Carey 5-8 junior guard Cody Baird scored only one point in Monday's Northside Conference boys' basketball tournament championship game—but nobody played a bigger role in Carey's 48-41 victory over Richfield on the Shoshone floor.
Having seen his team out-hustled and out-worked by upset-minded Richfield for two-and-a-half quarters, blue-collar worker Baird came off the bench in the back-and-forth third quarter and went to work.
You name it, Baird did it—stealing the ball, finding the open man, getting position for a tough rebound, stripping the ball away and scrambling around on the floor for loose balls. His teammates followed Baird's lead and finally took over an extremely close game.
Top-seeded Carey (19-of-32 free throws) outscored foul-troubled Richfield 19-9 in the fourth quarter including 6-for-10 at the charity stripe and posted its third win of the season over #2-seeded Richfield.
"It's tough to beat a good team like Richfield three times," said Carey head coach Dick Simpson. "They defended us well. A big key for us was our depth, because when we got into foul trouble early we were able to stay with them."
Leading the way for Carey was top scorer Tadd Green (17.8 ppg) with a hard-earned 12 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks against Richfield's tough interior defense. Green is nearing #5 on Carey's all-time scoring list with 1,076 points in 71 games (15.2 ppg average).
Green and sophomore D.J. Simpson (10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists) each scored six points in the decisive final eight minutes.
Most importantly, Carey's 13th consecutive victory gave the highly-regarded Panthers (21-1) a ticket to the 16-team State 1A tournament Wednesday, March 1 at Caldwell.
Carey captured its third Northside title in four years—and earned the school's 10th trip to the state tournament in 14 years. Carey ran the Northside table in 2003 and 2004, going 28-0 in league those two years, and did it again with a 14-0 record in 2005-06.
The Panthers accomplished the feat this year over defending Northside champion Richfield (17-6). And they did it on a cold-shooting (27% from the field) night for both teams that reflected nervous tightness on offense and swarming defenses.
Carey's objective on defense was to limit the scoring Richfield's fine 6-1 junior shooter Shayne Buckner. Buckner had 7 points and 4 boards sparking Richfield to an early 10-8 lead. Buckner added 4 more points in the second, but had only a 3-pointer in the second half due to the defense of Carey senior Devin Simpson and Baird.
"We held Shayne down again," said coach Simpson about his man-to-man defense.
Daring Carey's guards to penetrate, Richfield used a tough zone defense with lots of pressure on the perimeter. The Tigers took away Carey's downtown arsenal. The Panthers shot 3-of-19 from 3-point land. Second-leading scorer Tyler Cook (15.2 ppg) was cold and went to the bench with three personals in the second.
"We didn't move the ball well in the first half. Our offense was out of sync," said Simpson.
In a tight game with five ties and 12 lead changes, Richfield led for most of the third quarter but Carey stayed close and tried to make its own luck. Coach Simpson made a match-up change and put D.J. Simpson on Richfield's blue-collar worker Harlie Amy after half.
Amy (14 points, 9 rebounds) got his points, but he made tough shots and Simpson always had a hand in his face. Plus, Simpson's court awareness and offensive production were pluses for Carey.
Baird provided the game's turning point when his defense on Shayne Buckner on the press at midcourt caused Buckner to pick up his fourth personal foul—offensive—with 2:42 to go in the third. Buckner went to the bench for over five minutes. In his absence, Richfield's 32-29 lead turned into a 37-34 Carey advantage.
During the 8-2 Panther run Baird was everywhere—finding Green for a basket and 34-32 lead, and passing to Bryan Hill in the paint for a 36-34 lead. Baird banked his second free throw for his only point, 37-34.
Bryan Hill passed to Green for a two-pointer low. Back in the game but still uncertain about his shooting, Cook went up for a shot and changed his mind while in the air, passing instead to D.J. Simpson for a 41-36 lead. Amy fouled out and Green made two free throws for the game's biggest lead, 43-36.
"We needed a tough game and this was a tough game," said coach Simpson. His team stuck to its plan of hammering the ball down low and was rewarded with a season-high 32 free throw attempts.
Other Carey contributors: Allen Peck (7 points, 2 boards), Cook (10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), Devin Simpson (6 points, 4 boards, 2 assists), Hill (2 points, 2 boards), Brad Hunt (3 rebounds) and Baird (5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists).
For coach Garr Ward's Richfield Tigers, Shayne Buckner (14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), Braiden Buckner (6 points) and Max Piper (3 points, 8 boards) played roles.
Tuesday night, Richfield played #5-seeded Dietrich (10-14) for second place in the Northside. Dietrich eliminated Bliss (8-12) 70-52 Monday night.
Carey next plays for the Fourth District championship and state seeding Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Murtaugh against Castleford, an upset 39-38 winner over Hagerman in Monday's Southside championship game at Murtaugh.
In Friday's second-round Northside tourney game, Carey (63.4 ppg offense) shot 47% from the field including 6-for-15 from beyond the 19-foot, 9-inch arc and routed Dietrich 72-37.
Contributors were Green (19 points, 8 rebounds), Peck (15 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 4 steals), Cook (14 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists), Devin Simpson (7 points, 3 rebounds), Hunt (4 points, 6 rebounds), Hill (4 points, 8 boards), Baird (3 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals), D.J. Simpson (4 points, 5 boards, 3 steals) and James Carlson (2 points, 4 rebounds).
Carey's Cody Baird (#25) battles with Richfield's Max Piper (#32) during Monday's Northside Conference title game in Shoshone. Bryan Hill (right) waits for a loose ball. Photo by David N. Seelig
