Owyhee, Bishop Kelly boys basketball both repeat as District III champions

BOISE - Andy Harrington couldn’t escape it.

The Owyhee High School boys basketball coach even heard it from his own mother and fiancée. About what was going on with the reigning state champions following just one loss to Mountain View a month and a half ago. He didn’t have to deal with that Thursday.

The Storm got payback over that very same Maverick team in a 58-51 victory in the Class 5A District III championship game at Idaho Central Arena. It also marked back-to-back district titles for the second-year program.

“We talk about it for sure,” said Harrington about the outside noise. “You either shy away from it or embrace it. And I’d rather be on that side of it than the other side where you’re hunting. And we’re being hunted every game. So you want that pressure and that’s what we try to tell our guys all the time.”

Owyhee (19-5) embraced it.

Following the loss in early January when the Storm lost on a last-second shot, they’ve now won 13 out of their past 14 games. Owyhee has won all but two games by double figures and has beaten those opponents by an average of 25.2 points. Its only loss during that span came on the road to nationally-ranked Montverde Academy (Fla.).

“There’s a lot of noise when you lose a game in the Valley for us, because there’s a lot of eyes on our program,” Harrington said. “I think we won every game in our league outside of (Mountain View) by 15-plus (points). “But if it’s within 15, people are like, ‘What happened? Why didn’t you guys win by 30?’”

Thursday proved to be a tougher test, though.

The Storm fell into a 9-4 hole early on, never led by more than seven points and had to grind it out at the end.

Ninth gracer Logan Haustveit found senior Camden Hyde for a fastbreak layin to cap a 7-0 run and tie the game at 45-45 with 7:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Owyhee answered right back with a run of its own. It scored six unanswered points over the next three minutes. The Mavericks (19-5) never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Four of those points came from one Liam Campbell. The junior guard and national recruit with offers from the likes of USC, put up 13 of his game-high 19 points (7-of-13) in the second half. He nearly recorded a double-double in front of Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice who was sitting courtside. The Broncos have also offered the 6-foot-5 Campbell, who Harrington said was likely playing most of the game with a broken nose after taking a hard shot early on.

“He’s a big leader on our team,” said sophomore Jackson Rasmussen, who flirted with a double-double as well with 10 points and seven boards. “He’s obviously our guy, our go-to guy. When we need a bucket, we go to Liam.”

However, Campbell was far from alone.

Owyhee had six players finish with five or more points, including newcomer Jayce Allen. The Skyview High transplant made two key layups in the final three minutes. The sophomore guard iced the game with about 13 seconds to go. He tipped a pass from Haustveit and tracked down the loose ball for the uncontested lay-in.

Allen finished with eight points. Seniors Reece Sasser-Gunson and Barrett Fernandez had seven and six points, respectively, off the bench. While sophomore Cameron Downie rounded it out with five points.

“We have key players, and we have depth,” Campbell said. “That’s what I love about our team is that everybody can step up to the plate, especially in these games where I’m not scoring a whole ton or I’m getting doubled.”

Haustveit led Mountain View with 16 points. He scored the team’s first nine points of the game in the first quarter. Hyde added 12 points and eight rebounds. Senior Dyson Judd also had eight rebounds to go with his 11 points. 

Owyhee and Mountain View had both already punched their tickets to state.

The Storm will be the No. 2 seed and play at noon March 2 inside the Ford Idaho Center. The Mavericks are locked into the third seed with a 2 p.m. matchup. It means a grudge match could take place in the state semifinals.

BISHOP KELLY STAVES OFF SKYVIEW COMEBACK 

The Knights never trailed., although there were several times when it looked like they would, especially in the game’s final minutes.

However, despite not returning a single starter from last season, Bishop Kelly held firm for a 52-49 victory to repeat as the Class 4A District III champion.

“Our guys just didn’t lose our composure,” Bishop Kelly coach Ryan Kerns said. “We executed what we wanted down the stretch. The game was close, but our guys weren’t rattled and they really performed when we needed it.”

It didn’t seem like that was going to be necessary.

Bishop Kelly (14-10) had a 15-point lead at 37-22 with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter. But then Skyview senior guard Eloy Chaparro made things interesting. He went on a personal 9-0 run himself to bring the Hawks (17-6) back to within seven at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Chaparro scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the game’s final 10 minutes, including completing the old-fashioned 3-point play that cut the deficit all the way down to 1 at 47-46 with 3:11 remaining.

Nevertheless, a pair of big-time plays allowed the Knights to weather the storm.

They got the first from Logan Fettic. The senior reserve hadn’t even attempted a shot in his previous 13 minutes of action. Yet, it didn’t stop him from draining a corner 3-pointer to bump the lead back up to four with 2:25 to go.

But a 3-pointer by Max Cutforth a minute later, meant the Knights needed another one. They got it in the form of junior Mason Suboh-Meuret.

Bishop Kelly was burning some clock up. But Suboh-Meuret saw a lane he couldn’t pass up on. He drove right through the heart of the Hawks’ defense for a wide-open layin to once again give the Knights some cushion at 52-49 with 39.4 seconds remaining.

“It’s just a great feeling to say every night that it’s going to be a team effort,” Kerns said. “The guys believe it and we believe it and then they just continue to prove it over and over again.”

Skyview still had multiple chances to force overtime.

While Kaden Salvadori missed a corner 3 of his own, the Hawks forced the Knights to turn the ball over after failing to inbound the pass within five seconds. But Skyview missed another corner 3-pointer when Jonah Wockenfuss’ attempt bounced out. The Hawks got one last crack at it when Bishop Kelly missed a one-and-one free throw. However, Wockenfuss’ desperation heave from halfcourt at the buzzer didn’t come anywhere near the basket. It hit the very top of the backboard to give the Knights their ninth straight win and put them into the postseason.

They started the year 1-7 and didn’t get above .500 until two weeks ago.

“I don’t think it shook our belief about who we were and what we were doing,” Kerns said. “We have an amazing senior class who just kind of keeps our eyes on the prize and keeps us all on board.”

Senior Joseph Behrend led three different players in double figures for Bishop Kelly with 15 points. He also had six rebounds. Senior Thomas Lodge was next with 13 points and Suboh-Meuret was right behind at 12.

Cutforth added 15 points for the Hawks, who will now play Ridgeuve (9-15) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Ridgevue High School in a winner-to-state game.