It was a pretty good week for the Carey School boys' varsity basketball team. The Panthers attained a couple of their pre-season goals, beat chief league rival Richfield handily 64-42 and got a big monkey off their back.
The "monkey" was the top ranking in the Idahosports.com 1A poll. Carey has held the position all season, but Cascade (18-0) is #1 now, and Carey (18-1) is #2. Having a little less of a target on his back is fine with Carey coach Dick Simpson.
Simpson was mainly pleased with Carey's defensive effort in its 22-point victory over defending Northside Conference champion Richfield (14-5, 8-2 league) Tuesday during Carey's "Senior Night" festivities.
Not only did Carey post its 10th consecutive win, the Panthers nearly assured themselves of an unbeaten 12-0 Northside league season and finished 9-0 on their homecourt. They also earned the top seed in the Northside Sub-District 1A tournament starting Thursday, Feb. 9.
Simpson said, "We wanted to win all our conference games and win all our home games. Next, we want to win the sub-district and district tournaments and make it to state."
Carey's big gun against Richfield was senior Tadd Green (28 points on 10-for-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks). Green (18.1 ppg) came through with his 10th straight double-digit scoring effort when Carey needed him most. He now has 1,027 points in 68 career games—sixth on the all-time Carey list.
Looking at Green's impressive game statistics afterward, coach Simpson said, "Tadd played hard. You can't beat those numbers."
Beating Richfield was a big hurdle, and Carey accomplished the task Tuesday despite a 20% shooting night from 3-point land. The Panthers usually hit 30% from beyond the arc. Second-leading scorer Tyler Cook (15.6 ppg) could hardly see the broad side of a barn, going 2-for-14.
Simpson said with a laugh, "Tyler got poked in the eye early on and had blurred vision. We just told him to focus with one eye and shoot, and he made a couple by the end."
It was Carey's tough man-to-man defense that set the tone. The Panthers wanted to stop Richfield junior sharpshooter Shayne Buckner and senior post Harlie Amy. "Our goal was to keep those two guys from getting their hands on the ball, and we did that," coach Simpson said.
Critical was Devin Simpson's defense on Buckner (5 points), and Bryan Hill helped out. Meanwhile, Amy (20 points, 5 boards) scored only five points in the first half.
For Carey, Green heated up in the second quarter, scoring 13 points—20 in the first half alone. Richfield's defense tried to put pressure on the perimeter and take away the Cook and Allen Peck bombs, but Carey adjusted and found the open man.
"That's one of the best things about this team. These kids can see the floor and they're unselfish. Anybody has the green light to shoot and we try to find them," said Simpson.
Carey built a 30-17 half-time lead and hit its averages of 64.2 offense and 42.0 pp defense. The Panthers (25 turnovers) got a little sloppy in the third, but a switch to a zone defense picked up the team's intensity.
Other contributors were Devin Simpson (4 points, 6 rebounds, 7 steals, 6 assists), Allen Peck (5 points, 3 boards, 2 steals), D.J. Simpson (7 points, 3 rebounds), Bryan Hill (3 points, 6 boards), James Carlson (3 points), Brad Hunt (2 points) and Cook (8 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 assists).
Carey's junior varsity (16-3, 12-1) handled Richfield 62-27 Tuesday and will play as the top seed in the four-team Northside JV tournament Thursday, Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m.
Carey star Tadd Green elevates over Richfield's Shayne Buckner Tuesday night in Carey. Photo by David N. Seelig
