For the week of December 24 - 30, 2002

Hailey girls gift-wrap a pre-holiday run

Three SCIC league victories last week

---

Considering his team’s depth and talent, Wood River High School girls’ basketball coach Brent Carnduff felt the Hailey girls were very capable of putting together a lengthy winning streak.

Wood River, facing the challenge of three Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference games last week, got the winning streak at just the right time and gift-wrapped three hard-fought wins over Filer, Gooding and Declo.

"It was a huge week for us," said Carnduff, whose Wolverines (7-3, 3-1 SCIC) climbed all the way from winless in the six-team SCIC to co-leaders with the Filer Wildcats (6-3, 3-1) at the holiday break.

Liz Rippon (22), a Wood River force in the paint against Declo, goes up hard against Hornet star Whitney Anderson Friday night. Express photo by David N. Seelig

Carnduff said, "I felt as we got more comfortable with our team this season we could go on a run at any time. Our pattern of the last four games was to stay close and then move away in the fourth quarter."

That kind of extra gas in the tank—Wood River outscoring Filer, Gooding and Declo 74-46 in the fourth quarters—helped Carnduff’s 10-deep Wolverines stretch their win streak to four games last week.

Tuesday, junior Emily Smith (a season-high 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals) had a breakout game as host Wood River rallied from a 38-31 deficit to overcome Filer 60-51.

Smith (9.7 ppg) went 7-for-10 at the stripe and Wood River out-pointed Filer 29-13 in the final period. Top scorer Natalie Green (17.3 ppg) also had 17 points including two 3-pointers. Junior Jessica King (6.4 ppg) added 10 points and 11 boards.

Thursday at Gooding, the Senators held the high-scoring Wolverines (57.8 ppg) to just 19 points in the 19-19 first half. Wood River broke it open with a 45-point second half and ended with four in double figures.

King had a season-high 15 points, Smith 14, Green 13 and Kelly Haisley (6.8 ppg) finished with 13 as well.

With two league wins in book, and playing their third game in four days, Wood River might have mailed it in Friday night at home against defending SCIC champion Declo—but the Wolverines were just getting started.

Pressing the entire game and putting a ton of defensive pressure on the perimeter, Wood River jumped to a 14-4 first-quarter lead and just wore the Hornets down with a 21-15 fourth-quarter surge. The final: 50-44.

Carnduff praised Wood River’s intense man-to-man defense, which never relented. He said, "Our press has been working from Day One. Early in the game, we switched off a little between zone and man. The girls said they wanted to go with man."

The fourth quarter started in a 29-29 tie, but the difference was Wood River’s stamina, rebounding and free throw shooting. Declo was worn out from four quarters of running the floor and dealing with the press.

Carnduff, who substituted in short shifts for three quarters, went with only five or six players in the fourth—Green, Smith, King, Haisley, Syringa Stark and junior Liz Rippon.

Rippon was a huge factor with 4 fourth-quarter rebounds, most on the offensive glass, and 5-for-7 charity shooting. Smith (12 points) scored three big baskets. The Wolverines shot 10-for-14 from the stripe, and Declo’s (2-for-8) arms were heavy.

Carnduff said, "Liz played great, in the post against taller players."

Green, held scoreless in the first half, came out shooting after intermission and finished with a team-high 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Carnduff said, "We tried to look for Natalie in the third quarter. She’s so important in our set offense."

Wood River led only 39-38 with two minutes left. Rippon made two free throws, Smith stole the ball and went coast-to-coast, King and Rippon teamed for a board and Smith hit a clutch baseliner, then Green sank two free ones for a 47-39 lead at 0:50.

That was all she wrote for Declo (1-2 league). The Hornets put only leading scorer Whitney Anderson (16 points, 12 boards) in double figures.

SCIC standings: Wood River 3-1, Filer 3-1, Buhl 2-1, Declo 1-2, Gooding 1-2 and Kimberly 0-3.

Declo game: Points—Green 13, Smith 12, Haisley 11, Rippon 5, King 4, Stark 4, Tiffany Wheeler 1. Rebounds—Green 9, King 7, Rippon 6. Steals—Stark 4, Wheeler 4. Assists—Haisley 3, Smith 2.

Gooding game: Points—King 15, Smith 14, Green 13, Haisley 13, Rippon 4, Wheeler 2, Martina Clauss 2, Stark 1. Rebounds—Steals—Assists.

Filer game: Points—Green 17, Smith 17, King 10, Stark 6, Rippon 5, Alexa Alberdi 3, Haisley 2. Rebounds—King 11, Smith 6, Green 4. Steals—Smith 4, Green 3. Assists—Smith 4, Stark 3, Green 3.

 

McCall tourney

Wood River competes in the McCall Mile High Basketball Classic Friday and Saturday, Dec. 27-28. The Wolverines open against Caldwell Friday at 3 p.m., followed at 6:15 p.m. by a game between the Idaho City and McCall-Donnelly girls.

The girls’ consolation game matching the losers of Friday’s games is set for Saturday at 3 p.m., with the girls’ championship at 6:15 p.m.

WOLVERINE NOTES—Wood River’s record winning streak is six games, set in the 10-14 season of 1998-99 when the Wolverines started 6-0. The next year Haileys started 4-1 with a four-game win streak.

In its current four-game winning streak, Wood River is 54-93 at the free throw line, and opponents are 40-67….The Wolverines play at Declo Jan. 7 and at Kimberly Jan. 8….Last year Wood River lost at home to Declo 51-34….This year’s 7-3 record after 10 games is identical to last year’s 15-8 squad that set a school win record. But Wood River was 5-2 on the road in those first 10 games last winter, and 5-1 at home this year. On the other hand, Wood River’s longest win streak was three games last winter.

Scoring is way up. At a similar point, Wood River was averaging 48.4 ppg last year. This year it’s 57.8 ppg. But the defense has yielded more points, 31.0 ppg last year and 52.1 ppg this winter…Free throw shooting is better, 58% to 54%.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.