaign in 2022-23.
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 11:33 PM.
