Middleton boys basketball avenges its lone conference loss to earn district title

Last time they faced off, the Kuna High boys basketball team (17-7, 12-4 SIC) ended Middleton’s hopes at going undefeated in conference play.

This time, Middleton (21-3, 15-1) won 65-54 and took home the 4A District Three championship trophy.

It didn’t start out pretty for Middleton. Kuna jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the first quarter and forced Middleton into committing six turnovers in the first frame.

“They get you playing up and down,” Middleton coach Andy Harrington said. “That’s the pace they want to play at. We thought we could play with them to a certain extent.”

It didn’t take long for Middleton’s depth to catch up to Kuna, which got gassed and couldn’t keep up its frantic pace on both ends of the court. Middleton went on a 15-3 run led by junior guard Cash Cowdery, who scored eight points during the run, and finished the game with 13 points.

“We just knew that we had to stay calm,” Cowdery said. “They wanted to speed us up, press us and pressure us. We knew we had to change the pace a little bit.”

In the third quarter, Kuna and Middleton turned to their star players. Trying to spark a comeback, Kuna’s Sean Austin, the league’s third-leading scorer (16.3 points per game), scored the first 11 points for his team in the second half. However, Tyler Robinett, who leads the league with 16.9 points per game and recently scored his 1,000th point for Middleton, took over. He matched almost every one of Austin’s baskets, scoring nine points in the quarter. He finished the game with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

“He’s the best player in the state,” Cowdery said.

“(Tyler) has had to sacrifice a ton on this team because we have a lot of depth,” Harrington said. “(We have) a lot of guys that can score the ball, but in our big games he steps up.”

Austin ended the game with 22 points after only scoring once in the fourth quarter. Kuna was also led by Cade Randall, who had 15 points and two steals. Middleton shot 14-for-18 in the second half and finished the game shooting 70 percent from the field.

This is Middleton’s first district championship since 2015, and its student section traveled to Kuna to storm the court after the awards were given out.

“It’s a new beginning for the school, for the program,” Robinett said. “We’ve struggled (in the past) and we’re finally starting to get on the right track of winning. I think this is a huge step to be a really good program to play for.”

Middleton starts state tournament play on Thursday, March 5, at Borah, against the winner of the play-in game between Bishop Kelly and Pocatello, while Kuna will face off against Blackfoot.

“We have just got to play the best basketball we can play,” Harrington said. “We’re not going to set a goal, we’re not going to focus on anyone ahead. Whoever we play on Thursday … we’re going to be ready to go, and we’ll move on from there.”

Last year, Middleton lost to Preston in the first round of the state tournament.

“State is the best time of the year,” Cowdery said. “It’s different than anything else. We’re just going to keep calm, stick to our game plan and go in.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 11:04 PM.