Carey earns silver, Miners a third gold
Unheralded Panthers (20-9) make state championship game
Playing its best basketball on Idaho’s grandest prep
stage, the Carey School boys’ varsity basketball team (20-9) made it all
the way to Saturday’s State A-4 championship game at the Idaho Center in
Nampa.
Coach Lee Cook’s Panthers, capping an amazing reversal
from last winter’s five-win rebuilding campaign, won three games at the
state tournament for the first time in school history—and became the
first-ever Carey basketball team to play for all the marbles.
Unfortunately, the rags-to-riches story fell short of the
ultimate goal because the Mackay Miners (20-4, 64-8 over three years) just
played better, more confident basketball in Saturday’s title game.
Shooting 53% from the field, Mackay breezed 73-46 led by senior point
guard Kris Krosch.
Starting five seniors, coach Sheldon Rosenkrance’s
experienced Mackay squad accomplished a rare three-peat—winning its
third straight State A-4 title, all over Fourth District teams, in 1999
over Murtaugh, in 2000 over Richfield and 2001 over Carey.
Mackay got better as the four-day, 16-team tournament
rolled on, winning its games by 10, 16, 20 and 27 points. Shocking favored
Richfield by 16 points Thursday, the Miners ended up outshooting foes 46%
to 30% and out-rebounding opponents by a wide margin.
Krosch (17.8 ppg at state), bound for Idaho State
University for football, was virtually unstoppable with the basketball.
Against Carey scored 24 points, distributed 8 assists and led the Miners
with 8 boards. He was everywhere.
But Carey had plenty of bragging points as well. Coach
Cook said the Panthers exceeded all expectations, beating Genesee 55-49,
squeaking past Clark Fork 50-47 and playing their best game in the 66-51
semi-final victory over the Oakley Hornets.
"It was a real feather in our cap to make the
championship game," said Cook, whose Panthers went 54-84 (64%) at the
free throw line compared to 22-44 for its four opponents.
Leading Carey throughout the tournament were seniors Tony
Howard (15.3 ppg at state on 53% field goal shooting with 24 rebounds, 15
assists and 11 steals) and Alex Peterson (15.0 ppg, 31 boards, 8 steals).
Jonathan Rivera had 10 assists and 11 steals, and John Saili totaled 27
boards—9 offensive.
The biggest win was Friday’s 14-point victory over
Oakley which avenged two regular-season Carey losses to the Hornets.
"We played an excellent game," said Cook.
Carey 66, Oakley 51
Carey’s pressure defense led to 25 Hornet turnovers—and
the Panthers (53% field goal shooting, 14-for-18 at the line) scored 23
points off turnovers. For the game Carey came up with 17 steals led by
Peterson 5, Saili 4 and Rivera 4.
Still, it was a fairly close contest until Carey matched
its season-high for a single quarter with 26 points in the fourth. Howard
(14.4 ppg season) finished with 20 points on 64% shooting, plus 7 assists.
Peterson added 15 points and 7 boards, Rivera 11 points,
Lee Jay Cook 5, Trevor Hunt 4 and Shawn Hennefer 2. Carey needed some
muscle and Saili (5.7 ppg) supplied it, with 6 rebounds and 9 big points.
Carey 55, Genesee 49
With its speed and fast break clicking in the first half
of Wednesday’s opener, Carey built a nine-point second quarter lead.
Peterson (20 points, 7 rebounds) tallied 8 points in the first quarter.
Second District champ Genesee (47% from the field)
regained the lead in the third quarter, but Saili (9 rebounds, 5
offensive) kept Carey ahead with two straight putback baskets—and the
Panther defensive intensity picked up.
The fourth quarter was a nailbiter and the score was tied
46-46 with two minutes left. But Carey had the will to prevail. Coach Cook
said, "We’ve hung in there all year and have had real adversity to
overcome."
