‘Our guys are just winners.’ Meridian slays another giant in 5A state tourney semifinals
Cinderella isn’t ready to go home yet.
The Meridian High boys basketball team scored another upset Friday at the 5A state tournament, knocking off No. 3 Mountain View 71-68 in the semifinals at the Ford Idaho Center to extend its underdog run.
The seventh-seeded Warriors, who didn’t own a winning record until Feb. 1, will take on No. 1 Lake City (25-0) at 8 p.m. Saturday for the state title.
“We knew we could make it this far at the beginning of the season,” Meridian junior guard Ryan Baker said. “We had a lot of injuries, especially with our big guys. But we knew from the very beginning we were this good. We just needed to prove it to everybody else.”
Few others believed that the Warriors were “this good.” They brought back just one starter from a year ago. Then they started the year 3-6, making this season look like a rebuilding one.
But Meridian coach Jeff Sanor said the Warriors never panicked. He knew it would take time to work in the late-arriving football players after Meridian made the state championship in November. So the team targeted late February and early March as its time to shine.
“I knew we were going to get off to a rough start because we were basically three weeks behind everybody,” Sanor said. “Our guys are just winners, man. They just have a winning mentality, and I love them.”
Baker drained a game-winner with 1.1 seconds left in a state play-in game to start the run and earn the Warriors a spot in the bracket. Then they rallied and upset defending state champ Owyhee in overtime Thursday.
Rival Mountain View became the latest victim to Meridian’s magical run. Griffin Deere put Meridian ahead with an and-one layup 57 seconds before halftime and the Warriors never trailed again, despite Mountain View throwing every haymaker in the playbook.
The Mavericks drained seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. That included four in a row at one point, a banked 3 from Dawson Wahl and Logan Haustveit’s half-court shot at the buzzer. But Meridian spent the entire season absorbing body blows and getting back up. So Friday came as no surprise.
“It was pretty tough,” senior Max Gwilliam said of Meridian’s start to the season. “But we’re definitely stronger coming out of it. I feel like we’re a dangerous team right now.”
Baker scored a team-high 17 points despite Mountain View assigning a no-help defender to him much of the afternoon. But he was just one of five Warriors in double figures.
Josh Christensen added 15 points, Nate Reynolds and T.J. Sanor both scored 11, and Gwilliam chipped in 10.
Meridian spent the past two days slaying giants, knocking off the SIC’s regular-season and district champs. But they’ll need to stop the biggest giant of them all Saturday.
Lake City looks everything like the juggernaut it was billed as. The Timberwolves rolled off 24 straight wins by double digits before their victory Friday against Madison (58-49). That list includes a 25-point win over Meridian on Dec. 28.
“They’re a really good team,” Sanor said. “So we’re gonna have to play our best and work like crazy to make them do things that they’re not comfortable doing.”
Haustveit led Mountain View with 18 points and five assists. Dyson Judd added 14 points, and Owen McBride finished with 12 points.
The Mavericks (20-6) will face Madison (19-7) for the third-place trophy at noon Saturday at Ridgevue.
LAKE CITY BACK IN FINALS
Lake City received its toughest test of the season. But the No. 1 Timberwolves (25-0) passed it with flying colors, topping Madison 58-49 to return to the state finals for the third time in program history.
Lake City entered state winning games by an average of 30.6 points. Friday’s nine-point win was its first by single digits.
“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. We’ve kind of had it easy,” Lake City senior Blake Buchanan said. “But we had to come in and do what we do. It’s good to see how we looked through a close game like that.”
Madison sophomore Nash Humpherys (19 points) cut the deficit to three twice in the fourth quarter. But the Bobcats could never get any closer despite making 9-of-22 3-pointers.
Idaho State signee Kolton Mitchell led Lake City with 17 points. Nathan Hocking added 12, and Buchanan, a Virginia signee, finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks.
The win earns Lake City a rematch with Meridian, who beat the Timberwolves for the 2021 state title. Lake City enters as the heavy favorite this time, but coach Jim Winger knows that won’t mean much Saturday.
“It feels great, but there’s one more,” Winger said. “It’s really great going to bed knowing you’re in the state championship. But the one you want is tomorrow.”
OWYHEE BOUNCES BACK
The defending state champs will play on the final Saturday of the season. Just not at the time or venue they desired.
The Storm (20-6) rebounded from a first-round upset to beat Timberline 43-34, rallying in the second half to advance to Saturday morning’s consolation final at Ridgevue at 10 a.m. They will face district rival Eagle.
Owyhee, the No. 2 seed, suffered through a horrible shooting night (12 of 37, 32%) at Rocky Mountain High and did not have a player reach double figures as the Wolves slowed the game down.
Liam Campbell made just one basket and tied for the team lead with 9 points. Jackson Rogers also had 9 points, all on made 3-pointers.
Jachin Mertes had 13 points for Timberline (17-1) to lead all scorers. The Wolves (13-for-45) shot worse than Owyhee.
EAGLE WILL PLAY FOR TROPHY
No. 5 Eagle built a 10-point lead and held off No. 8 Highland for a 46-43 win in the consolation semifinals.
Landon White scored 18 points to lead Eagle (17-1) and was the only Mustang in double figures. He added nine rebounds.
The Mustangs made only 11-of-20 free throws and shot 35.7% from the floor, but they held Highland (14-14) to 34% shooting.
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 4:47 PM.
