Worth the hype and more. Meridian boys basketball wins first state title in 29 years.
The list of Idaho’s blue blood boys basketball programs doesn’t include Meridian.
Nevertheless, a loaded Warriors squad spent the entire season as the 5A front runner. And they lived up to that billing every step of the way.
That final step included a 68-54 win over Lake City in the 5A state championship game Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center, bringing Meridian its first state title since 1992.
“It’s an indescribable feeling, man,” Meridian senior forward Brody Rowbury said. “It’s an awesome feeling. It’s a dream come true.”
The state championship marks the climax of a multiyear journey to return Meridian (20-1) basketball back to relevance.
Jeff Sanor took over the program in 2017-18 and promptly led the Warriors to their first winning record in 12 years that season. But it took another two years to make it back to state. And then one final year for it all to come together with a celebration on the Idaho Center floor.
Meridian senior Joe Mpoyo remembers watching the Warriors get blown out by 30 points nearly every night in the sixth grade. He vowed that wouldn’t happen during his time in a Meridian uniform.
Instead, the Warriors were often the ones delivering the blowouts, going wire-to-wire as the state’s No. 1-ranked team behind 5A’s most explosive offense.
“It’s been a crazy ride,” Mpoyo said. “I knew this time would come. I knew all the hard work would pay off. And we just kept our head up.”
Keeping the Warriors’ heads up was a tall task when Sanor first arrived. Changing the program’s expectations took years. Then the former Boise State player had to prepare the Warriors to play with a target on their back — even though they hadn’t won a first-round game at state in 18 years.
But if Meridian ever felt any pressure, it never showed it.
“We handled it by just never being satisfied,” Mpoyo said. “We knew that everyone was coming for us. We knew that everyone was going to give us their best shot. And we just stayed hungry.
“Whether we won by 30, 10 or five (points), we just stayed hungry and kept the same mentality.”
That hunger showed off Saturday. Meridian and Lake City (18-7) traded seven lead changes in the first and second quarter, marking the first times Meridian trailed during the entire state tournament.
But McKay Anderson gave the Warriors a 30-28 lead when he sank three free throws with 4:52 left in the second. And Meridian kept its foot on the Timberwolves’ neck the rest of the way, never letting them come up for air in another machine-like performance.
Anderson stepped up when his team needed him the most. The senior point guard scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, taking over a scoring role as Mpoyo took a spot on the bench with three first-quarter fouls.
Anderson also scored 21 points in last week’s district championship game.
“That’s the McKay that we saw all fall,” Sanor said. “He was trying to be such a floor general in the middle of the season that his scoring went down (to 10.0 ppg). But that’s his normal scoring talent. That guy put the ball in the basket a bunch of different ways. And he was huge for us tonight.”
Rowbury added 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Mpoyo and Davis Thacker each scored 10 points. And Colby Homer added eight points off the bench to cap a historic season for Meridian.
Only a two-point loss to Rocky Mountain on Feb. 5 kept the Warriors from a perfect season.
Anderson said much of the credit belongs to Sanor.
“He’s done an incredible job,” Anderson said. “He’s the best coach I’ve ever had. He’s really just gotten the most out of every single one of us. I can’t even put into words how much he’s meant to this program.”
Lake City’s trio of sophomores impressed again Saturday. Kolton Mitchell scored 15 points, Zach Johnson added 14 and Blake Buchanan finished with 11 points and nine rebounds to lead the Timberwolves.
Boise falls in third-place game: The Brave shot 29% from the field, losing to Madison 73-58.
Madison’s Taden King scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds, both game highs.
Whitt Miller led Boise (8-8) with 20 points. Jack Goode and Jack Payne both added 12 as the Brave finished their best season since 1997.
Eagle loses four-overtime thriller: Rigby rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and beat the Mustangs 65-61 in quadruple overtime of the consolation championship.
Karson Barber led Rigby (19-8) with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Isaac Deedon recorded a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds for Eagle (14-9), and teammate Gage Jones also scored 15 points.
This story was originally published March 6, 2021 at 8:36 PM.
