Don't look now, but the Wood River High School boys' basketball team has become one of the most feared in southern Idaho. The Wolverines are 5-6, but they're just 17 points away from being 10-1.
Coach Fred Trenkle's Wolverines may lose, but they play you tough. They've lost five games by 17 points.
A target on your back comes with respect, however. The upset-minded Kimberly Bulldogs came into the Hailey gym Saturday and showed what it takes to beat Wood River.
Here's how 3A Kimberly (3-5) beat the 4A Wolverines 55-51 and avenged an 11-point home loss to the Hailey boys Dec. 9:
They played extremely tough man-to-man defense. They attacked Wood River's big guys on offense. They made their shots in the paint. They out-rebounded Wood River 20-6 in the second half. They took 18 more free throws and outscored the Wolverines 19-10 at the line.
Coach Trenkle, not making excuses, would be the last to say that Wood River (5-6 overall, 4-3 home, 1-1 league) was playing its third game in four days and showed signs of weariness. He'd be the first to say Kimberly played a solid game.
Roger Keller's Bulldogs did.
Led by 6-5 junior post Jason Mumm (17 points, 10 rebounds) the Bulldogs led 22-20 at half and then took over the game with a 11-1 rebounding edge and 14-8 scoring advantage in the third period. The Kimberly lead peaked at 11 points.
Jesse Stark's athleticism fueled a fourth-quarter run as Wood River played with a renewed sense of urgency and cut the 'Dog lead to four and five points on several occasions. Although Kimberly made seven fourth-quarter turnovers against the pressure, the 'Dogs won it at the free throw line, shooting 11-for-22 in the fourth and 19-for-34 for the game.
It was a rambunctious ending—Trenkle and Wolverine fans disputting many of the calls, and Kimberly just as fanatic in asserting its side.
Kimberly ended up out-rebounding Wood River 33-19 led by Mumm, Todd Adamson (5 points, 7 boards), Daniel Bulcher (7 points, 5 rebounds) and Nick Wright (14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals).
Top Hailey scorer Cory Rutkowski (8.7 ppg) had a team-high 14 points plus 4 rebounds and 5 steals.
Point-getters were Morgan Uhrig (10 points, two 3-pointers, 2 steals, 2 assists), David Sibrian (9 points, 3 boards, 4 steals), Stark (8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists), Erik Jacobson (5 points, 3 boards), Cooper McCroskey (3 points) and Corbin Miniard (2 points).
On Thursday, Wood River rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and tied its Great Basin Conference game at Pocatello 44-44. But the Indians performed an end-to-end scoring play to perfection in the final seven seconds and prevailed 46-44.
Rutkowski led the way with 15 points, Stark had 7, McCroskey 6, Jacobson 6 and David Sibrian 5. Jordan Bird led Pocatello with 15.
Wood River got a breather this week before traveling for a big league game to the den of the league-leading Burley Bobcats (4-5, 2-0) Thursday, Jan. 12. Burley beat Minico (4-6, 1-1) 56-50 last Saturday in Rupert. Jerome (7-5, 0-2) has the league's only winning record, but is still winless in league action. The Tigers entertain Minico Saturday.
Trenkle's team goes to Filer Saturday, Jan. 14, trying to sweep the season series with the Wildcats.
