For the week of March 19 - 25, 2003

Jivaro hangs on, and Alpine is Cinderella

Men’s basketball finales in Hailey

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It was Headhunters basketball Tuesday night, but Croy St. Exchange nearly made it all the way back in the Division 1 championship game of the 2003 Sutton & Sons Men’s Basketball League in Hailey.

#2-seeded Jivaro Headhunters (14-2) successfully defended their league championship with a 67-64 triumph over top-seeded regular-season champion Croy St. Exchange (13-3). Tournament MVP Dom Conti scored 25 for Jivaro.

But coach Lewis Garza of Croy St. correctly praised his players for their amazing comeback from a 17-point second-half deficit. They used a 23-6 run to tie it 62-62, before a Matt Brinker-to-Dom Conti fast break put Jivaro Headhunters in the driver’s seat.

It was the completion of a Cinderella story in the Division 2 title game played as the nightcap of a March Madness doubleheader at Wood River Middle School gym.

Alpine Masonry & Tile (3-12), which didn’t win a game during the two-month regular season, stormed back from a nine-point deficit with six minutes left and beat Uptown Mini Mart (8-9) by a score of 50-47. Tournament MVP Kyle Broadie topped Alpine with 23.

By team, Most Valuable Players in Division 1 were: Jivaro, Dom Conti; Croy St. Exchange, Evan Lillevand; Sutton & Sons, Ross Sutton; Sawtooth Paint/Soundwave, David Morgan; Gregg’s Electric, Buddy Peterson; and ViewPoint, Jesus Villanueva.

Team MVPs in Division 2 were: Alpine Masonry, Kyle Broadie; Mini Mart, Bryan McCracken; Power Engineers, Buck Fife; Wicked Spud, Jeremy Wallace; SV Realty/Juice, Jeremy Scherer; and Atkinsons’, Bob Ebright.

 

Here’s a breakdown of Tuesday’s title games:

Jivaro hangs on

After losing to Croy St. by eight points Sunday, Jivaro came out strong Tuesday night with a strategy of putting tons of defensive pressure on the perimeter—particularly on sharpshooter Evan Lillevand.

It worked early. Jivaro built a 14-point lead in the first half before settling for a 40-32 halftime cushion. Conti poured in 16 points including three 3-pointers in the 25-minute running time first half.

The lead grew to 17 points early in the second half with Jivaro’s balanced scoring attack doing its thing. Then, Jivaro’s shooting went cold and Croy St. Exchange started hitting the boards with authority.

Croy St. veteran Gary Carr sliced five points off the lead with two driving baskets. Matt Marks, who left briefly with a cut below his eye, returned to spark Croy St. with tough work on the offensive glass.

A fast break basket from Carr to Tim Richards made it 59-57 Jivaro, then Matt Stacey tipped home another Carr drive. Stacey’s offensive rebounding then tied the game 62-62 on a putback from a missed Lillevand drive.

It was still tied 62-62 with a minute left when Brinker of Jivaro stole the ball and whipped a fast break pass to Conti for a 64-62 game. Then Brinker, Austin Taylor and Conti sank free throws down the stretch as Croy St. was forced to foul to stay alive.

Taylor’s rebounding and blocked shots were a big factor for Jivaro. He tallied 9 of his 11 points in the second half. Darryl Tullis scored 12, Matt Palmer 8, Dan Willett 5, Mike Payne 5 and Brinker 1.

Croy St.’s Lillevand finished with a game-high 26 points including four 3-pointers. Richards added 14 points, Carr 8, Stacey 6, Marks 6 and Fernando Murga 4.

 

Alpine rallies big time

Former Wood River High School star Broadie was nearly unstoppable in the low-scoring first half when Alpine Masonry built a 26-20 lead. He scored 18 of Alpine’s 26 points.

But with Mini Mart star McCracken applying close man-to-man defensive pressure on Broadie after intermission, and Mini Mart crashing the boards more frequently, the challengers went on a 13-3 run and grabbed a 35-29 lead.

Mini Mart’s Dave Wendland came off the bench to drill two baseliners sparking the Uptown boys to a 45-36 lead with six minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the season.

That’s when the Alpine Masonry rally started.

Kristian Larese made two free throws. Brian Nelson swished a long 3-pointer then made a key steal that led to another Alpine scoring play. Broadie was fouled and missed the free throw, but Mike Watson rebounded and put home the putback for a 45-43 game.

After another rebound by Watson, who had a big second half, Larese came up big again by sinking a 3-pointer for a 46-45 Alpine Masonry lead. Jay Fry put Mini Mart back in the lead with a putback, but Watson then went and got his own rebound and scored the basket that put Alpine head for good.

Alpine’s Anthony Rooney pulled down a big rebound with 20 seconds left and gave the ball to Watson, who was fouled and made another free throw. Larese sank the final free throw of the game, which ended 50-47 in Alpine’s favor.

Broadie ended up with 23 points and Watson had 10 of his 11 points in the second half. Larese scored 8, Brian Nelson 6 and Darin Barfuss 6. D.J. McMurdo and Alberto Perez were also members of the winning squad.

McCracken of Mini Mart finished with 13 points. Christian Blackman had 7, Fry 6, Tim Brown 4, Ryan Baumgartner 4, Wendland 4, Ephraim Olivera 4, Jeremy Selcho 3 and Clark Jorgensen 2. Luis Ruiz and Ron Smith were also members of Mini Mart.

 

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