Meridian not done yet: Defending champions upset Madison to get back to 5A semifinals
NAMPA - The reigning champs are still in the field.
It sounds odd, but it’s been a pretty unlikely scenario all season - even in this game, down double digits in the third quarter. But where there's a will, there’s a way.
No. 6 Meridian (18-9) beat No. 3 Madison 72-67 will play No. 2 Owyhee (22-3) at 7 p.m. Friday at the Ford Idaho Center again.
“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 our guys for this stuff.”
The Warriors (18-9) returned just one starter and only had one other guy that really saw significant time from last year’s state championship team. It’s shown at several points this year.
They started 5-6, needed an improbable no-look putback shot at the buzzer just to survive a district elimination game and had to win a state play-in game just to get to this point. Their run of good fortune looked like it was finally going to run out, down 49-39 with 5 minutes and 41 seconds remaining in the third. But Meridian ended the quarter with a 13-3 run, capped by the layin and the and-one by senior Davis Thacker - the only returning starter - to tie the game at 52-52 going into the final frame.
“I think we’re just taught well,” senior Austin Ramos said. “We stay composed. We didn’t get up or down. We just stayed level and we just kept playing our game.”
The fourth quarter saw seven different lead changes before a shot by the unlikeliest of people gave the Warriors the separation they needed. Senior Nathan Reynolds, who was a wrestler last season and tried to grapple with both this season before choosing basketball, drained a corner 3-pointer to give Meridian a 64-61 advantage with 2:31 to play.
“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.”
The Warriors rode the momentum of that clutch shot the rest of the way.
Ramos hit a running layin to push the lead to 66-61 32 seconds later. The defense forced the No. 3 Bobcats (18-6) to miss four of their next five shots and commit a turnover.
Madison did trim the deficit to 67-65 on a layup by senior Isaac Wilson with 22.3 seconds left after a missed free throw by Ramos. But the Warriors made their next four free throw attempts, including a pair by Ramos to salt the game away.
Pearce and Ramos tied for a game-high 17 points apiece. Senior Ladu Kaden chipped in with 14 points for the Warriors.
Senior Logan Crane paced four Madison players in double figures with 17 points. Sophomores Ike Sutton and Berrett Wilson each finished with 13 points, while Isaac Wilson had 12. The Bobcats will play Mountain View at 2 p.m. Friday in a loser-out game at Rocky Mountain High School.
PHOTO GALLERY
(All photos by Loren Orr)
