Jivaro hangs on, and Alpine is
Cinderella
Men’s basketball finales in Hailey
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.
Jivaro’s design was to contain Croy Street’s explosive Evan Lillevand,
who, despite strong defense here by Dom Conti, still scored a game-high 26
points. Express photo by David N. Seelig
#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.
Dom Conti (25 points) hit the final free throw with 11 seconds left in
Jivaro’s 67-64 win. Express photo by David N. Seelig
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.
Austin Taylor of Jivaro scored 9 of his 11 points in the second half to
help hold off Croy Street’s big rally. Express photo by David N. Seelig
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.
Matt Stacey gave Croy Street some muscle inside to spark the second-half
comeback. Express photo by David N. Seelig
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.