Preseason favorite Meridian overcomes slow start to win first district title since 2003
Meridian’s Ethan Pearce caught a long pass in the closing seconds of the 5A District 3 championship game, and there was nobody between him and the hoop.
He could have tacked on a meaningless basket. There was no need. The Warriors’ 54-45 win over Rocky Mountain and their first district title since 2003 were sealed. Instead, he stopped short of the three-point line, flexed his muscles and roared to the student section perched in the stands on the second floor of Capital High School.
The students responded in kind.
“Meridian is a great place. It’s a great school,” Meridian boys basketball coach Jeff Sanor said. “With all the growth, it’s been down in sports for a long time, but little by little, we’re working our way back to prominence.”
The Warriors (17-1) returned seven players from last season’s squad, which finished second in the district and made the state tournament. They were the preseason favorite to win the district this winter, but in a season where every game has been threatened by COVID-19, nothing was guaranteed.
“It took everybody’s hard work. Everybody coming into the gym on off days getting shots up, playing five on five, just all that extra work we put in,” Meridian’s McKay Anderson said. “We all wanted this for each other, and that’s why we play so well together.”
Meridian found itself trailing, 11-0, in the opening minutes of the game, and the Warriors were down 10 points (17-7) with a little more than three minutes left in the first quarter.
That kind of start can be disastrous for any team, but Sanor said giving his players more freedom helped them battle back to cut the deficit to 25-18 by halftime.
“I was so focused on getting back to states, I took too much control of these guys,” said Sanor, who is in his fourth season as the Warriors’ head coach. “Tonight, I tried to turn them loose a little bit, and I trust them immensely, so when we get down like we did, I’m really not that worried. These guys can weather that.”
They weathered the storm and claimed the title thanks in large part to a pair of veterans: Anderson and fellow senior Brody Rowbury, who combined for 39 points.
Anderson led the way with 21 points and added three steals, and he completed a rare four-point play as part of a 9-0 run the Warriors used to take their first lead of the game in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
After Drayson Fisher cut to the basket with the same move on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 32 with 20 seconds left in the frame, Anderson knocked down his second three-pointer of the night and drew a foul. He completed the and-1 to send Meridian into the fourth quarter with a 36-32 lead.
“McKay can do so much. He is such a great defender and one of the most lethal shooters you’re ever going to see,” Sanor said. “He’s also probably the fastest basketball player with the ball in his hand that I’ve ever seen. He’s a complete point guard.”
Rowbury — a 6-foot-10 forward — scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half and finished with seven rebounds. He also knocked down a three to give the Warriors a late five-point lead and went 3-for-5 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Sanor said the plan coming into the game wasn’t to feed the big man inside, but circumstances demanded that he get the ball while the Warriors were trying to dig out of a deep hole.
“Once we needed a couple baskets to drop, it was like ‘OK, we’re going inside and we’re going to see the ball go through the hoop a couple times,’” Sanor said.
Rocky Mountain (15-3) was denied its quest for back-to-back district titles.
Grizzlies coach Dane Roy credited Meridian’s defense for making life difficult but said his team just has to get back to executing its half court offense the way it did all season.
“(Meridian) kind of just got back on defense and locked in, and we just didn’t execute,” Roy said. “Hopefully we can get back to hitting some of those open shots we were missing tonight.”
Rocky Mountain was led by 6-8 sophomore Drew Fielder, who finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and finished the game 7-for-9 at the free throw line.
“He can play inside and outside, and he moves really well,” Roy said. “He still has a lot of room to grow, and he’s going to be a stud in this league.”
Meridian and Rocky Mountain both advance to the 5A state tournament, which is scheduled to begin Thursday at the Idaho Center in Nampa.
Middleton wins 4A district title
The Vikings (20-4) cruised past Bishop Kelly 57-41 on their home court Thursday to repeat as 4A District Three champions.
Middleton jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Junior Tyler Medaris led the way with a game-high 16 points, Merit Foote added 12 points and Cash Cowdery chipped in 10 points.
The victory earns the Vikings the Treasure Valley’s top seed at next week’s 4A state tournament. They will face Jerome (20-2) in the first round at 7 p.m. March 4 at Rocky Mountain High.
Aidan McGarvin scored nine points to pace Bishop Kelly, which also heads to state. The Knights (16-5) open against either Lakeland or Moscow at 2 p.m. March 4 at Rocky Mountain.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 10:41 PM.
