Owyhee ‘sets the standard,’ winning 5A district basketball title on very first try
The first row of the Owyhee High School student section was occupied by a group of boys standing shoulder to shoulder with giant red letters painted across their chests spelling out “Jacks ur daddy.”
The wildly enthusiastic crew screamed and flexed as their namesake, Owyhee senior Jack Payne, was introduced as part of the starting lineup.
It proved to be the perfect precursor to a dominant night for the Storm.
Behind a barrage of 3-pointers at a clip of nearly 60%, Owyhee won its first 5A District Three Tournament championship on its very first try, stunning Eagle 71-49 on Friday night at Meridian High for its 17th consecutive victory.
The victory avenged a four-overtime loss to the Mustangs on Dec. 21 — the Storm’s only setback against an Idaho school this season.
“We were mad about that. We were holding on to that for a while,” Owyhee coach Andy Harrington said. “I’m still mad about that, but it was good for us. ... They exposed things that we needed to work on.”
Forty-five minutes before tipoff, Meridian’s gym was already packed, with a long line of fans still waiting to get in. Those who couldn’t find a seat stood four deep in doorways or along the balcony. It was so loud, coaches struggled to relay instructions to their players.
“Oh, man, I love our student section. It’s awesome,” said Owyhee sophomore Liam Campbell, who totaled 17 points in Friday’s win. “It’s just huge. Without our student section, I don’t think our games would be that fun.”
Although Eagle (20-4) scored the game’s first two buckets, junior Titus Bailey quickly turned the tide in the Storm’s favor. He sank a corner 3-pointer on his first attempt of the game, and he connected on four more triples before the quarter was over for a 22-17 Owyhee lead.
Bailey’s play proved infectious, as the Storm (21-3) built an 11-point lead by halftime, 39-28, and finished the game with 13 3-pointers on just 22 attempts (59.1%).
“He’s a big-time player,” Harrington said. “He’s only a (junior), but he embraces those moments. He wasn’t afraid to go out there and make plays and compete. That’s what he lives for. That’s why he does that. The kid lives in the gym.”
Payne, a Colorado State signee, usually attracts much of the attention on game day, but he was happy see Bailey take his turn in the spotlight so the Storm could hoist the first district title in the school’s short history. Owyhee opened its doors in Meridian this fall.
“It sets the standard for the program,” Payne said. “Me and Brayden (Hansen) are the only ones graduating. Once we’re gone, they’re gonna be pretty good next year, too.”
Owyhee will be the No. 2 seed at next week’s 5A state tournament, which runs Thursday-Saturday, March 3-5, at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. The Storm will face No. 7 Mountain View in the first round at 7 p.m.
It’s quite the ascension for a team that was practicing together in the park this summer while the school was still under construction. And Campbell, who moved to Idaho from California, didn’t start practicing with the team full time until the fall.
“We kind of all met each other in June, and we all began to actually like each other in September,” Payne said. “June was a struggle, a little weird. Liam joined the team late. Nobody knew who he was, but we all accepted him and now it’s a lot of fun.”
After scoring 15 points in the first quarter, Bailey tallied 17 on the night, including going 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. Barrett Fernandez added 11 points and Payne chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and three blocks.
Despite the dominant night, the Storm didn’t do much celebrating after the win.
“We just want to play the best we can play, and I think that we know that we have a chance, if we perform at a high level, to win something bigger,” Harrington said. “It’s not gonna be easy and there are a lot of great teams, but I think that those guys have pretty big goals. We’ve just got to keep getting better.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 11:20 PM.