#1 Carey makes it
11 in a row
Panthers race past Community School 75-56
Robbie Ellsworth, at 5-5, may have been the shortest player on the basketball
court Tuesday but the determined senior made the biggest impact for the
streaking Carey School boys’ varsity basketball team.
Ellsworth, averaging 3.8 ppg, tallied a game-high 17 points lifting Carey to
a convincing 75-56 Northside Conference road victory over one of its chief
challengers for the league crown—The Community School of Sun Valley.
It was Carey’s first game after being elevated from fourth to first place in
the Idahosports.com 1A power rankings for the 2002-03 season. Coach Dick
Simpson’s Panthers were truly seven deep.
Coming off the bench with partner K.C. Rivera to give Carey catlike quickness
in the backcourt, Ellsworth sliced through the Cutthroat defense and shot a high
percentage from the perimeter. In all, four Panthers ended in double figures and
six scored 8 or more.
Carey (14-2, 10-0 league) captured its 11th consecutive victory, a streak
that started with a 63-52 home win over The Community School Dec. 18. The
Panthers proved to be more balanced, deeper and faster than the Cutthroats (8-7,
6-4 league), who had their three-game win streak ended.
Match-up problems disrupted the usually effective Cutthroat half-court
offense, and coach Mike Wade’s Sun Valley squad couldn’t turn its vaunted
defensive pressure into many points against Carey’s experienced runners.
Carey assigned long-armed 6-3 junior Blake Surerus and 6-2 senior John Saili
to cover the primary Cutthroat inside force, 6-4 junior Jim Fairchild. Electing
to look for the pass rather than shoot, Fairchild (12.9 ppg) could never get it
going and ended up with a quiet 8 points and 5 rebounds.
Meanwhile, another long-armed Carey defender, 6-0 senior Destry Simpson, went
out to guard leading Cutthroat scorer John Hayes (14.7 ppg). The result was
Hayes didn’t end up with the easy uncontested perimeter shot and had to work
much harder. Still, Hayes finished with 14 points, 3 steals and 3 assists.
Carey just had more artillery. Seven Panthers scored in the first quarter
alone.
With junior Dylan McIlhenny (13 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, 3 assists) taking
most of the early shots, the Cutthroats got off to a quick 7-2 start. Then Carey
showed its explosiveness on a 12-0 run fueled by its defensive pressure and
Cutthroat turnovers.
Junior Ty Simmons (12 points, 5 boards, 4 steals) had 6 points and a block in
Carey’s 16-8 second-quarter run. With Carey shuttling in its pairs of guards and
Hayes getting more tired by the minute, Ellsworth drilled a 3-pointer giving
Carey a 23-18 lead. The Panthers never looked back.
Trailing 34-22 at half, the Cutthroats made an 8-3 run sparked by Ethan
Weston, who scored 8 of his 10 points in the quarter. But Carey out-rebounded
the Cutthroats 12-4 in the third and carefully restored its 12-point lead by the
end of the stanza. Top Carey scorer Shawn Hennefer (16.2 ppg) swished two
3-pointers taking the wind out of any Cutthroat rally hopes.
For the game, Carey out-rebounded the Cutthroats 33-25 and had 17 steals.
Hennefer ended with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Surerus had 11
points, a game-high 9 rebounds and 2 steals. Saili added 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2
steals and 2 assists. Simpson had 8 points, 3 steals and 3 assists. Rivera
chipped in with 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. Stephen
Jurgensmeier had 3 rebounds and Kole Peck 3 points for the Panthers.
Rounding out the Cutthroat stats were Bret Watson 4 points, 3 rebounds, 4
steals and 5 assists; Josh Sonneland 4 points and 3 boards; Drew Detwiler 2
steals and 2 assists.
Current Northside Conference standings: Carey 10-0, Shoshone 8-1, Community
School 6-4, Richfield 4-5, Camas County 4-6, Bliss 1-8 and Dietrich 1-10.
"Senior Night," for nine Panther seniors is Tuesday, Feb. 4 at home against
the Richfield Tigers. Carey closes out its 2002-03 regular season at Shoshone
Friday, Feb. 7.
The Cutthroats visit Twin Falls Christian Academy for games Friday, Jan. 31
and go to Bliss next Tuesday. Final home game and "Senior Night" for the
Cutthroats is Saturday, Feb. 8 against Richfield.
The seven-school Northside 1A tournament opens Thursday, Feb. 13 in Shoshone.
Junior varsity action
Enjoying an amazing season, The Community School junior varsity (15-1, 10-1
league) avenged its only loss with a 72-55 triumph over Carey Tuesday night in
the preliminary boys’ game at The Fish Tank in Sun Valley.
Five Cutthroats scored in double figures as the home team maintained a
decided height advantage and used it to dominate the rebounding for coach Jim
Carkonen.
Leading 31-23 at halftime, the Cutthroats broke it wide open with a 28-14 run
in the third period. Tyler Jackson, a 6-2 freshman, scored 13 of his team-high
17 points in the third. And A.J. Beesley, a 6-0 sophomore, had 6 of his 12
points in the third.
Connor Wade finished with 10 points including three 3-pointers. Andrew
Durtschi had 12 points, Ben Larroquette 10, Hunter Smith 6 and Kyle Koski 5 for
the winners.
For Carey, freshman Tyler Cook had a game-high 21 points including five
3-pointers. Freshman Tadd Green added 15 points including four 3-pointers and
freshman Devin Simpson scored 17 points for coach Hollis Pincock’s Carey bunch.