Playing with a sense of urgency, the Carey School girls' varsity basketball team kept its state tournament hopes alive Wednesday with a hard-fought 61-50 victory over the Dietrich Blue Devils in an elimination game of the Northside Sub-District 1A girls' cage tournament.
Senior Brenna Silva (11.5 ppg) scored a game-high 21 points with 11 rebounds and senior point guard Jessica Royal (6 rebounds, 6 assists) added a career-high 20 points as the #4-seeded Panthers out-scored the #2-seeded Blue Devils 28-16 in the second half at Shoshone's gym.
It was a sweet win for Carey (15-8, 10-4 road), which saw its season end last winter on the same court with a heartbreaking 59-58 tourney loss to Dietrich—despite Silva's school-record 31 points. The Panthers had lost to Dietrich two times this season, by 10 points each time.
Carey advanced to Thursday's Northside second-place game against #3-seeded Richfield (15-7). The winner of that game earned an automatic berth to the State 1A tournament Feb. 15 in Nampa. The loser of Thursday's Richfield-Carey game will play Oakley next Wednesday at Murtaugh for the final state berth from the Fourth District 1A ranks.
Defending State 1A champion Shoshone (20-2) defeated Richfield 36-25 for the Northside title Wednesday, following Carey's win. Shoshone will play Hagerman next Wednesday for the district's top seed.
In Wednesday's all-important preliminary game, Carey (45% from the charity stripe season) shot a season-best 18-for-27 (67%) at the free throw line led by Royal, who made 13 of her 19 free throws. The Panthers also shot well from the field, 46%. That was a big improvement from their 29% field goal shooting in a 48-38 home loss to Dietrich Jan. 17.
One big difference for Carey was taking it to the Devils on defense from the opening tip-off. The Panthers pressed and trapped and forced seven Dietrich turnovers in the first quarter—20 for the game. In contrast, Carey with the ball in Royal's capable hands made 14 turnovers.
Carey coach Hollis Pincock said, "I knew we could press Dietrich, and I knew they couldn't press us as long as Jessica was out there. We wanted to make them beat us. We used our press and mainly our 2-3 zone with hands up on shots and passes. The girls did a good job of getting ready."
Running the floor well and finding the open man, Carey jumped ahead 26-20 when senior Lacey Peterson (8.4 ppg, 10.8 tourney) left the game after taking a hard fall. She had played a big part in Carey's fast start with six points, but couldn't play any more because of breathing problems.
To replace Peterson, coach Pincock used a platoon of Amanda Hill, Cassie Weaver and Emily Olsen. "They all did nice jobs and did what they needed to do," Pincock said.
In a close first half featuring seven ties and seven lead changes, Dietrich made a 14-7 run in the final five minutes after Peterson's departure and led 34-33 at half. The Devils were still ahead 38-37 in the third when Silva made a huge block and Royal sank a transition basket. Then the Devils foolishly fouled Royal on a 3-point shot attempt and Royal made all three free throws for a 42-38 lead.
Carey never trailed again. The Panthers also turned the tables on Dietrich because the #3-seeded Blue Devils had beaten #4 Carey in the junior varsity championship game.
Other Carey stats were Silva (5 steals, 4 assists), Royal (6 rebounds), Whitney Peck (6 points, 2 boards), Amy Olsen (4 points, 7 rebounds), Cassie Weaver (4 points) and Amanda Hill (2 rebounds, 2 assists).
Dietrich (17-6) scorers included Kasi McCowan (15 points, 3 steals), Denise Anderson (10 points, 5 boards), Nicki Miller (7 points) and Caitlin Dill (6 points, 15 rebounds). Carey's ability to contain 5-9 Dill, who didn't have a field goal after half, was a factor. She was one of nine Devil seniors playing their last games.
