For the week of March 5 - 11, 2003

Defense paves the way for Carey

Panthers (19-2) ride 16-game
win streak to state

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By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

Like a pair of old sneakers, "defense wins championships," is a well-worn phrase at this March Madness time of year.

Coach Dick Simpson’s Carey School Panthers are going to test its accuracy during the 16-team State 1A boys’ basketball tournament starting today, Wednesday in Caldwell.

Northside Conference and Fourth District champ Carey (19-2), winner of 16 straight games, opens its state quest today at 1:15 p.m. at Caldwell High School against the Council Lumberjacks (18-6).

Blake Surerus (right) of Carey takes the ball up hard against Jim Fairchild of The Community School. Express photo by David N. Seelig

 

The state tournament is an "endurance race, one where you have to stay focused for every game," said Simpson, assistant coach of the Cinderella Carey squad that placed second to Mackay in the 2001 State 1A championship game.

Often, your shooting deserts you in a big game—and you have to rely on your defense to pull you through. "I’m pleased with our defense. It’s been a strong point," said Simpson.

It will be Carey’s eighth state tournament appearance in 11 years. Indeed, it’s been a remarkable 13-year Panther run of success on the hardwoods. But this year’s unit is the best defensive team of all, yielding 45.1 points per game.

Coach Simpson said, "At state you can’t look ahead. You have to show up and play every game.

"We want to get that first game, then the second, then show up for the third. Our goal is to get a trophy—and the championship would be great."

 

Hagerman falls 54-42

Certainly the Hagerman Pirates have respect for Carey’s defense after last Thursday’s Fourth District 1A championship game at Shoshone High.

Before the game Kevin Cato’s Pirates (18-6) were in a cocky frame of mind. They had beaten last year’s State 1A runner-up Castleford (21-3) and its do-everything leader Elvis Medina for the Southside Conference championship.

Carey’s Destry Simpson, driving the lane here against The Community School, was a major factor in Carey’s 12-point win over Hagerman. Express photo by David N. Seelig

 

But Carey’s swarming perimeter defense and tough inside game throttled the Pirates. Carey led wire-to-wire and won 54-42 for its first district championship since 1999—and only the second district title in school history.

Hagerman was totally unnerved by Carey’s quickness. The Pirates had 19 turnovers, and 16 were steals by Carey.

Coach Simpson said, "We told the boys they had to pressure the outside and take away the pass inside. And they worked real hard doing that. We figured the only place Hagerman could really hurt us was inside. I was really pleased with our half-court defense."

Top scorer Shawn Hennefer (16.1 ppg) tallied 15 of his game-high 22 points after the half. Destry Simpson, also a senior, was everywhere. He added 7 points and an amazing 10 steals plus 4 assists. Ty Simmons added 8 points.

Coach Simpson said Hagerman didn’t seem to have much respect for Carey’s inside game—but they did by the end of the hard-fought game. Blake Surerus finished with 10 points and 11 boards. John Saili added 4 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals.

"Blake and John really stepped up," said Simpson.

Carey didn’t show many effects from its 10-day layoff.

Simpson said, "The layoff hurt a little, but we stayed pretty positive. We played a lot of five-on-six and five-on-seven in practice—making the boys work on hitting the open man and taking the open shot when it’s given to you."

Hitting the open man was something that reserve guards Robbie Ellsworth and K.C. Rivera did well against Hagerman. Rivera ended up with 5 assists and Ellsworth chipped in with 5 rebounds plus 2 assists.

Surerus tallied 6 points and Hennefer 5, both on passes from Rivera, as Carey grabbed a 14-10 lead at the break.

Carey stayed in its zone defense, daring the Pirates to shoot from the outside, and put together a 12-5 second-quarter run to build a 28-19 cushion at intermission. Simmons had 5 points. Saili and Hennefer drew back-to-back charges to get Carey going.

Saili came up big on the boards in the third and Carey’s defense continued to contest every ball. The lead grew to 13 points several times.

No points were scored at all in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, which helped Carey forestall Hagerman’s rally hopes. The Pirates trailed only 41-35 when coach Simpson summoned Saili and Surerus, both in foul trouble.

They held down the inside before eventually fouling out. By that time, however, it was a march to the free throw line, where Carey made only 10-of-22 in the fourth quarter but still prevailed by a dozen.

Austin Knight, a senior, led Hagerman with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Another inside force, 6-6 Cooper Bates, added 12 points and 8 boards.

