MERIDIAN – It was a matchup we’d all been waiting for. Eagle and Owyhee met up twice last year – the first one went to 4 overtimes ending in an Eagle victory and the second was the district championship dominated by Owyhee.
So how would it look this year? Owyhee would be without Jack Payne (2021-2022 5A State Player of the Year) and Eagle would be without Donovan Jones (2021-2022 5A SIC Player of the Year) due to graduation. Owyhee finished last season with a state championship and was was voted this year’s preseason favorite in the SIC (receiving all first-place votes) with Eagle right behind in second place.
Tuesday night Owyhee left no doubt as to why they should be the favorite in the SIC. Junior guard Liam Campbell and crew imposed their will from the opening tip and never looked back. Campbell finished with a game-high 28 points and Barrett Fernandez added 12. Eagle had 4 players in double-digits (White 15, Gibson 13, Hansen 12, Huish 10) but it wasn’t enough as Owyhee pulled away in the second half and claimed a 76-61 victory.
Quick hits: Owyhee out-rebounded Eagle 41-29. Owyhee scored 33 points (11/29 37.9%) off of 3-pointers while Eagle had only 9 (3/12 25%).
Gibson 4-10 4-4 13, Pugh 1-6 0-0 3, Benitez 0-4 0-0 0, Howse 1-2 0-0 2, White 5-15 5-6 15, Pugmire 2-4 2-2 6, Hansen 4-9 3-4 12, Huish 5-6 0-0 10