Underdogs rule 5A state tournament. Only Owyhee lives up to its top billing
The Idaho 5A boys basketball state tournament started Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
Underdogs ruled the day as lower seeds won three of the four games: No. 8 Centennial, No. 6 Meridian and No. 5 Rigby.
Here’s a recap of the day’s highlights.
SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS
All 5A semifinals are Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
- Centennial (15-10) vs. Rigby (17-8), 5 p.m.
- Meridian (18-9) vs. Owyhee (22-3), 7 p.m.
CENTENNIAL UPSETS NO. 1 LAKE CITY
The eighth-seeded Patriots pulled off the upset of the tournament to start things off, shocking top-seeded Lake City 72-67. Check out the full story here.
OWYHEE LIVES UP TO ‘VILLAIN’ STATUS
Thursday saw team after team storm the court at the Idaho Center, as the underdogs won the first three matchups. But when second-seeded Owyhee staved off Mountain View for a 56-45 victory in the nightcap, the Storm simply turned to the bench for some subdued high-fives and shuffled to the postgame handshake line.
The first-year program took a veteran approach, treating the moment as if it were no big deal — instead of the first state tournament victory in school history in any sport.
Owyhee (22-3), a brand-new school, knows the bigger goal lies ahead.
“We thought we could win, and I think we could win the whole thing, if I’m going to be honest,” said Owhyee sophomore guard Liam Campbell, who led the Storm with 12 points and eight rebounds. “It’s business-like, and we just got to finish it off.”
Except for a 2-0 deficit in the opening minute, Owyhee led throughout, going up by as many as 17 points in the third quarter. Mountain View chipped away until it cut the lead to five with 1:39 left in the game. But the Storm finally found their free-throw touch in the final minute, finishing 6-of-8 at the line after starting the game 10-of-21.
The crowd turned in Mountain View’s favor as the underdog threatened a comeback. But that’s nothing new for Owyhee, which started the season as the heavy favorite in 5A SIC and has played with a target on its back all season.
“It’s fun to be the villain,” Owyhee senior Jack Payne said. “Everybody loves it.”
Owyhee coach Andy Harrington jokingly said he noticed other 5A SIC teams rooting for Mountain View on Thursday. That didn’t bother him.
“You want to be the hunted,” Harrington said. “If you’re not the hunted, then you’re hunting. We want that challenge, and we embrace it.
“We try to tell our guys you’re going to get everyone’s best shot, which we have all year.”
That next best shot will come from Meridian, which Owyhee beat by 32 points earlier this year and then by three points in the district tournament semifinals.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Payne said. “It’ll be a fun game for sure.”
Freshman Jackson Rasmussen joined Campbell with 12 points to lead Owyhee, and Payne, a Colorado State commit, added 11 points. Nate Ojukwu led Mountain View with 20 points, including 14 in the second half, and 10 rebounds.
The Mavericks (15-10) drop into the consolation bracket, where they will face Madison at 2 p.m. Friday at Rocky Mountain High.
MERIDIAN RALLIES TO EXTEND TITLE DEFENSE
Meridian’s chance at back-to-back state titles stood on its last legs, with a 10-point deficit in the third quarter. But the Warriors found a way to rally and return to the semifinals with a 71-67 win over Madison.
The comeback mirrored the season so far for Meridian (18-9). The Warriors returned only a single starter from last year’s dominant championship team, and they stumbled to a 5-6 start with an inexperienced lineup.
But as the calendar turned to February and March, they found another gear. Friday’s win marked their ninth in the past 11 games.
“Most of our team, we’re all new, and we’re all new to varsity and new to each other,” Meridian senior Austin Ramos said. “So we’re just trying to mesh (with) each other, and right now, it looks good.”
The high-scoring, back-and-forth game saw 11 lead changes and both teams finish better than 50% from the floor. But the key shot came from one of the most unlikely sources.
Junior Nathan Reynolds started the season splitting time between wrestling and basketball. He eventually settled on basketball and entered the tournament averaging 1.1 points per game.
But the first-team All-Idaho linebacker calmly sank a corner 3-pointer to give Meridian a 64-61 lead with 2:31 left in the fourth quarter. The Warriors never trailed again, sinking 5-of-7 free throws after the momentum-shifting basket.
“Freakin’ awesome,” Meridian senior Ethan Pearce said. “We work a lot on shooting at practice, and he deserved that shot 100%. That was huge for us. He deserved it.”
Pearce and Ramos both scored 17 points to lead Meridian, and Pearce added nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Meridian’s 6-1 senior guard Ladu Kaden chipped in 15 points, including two on a baseline dunk in the fourth quarter.
“A lot of guys, this was the first time they’ve been in this type of environment,” Meridian coach Jeff Sanor said. “But our soph/frosh program, our JV program is excellent. It prepares us guys for this stuff.”
Logan Crane had 17 points, and Ike Sutton and Berrett Wilson each added 13 for Madison (18-6), which drops into the consolation bracket.
EAGLE’S COMEBACK FALLS SHORT
The Mustangs nearly put together a comeback win for the ages after trailing by 20 points twice in the second quarter. But Rigby held on in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 54-52 victory.
Eagle (20-5) mounted an 18-0 run to take a five-point lead with 4:33 left in the fourth quarter. But the Mustangs didn’t sink another field goal and went 2-for-6 at the free-throw line in the final quarter, finishing the night 8-for-18 at the line.
“Credit them. They hit some good shots and we shot 46% from the free-throw line,” Eagle coach Cody Pickett said. “You can’t shoot 46% and expect to win a game like that.”
Rigby (17-8) wasn’t any better at the free-throw line, making 6-of-13 (46%). But Jakobe Jones drained a corner 3-pointer with 37.7 seconds left to regain the lead. Karson Barber then hit 2-of-4 free throws to stave off Eagle, which drops into the consolation bracket, where it faces Lake City (22-2) at noon Friday at Rocky Mountain.
Eagle earned a look at a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, but Tyler Peters’ shot rimmed out, allowing Rigby to storm the court.
“I was so proud of them the way we battled back,” Pickett said of his team. “It hurts that we weren’t able to close it out.”
Donovan Jones led Eagle with 19 points and four steals, while Gage Jones and Tyler Peters each added seven points.
Rigby saw three scorers reach double figures: Sam Kunz (15 points), Karson Barber (14) and Jones (11).
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 7:58 PM.