A huge steal by Rivera (6 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) led
to two free throws by Howard (13 points, 7 boards), who was 4-for-4 from
the line in the fourth. Indeed, Carey (14-for-21) made 12 of 16 free
throws in the final eight minutes for the win.
Carey 50, Clark Fork 47
It was an extremely close game, featuring eight ties and
11 lead changes, and no team had a lead of more than three points until
Carey’s full-court defensive pressure ignited a 10-0 run at the end of
the third.
"We rattled them and got a few turnovers off the
press before the end of the third," said Cook, whose offense (33%
field goals, 1-for-13 3-pointers) struggled during the game.
Carey’s nine-point lead dissolved when the Panthers went
to their "three-game" offensive slowdown and inexplicably made
five unforced turnovers. Clark Fork’s 9-0 run tied it 41-41 with three
minutes left.
That’s when Howard (a game-high 19 points, 9 boards, 3
steals) made a big-time basket by driving the lane. Peterson (16 points,
10 rebounds including 6 offensive) came up with a big-time steal and
converted two charities on a flagrant foul.
Free throws saved the day again.
Carey (15-of-29 for the game) hit 9-of-15 from the line in
the fourth. Howard made four of his last five throws. Saili ended up with
8 of Carey’s 33 boards, and Shawn Hennefer (4-for-6 at the line) played
a big role with 6 points and 3 steals.
"We were able to score baskets when we needed them
and make enough free throws to stay ahead," Cook said. "We’ve
played a lot of close games under pressure this season and haven’t
buckled under. I was real proud."
STATE NOTES—
Carey’s John Cenarrusa accepted the school’s
Sportsmanship Award, a t-shirt, from Idaho High School Activities
Association executive director Bill Young….Hagerman’s coach Kevin Cato
accepted the A-4 Team Sportsmanship Award for the Pirates….It was Carey’s
fifth 20-win season in nine years. Carey has a 184-86 record (68%) in 11
winters since 1991.
A turnaround in free throws contributed to Carey’s
success. Last year Carey was outscored at the line 187-142 and outshot
339-244. This year the Panthers outscored foes 294-246 and outshot them
476-450. Having Howard this year, after the youngster played in Twin Falls
last winter, played a big role.
Alex Peterson (435 points season. 837 points in two years
of varsity) moved into ninth-place on the all-time Carey scoring list—but
he’s the only one in the top ten to do it in two years instead of three.
His 435 points was the most since Rich Payne tallied 485 (16.7 ppg) for
Carey’s 20-9 squad in 1996. Payne was a spectator at state in 2001.
Counting JV, Peterson finished with 1,339 points.
Winning close games meant a lot for Carey. Prior to state,
Carey was 10-8 in games settled by 10 points or less, and 6-4 in five
points or less. Last winter, Carey was 0-10 in games decided by 10 points
or less….Krosch, who averaged 17.8 ppg on 49% shooting, 9.0 rebounds,
5.3 assists and 4.8 steals at state, has been the man for Mackay in
championship games. He scored 14 as a sophomore in Mackay’s 64-54 win
over Murtaugh, 20 as a junior in the 70-41 victory over Richfield and 24
Saturday against Carey. Mackay’s three-year records: 21-3, 23-1, 20-4….Mackay
started the season 1-3 including a 65-60 OT loss at Carey Dec. 8.
The only other Blaine County team to play in a state
basketball championship game was coach Fred Trenkle’s first Wood River
squad (19-7), in 1974, which beat Snake River 52-50 and Post Falls 63-49
and then lost 59-52 to Grangeville. Scott Uhrig, now Shoshone’s
assistant coach, was a starter.
Carey, Oakley (18-9) and Raft River (17-10) finished 2-3-4
at state, while Fourth District king Richfield (24-4) shot poorly and
exited with only one win. Raft River’s 6-6 junior guard Jacob Nelson set
an A-4 state tournament record with 108 points in four games, including 39
in his team’s 57-56 fourth-place victory over Council.
