Wednesday — February 18, 2004

Carey’s Northside Conference championship team. Front, from left, D.J. Simpson, Cody Baird, Brad Hunt, Allen Peck, Bryan Hill and Dillon Simpson. Back, from left, head coach Dick Simpson, Devin Simpson, MaKay Neilson, Tadd Green, Tyler Cook, Ty Simmons, K.C. Rivera, Blake Surerus and assistant coach Danny Simpson. Express photo by David N. Seelig

 

A night of
Panther Power

Carey (19-1) runs the Northside table,
58-39 over Richfield

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Blake Surerus doesn’t mind a little rough-housing, and Carey School’s 6-3 senior rebounding star had his fill from the fired-up Richfield Tigers Monday night in the Northside 1A Sub-District tournament title game in snowy Shoshone.

Surerus (18 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocked shots) gave as good as he got, though, and his powerful presence in the lane helped top-seeded Carey roll to its second straight Northside tournament title 58-39 over #6-seeded Richfield.

"Blake controlled the boards in the second half," said Carey coach Dick Simpson, whose Panthers (19-1, 11-0 road) won their 17th consecutive game and ran the league table to the tune of 28 consecutive Northside wins over two seasons.

"Panther Power" reigned.

It was a physical game, with the officials letting Richfield’s upstarts hammer away with virtually free license at favored Carey. Surerus, for one, didn’t think it was as physical as Carey’s tournament-opening 64-54 win over Dietrich Friday. His coach thought otherwise.

"I wouldn’t have wanted to be out there playing," said Simpson with a laugh. "Our defense with Blake controlling the boards limited Richfield’s shots in the second half. But Richfield’s defense did a good job taking away our 3-point shots, so we had to go inside."

Soph Tadd Green (12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 steals) helped Surerus inside with 5 points in the second when Carey built a 22-15 half-time lead. The lead grew to 10 points after three—with Surerus blocking 3 Richfield shots in the third. Green had 4 more points and 3 boards close to the hoop in the third.

In the fourth Carey pulled away with leading scorer Ty Simmons (18.6 ppg) finally shedding the tough defense of Richfield’s Harlie Amy and scoring 7 points. Surerus added 8 points and 5 boards in the fourth, and Tyler Cook 6 points.

Surerus enjoyed the outcome for several reasons.

Tadd Green, Carey sophomore, scores two of his 12 points Monday against Richfield. Express photo by David N. Seelig

"We were 3-0 in conference championships the last three years, and this game made it 4-0," he said afterwards. Whatever success he has enjoyed, "I owe to the team," he added.

Carey’s JV teams featuring many of this year’s seniors were 40-3 with two Northside JV championships in 2001 and 2002. The Carey varsity beat The Community School 45-41 in 2003 and Richfield this year.

The Panthers, 11-point and 13-point winners over Richfield during the season, thus nailed down their ninth State 1A tournament berth in 12 years. Panther varsity cage teams are 236-100 in 14 seasons since 1991.

Third-place state finishers last March, Carey will start its 2004 state quest Wednesday, March 3 in Caldwell.

Carey woke up to a nice surprise Tuesday when the Panthers discovered that top-ranked Raft River (18-1) had lost to Castleford 57-44 in the Southside 1A tournament Monday night. Carey had been ranked second to Raft River in the Idahosports.com poll.

With the top seeds, Raft River and Hagerman having lost so far, Carey will watch closely to see which team emerges from the Southside. Defending Fourth District king Carey will play the Southside winner for state seeding Thursday, Feb. 26 at Murtaugh.

Carey opened its Northside tournament quest Thursday with a 64-54 victory over Dietrich. The Panthers led 32-16 at half-time and breezed the rest of the way, behind 21 points by Cook (5 3-pointers).

The Panthers, averaging 65.3 ppg this season, five points better than last year’s squad, have led at halftime in 18 of 20 games this season and in 41 of 45 games over two winters.

Simmons added 18 points. Leading the #5-seeded Blue Devils was ex-Carey player Vance Dill (26 points, 3 3s).

