With the exception of senior guard Brady Femling, Wood River Wolverine shooters were about as cold as a moonless December night in the mountains Tuesday when they hosted arch-rival Buhl on the Hailey floor.
Femling (13.3 ppg) tallied a career-best 23 points, including 19 in the second half alone, but his teammates didn't provide enough scoring support and Wood River (0-6) dropped a 58-47 non-conference decision to Buhl (1-2).
Wood River shot 6-for-20 at the free throw line and didn't fare much better than 30 percent from the field. But there were positives for the Wolverines—a 39-27 rebounding advantage and a determined rally after the half.
It was a tale of two halves but Buhl's quick start was decisive in the exciting prep boys' basketball contest.
The Tribe, like Wood River seeking its first win of the young 2004-05 season, was red hot on offense and fearsome in its man-to-man defense in the first half for a 40-16 half-time lead.
Coach Fred Trenkle's Hailey boys committed 12 turnovers in the first half against Buhl's scrappy defense. Buhl junior point guard Mitch Bourner (8 points, 9 assists) was uncanny in finding the open man and sophomore star Will Chivers (13 points, 14 boards) was everywhere.
Buhl's 6-4 junior post Judd Spencer (20 points) was the recipient of most of Bourner's passes, many off penetration that broke down the Wood River man-to-man defense.
Hailey scored only six field goals compared to Buhl's 17 before half.
The tables turned after intermission. Buhl started coughing up the ball (14 of its 20 turnovers after half) and Hailey, with senior Reno Christino ripping down 11 of his team-high 13 rebounds, started dominating the glass in the third and fourth periods.
Trenkle urged his charges to take one play at a time and keep attacking. The Wolverines followed instructions, flinging themselves at every loose ball and disrupting Buhl's flow. They pressed and got their hands on the ball, although shots still didn't fall.
The game-long Tribe lead, which crested at 26 points, trickled down to 11 points when sophomore Morgan Uhrig (2 points, 5 steals, 3 assists) stole and scored on transition with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Wood River needed another quarter and there just wasn't enough time to tie it.
Femling added 7 rebounds, while Christino had 10 points, 5 steals and 2 assists. Corbin Miniard chipped in 4 points and 4 boards, Casey Lane 6 rebounds, Kyle Lubeck 2 points and 3 rebounds, Dylan Fullmer 4 points, 2 boards and 2 steals, Cory Rutkowski and Ted Dankanyin 1 point each.
The Wolverines entertained Skyline of Idaho Falls (1-4) Thursday on the Hailey hardwoods and then go to Blackfoot (2-3) Saturday, Dec. 18.
Brady Femling displays his deft shooting touch Tuesday night against the Indians. Femling scored a career-high 23 points in Wood River's 58-47 homecourt loss to Buhl. Photo by David N. Seelig