"It wasn’t one of our best shooting nights," said coach Simpson. "But I’ve been impressed with the way we’ve found a way to win this year."

 

At state

In the upper bracket at Caldwell High, Carey plays Council at 1:15 p.m.; Sho-Ban meets Shoshone (17-9) at 3 p.m.; Clark Fork goes against Idaho City at 6:15 p.m.; and Nezperce meets Notus at 8.

Coach Simpson said he watched Council’s 73-34 victory over Greenleaf Friends Saturday in the 1A District Three fifth-place game. "Council has a big kid in the middle but I think our guards will give their guards trouble," he said.

Coach Dick Simpson makes a point. Express photo by David N. Seelig

 

High-scoring Sho-Ban beat Mackay 72-70 over in eastern Idaho and its game against Shoshone will be an interesting match-up of contrasting styles. Coach Simpson said, "If Larry (Shoshone coach Messick) was to slow Sho-Ban down, it could be really close."

In the lower bracket at Vallivue High School, Genesee meets Castleford in a feature game at 1:15 p.m.; Mackay clashes with Kootenai at 3 p.m.; Cascade plays Kendrick at 6:15 p.m.; and Hagerman tips off against reigning State 1A champion Cole Valley Christian at 8 p.m.

Cascade (19-3) beat Notus (20-2) by a 65-62 score in the Third District title game. Notus coach Tim Draganis called this year’s state tourney the toughest, top-to-bottom, that he’s seen in his 14 years at Notus.

State championship game takes place Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on the Idaho Center hardwoods in Nampa.

Last March Cole Valley Christian won the state championship 61-54 over Castleford. Genesee was third, 51-37 over Mackay. Shoshone captured fourth place and Hagerman was consolation king.

 

PANTHER NOTES—With three wins at state, Carey can set a school record for most single-season victories. The 1994 Panther team, third place at state, was 21-5 and the 1999 squad was 21-4….

Because of Lee Cook’s heart surgery, Dick Simpson was Carey’s coach during the school-record 21-4 (.840) season of 1999—when Carey stretched its winning streak to 21 games with a 31-point win over Cascade in the State 1A opener then fell to Mackay 72-64 and Garden Valley 51-49 OT. That year was Carey’s other Fourth District title, by a 51-50 score over Murtaugh….

In 13 seasons since 1991—12 of them winning campaigns—Carey boasts a 214-98 record (69% winning percentage) but this year’s squad has the best defensive average of all those teams, 45.1 ppg. The 1999 Carey squad weighed in at 47.4 ppg defensively….

Shawn Hennefer is moving into some rarified air in all-time Carey scoring ranks. He has 339 points and could reach 400 if Carey goes the four-game distance at state. Hennefer has 715 career points in four years. Next on the Carey list is #10 all-time Cameron Cook with 753 points. Shawn doesn’t seem to have a chance to reach #9 Alex Peterson 837, #8 Greg Edwards 868 or #7 Mike Cenarrusa 884….Saili (483 points in four years) and Simpson (380 three years) have also had fine careers on the Panther floor.

In Thursday’s game against Hagerman, the Pirates kept fouling Hennefer in the closing moments. His legs tired, Hennefer had some trouble hitting only 7-of-14 at the line. It prolonged what had been a quick game, causing exasperated Carey fan Dude Green to comment, "Come on, let’s get this game over with!"

Only twice in 21 games has Carey trailed at halftime—by one point to Oakley in the Dec. 5 season opener and three points at home against Shoshone Jan. 17—and Carey won both of those games going away, by 11 points and 8 points…..The Panthers are shooting 191-370 (52%) for the season at the free throw line, compared to 155-306 (51%) for Carey’s opponents….Of Carey’s 72 3-pointers, Hennefer has 39, Simmons 21 and Simpson 9….The third quarter has been successful for Carey, but in the two Panther losses, 49-47 to Mackay and 68-62 to Valley, Carey was outscored 14-8 and 22-15 in the third period….

A 65-63 victory over Hagerman in the district runner-up game propelled Carey to its state runner-up trophy in 2001—which was the best finish in school history. At state Carey beat Genesee 55-49, Clark Fork 50-47 and Oakley 66-51 before falling to Mackay 73-46 in the finale….

The Fourth District hasn’t produced a 1A state championship team since Murtaugh in 1994. Castleford won in 1990 and 1986, Shoshone under Larry Messick in 1989 and 1987, Genesee in 1983 and 1964. Mackay won three straight from 1999-2001 and owns five state titles in all.

 

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