Wednesday — February 25, 2004

Bulldogs put WR
boys on the brink

Kimberly survives scare 52-45 in SCIC

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Under coach Fred Trenkle, the Wood River High School boys’ varsity basketball team has become known as a streaky team this season, capable of closing deficits in the blink of an eye and staying in the game until the end.

But #3-seeded Wood River pushed its luck Monday night during the Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference tournament semi-final game against the #2 Kimberly Bulldogs at the College of Southern Idaho gym in Twin Falls.

Jeremy Selcho (10 points, 10 rebounds) runs the floor chased by Andy McGrew of Kimberly Monday night during SCIC tourney play at CSI, Twin Falls. Express photo by David N. Seelig

The Wolverines dug themselves into a couple of holes and battled back but ultimately fell 52-45 to Kimberly. Leading Wolverine scorer Jason Hofman, back to nearly full strength from an ankle injury, led Wood River with 12 points.

Kimberly’s smooth junior Darin Musser paced the Bulldogs (13-7) with 15 points, 6 boards, 4 steals and 4 assists. Ricky Zodrow added 12 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals, and J.J. Shawver 12 points and 3 steals. The Bulldogs blocked 6 Wolverine shots.

Wood River held forth well on the boards, out-rebounding Kimberly 29-22 led by Jeremy Selcho (10 points, 10 reobunds). But the Bulldogs owned the boards in the pivotal third quarter, extending their 22-21 half-time lead to 40-31 with a 9-4 edge on the glass.

It was an uphill battle all the way for the underdog Wolverines.

Wood River (9-12) fell behind by nine points in the second quarter and trailed 40-31 entering the final period. Trenkle’s never-say-die squad cut Kimberly’s lead to 46-45 with three minutes left on Scott Bohrer’s 17-footer, but Wood River then grew tentative on offense with the game on the line.

The key basket was Shawver’s 11-footer giving Kimberly a 48-45 lead with 1:37 left.

Kimberly’s victory snapped Wood River’s three-game winning streak that included last Tuesday’s 52-38 triumph over #4-seeded Filer in the opening round of the six-team SCIC tourney. Wood River had maintained half-time leads in all three of those recent wins.

It sent Wood River into Tuesday night’s loser-out game against Filer (7-13). Filer eliminated Buhl (5-16) by a 44-42 score in Monday’s other game.

Kimberly moved on to challenge top-seeded Declo (16-3) in Tuesday’s SCIC championship game. Kimberly and Declo divided two games during the regular season, each team winning on the road.

Wood River, with a victory over Filer Tuesday, would have earned one more chance to gain one of two SCIC berths to the State 3A tournament March 4 at Meridian. That second-place game, against the Kimberly-Declo loser, is scheduled for tonight, Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the CSI hardwoods.

Results from Monday’s WR-Kimberly game:

Kimberly 52-45 over WR: Jason Hofman 12 points, Jeremy Selcho 10, Joe Paisley 7, Scott Bohrer 7, Kory Ott 4, Brady Femling 3, Riley Neff 2. Rebounds (29)—Selcho 10, Neff 5, Ott 4, Bohrer 4. Steals—Hofman 2, Femling 2, Selcho 2, Paisley 2. Blocked shots—Ott 2, Bohrer 1. Assists—Neff 4, Femling 2. 3-pointers—Femling 1, Bohrer 1. FT—13-17. Opp FT—8-14.

WR season statistics (21 games): Offense—48.1 ppg. Defense—51.8 ppg. Free throws—WR 222-405 (55%). Opposition—177-295 (60%). Top individual scorers—Jason Hofman 11.5 ppg, Jeremy Selcho 7.7, Kory Ott 6.9, Brady Femling 6.1, Scott Bohrer 5.3.

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