Here are Monday’s title game statistics and the summary from the Dietrich game:

Carey 58-39 over Richfield—Blake Surerus 18 points, Tadd Green 12, Tyler Cook 11, Ty Simmons 9, K.C. Rivera 6, Devin Simpson 2. Rebounds (30)—Surerus 12, Simmons 6, Rivera 5, Green 4. Blocked shots—Surerus 5. Steals—Green 5, Rivera 3. Assists—Rivera 8, Surerus 3. 3-pointers—Cook 3, Simmons 1. FG—39%. FT—10-16. Opp FT—6-9. Carey 64-54 over Dietrich—Cook 21, Simmons 18, Rivera 10, Green 9, Surerus 4, Simpson 2. Rebounds (30)—Green 12, Simmons 6, Surerus 5. Blocked shots—Simmons 3. Steals—Rivera 4. Assists—Rivera 5. 3-pointers—Cook 5, Simmons 2. FG—39%. FT—11-14. Opp FT—6-20.

Offense—65.3 ppg. Defense—48.1 ppg. FG—45%. Free throws—Carey 172-307 (56%). Opposition—115-245 (47%). Top individuals—Ty Simmons 18.6 ppg, Tadd Green 11.8, Tyler Cook 11.2, Blake Surerus 10.3, K.C. Rivera 9.4, Devin Simpson 3.5. Rebounds—Surerus 188, Simmons 155. Blocked shots—Surerus 58. Steals—Rivera 79. Assists—Rivera 113. 3-pointers—Cook 57, Simmons 39.

 

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Hustling Carey JV
grabs its own title

They’re not big, so they have to hustle for their points.

And the Carey School boys’ junior varsity basketball team hustled plenty during the six-team Northside Conference JV tourney that wrapped up Monday at Shoshone.

Sparked by freshmen Cody Baird, Brad Hunt and Allen Peck, top-seeded Carey (19-3) nipped upset-minded Camas County by a single point Saturday then held off a taller Shoshone squad 52-46 in Monday’s championship game on the Shoshone floor.

"We’re smaller and quicker than everybody else, so we have to work hard—and that’s what paid off," said first-year Carey JV coach Danny Simpson. "Those three freshmen really stepped it up."

With Hunt (a game-high 18 points) enjoying a big second quarter, Carey built a 31-21 half-time lead against #3-seeded Shoshone Monday. But the Indians erased the lead with a 15-2 run after the half and surged ahead 36-33 before Carey starting coming back.

Hunt’s 3-pointer tied it 36-36, then Peck (10 points) made a bank shot for a 38-37 Panther lead.

That’s when Baird (16 points) took over—hitting a 14-foot jumper, a 3-pointer at the buzzer and another field goal starting the fourth quarter stretching Carey’s lead to 45-39.

"Cody always hustles. He’s a sparkplug for us," said Simpson.

Shoshone rallied again, led by junior Luis Tarango (12 points). But Hunt made a couple of clutch baskets, blocked a shot and pulled down a huge rebound with 16 seconds left.

Bryan Hill and Luke Harmon added 4 points apiece for Carey.

Shoshone had beaten #6 Dietrich 53-47 and toppled #2 Richfield 42-35 to make the title contest.

To reach Monday’s final game of the six-team tournament, top-seeded Carey had to survive a wild ride that ended with a 46-45 victory over #5-seeded Camas County Saturday.

Peck scored a game-high 23 points including the game-winning free throws—the first a swish, the second using the front of the rim—with six seconds left. Peck finished with 16 points in the second half including 8-for-8 at the stripe in the fourth.

It look like Camas might pull off the upset when freshman Logan Ivie pulled down an offensive rebound and hit a looping 10-footer with 12 seconds left. But Peck drove down the lane, was fouled and made two to erase the brief 45-44 Camas lead.

Hunt had 9 points, Harmon 8 and Baird 6 for Carey (14-for-19 free throws). For Camas County, Chase Lee tallied 11 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. Zack Kandler added 9 points and Trevor Dalin 8 for the Mushers.

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