If nothing else, the Wood River High School boys' varsity basketball team was consistent during the 2005-06 prep season.
The Wolverines (8-14) were always close, and they always had a tough time getting the winning roll.
Ten of their 14 losses were by a grand total of 37 points, meaning coach Fred Trenkle's Hailey squad was always within three or four points of pulling off the victory. Win four of those 10 and it's a winning 12-10 winter campaign.
Only #4-ranked Blackfoot (16-7) and reigning Great Basin Conference West champ Burley (11-10) blew out the Wolverines, two times apiece. The scenario of close but no cigar played true right to the end.
Thursday night at Rupert, the #3-seeded Minico Spartans held a 15-point lead in the second quarter that the Wolverines narrowed to 43-41 when senior Jesse Stark grabbed an offensive rebound and made a driving finger-roll shot with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
But that was as close as Wood River got. Minico eliminated the Wolverines 46-41 in a loser-out game of the four-team Great Basin Conference West tournament. It was Wood River's sixth consecutive loss.
"We've seen so many of those games this year," said Trenkle. "It was a good effort, especially after the disaster in Burley (a 79-36 first-round tournament loss Feb. 14). We did a nice job considering that we had more than our share of injuries."
The biggest loss was junior wing Cory Rutkowski, the team's leading scorer (200 points, 9.1 ppg) and 3-point shooter (25) who played in the tournament but contributed only two points because his mobility was limited due to an injured ankle.
Senior point guard Morgan Uhrig (6.1 ppg) struggled after hurting his ankle in the "Senior Night" home finale to Burley, a 52-48 overtime loss. Uhrig scored only one field goal and two free throws in two Great Basin tournament games.
Although Stark pulled his weight in the tournament with 7-point and 9-point efforts against Burley and Minico, Wood River managed only 7 points from its other four seniors. "The seniors have to get it done, and it didn't happen," Trenkle said.
Besides Stark, juniors Travis Beckman, Danny Sibrian and David Sibrian along with sophomore Erik Jacobson did most of Wood River's tournament scoring, Trenkle said.
That bodes well for the future.
"Wood River has probably the best six kids coming back that it's had for some time," Trenkle said. "We've got a little size, a little quickness and a little toughness. Hopefully they'll do some work to get better during the summer.
"Erik's play was really a bright spot down the stretch. He rebounded, kept the ball high and made his free throws when he got them. Actually we did a lot of nice things considering the injuries we had."
Trying for the upset Thursday after a pair of close 51-48 and 42-41 losses to Minico during the season, #4-seeded Wood River played tough defense on the Spartan outside shooting in the early going and worked an 8-8 tie on Stark's 18-footer. Jacobson took a Beckman pass and scored for a 10-10 tie early in the second period.
Minico then embarked on a 15-0 run that essentially put the game in the Spartan hip pocket. The run featured 3-pointers by three different shooters—R.J. Salvi, Bill Carney and Shane Noble. The Spartans ran the floor. Wood River didn't get back.
"We never got the ball stopped in the second quarter, but we did get back in the game," said Trenkle.
Minico's defensive strategy was to pack it in and make the Wolverines beat them from the outside. "You've got to hit a few outside shots against Minico," said Trenkle.
Trenkle finally found a couple of players willing to shoot and hit from the perimeter when he inserted junior guards Danny Sibrian and David Sibrian in the third quarter. Each hit a 3-pointer. Wood River, having trailed 25-10 in the second period, cut Minico's lead to 32-30 with a 20-7 run in the middle quarters.
"Danny and David came through nicely. I rewarded them by playing them a lot in the second half. And Jesse had a decent game," said Trenkle. But pulling within two points was as close as Wood River got for the entire fourth quarter.
Jacobson (12 rebounds) finished with 9 points. Other contributors for the Hailey squad were Stark (9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), David Sibrian (8 points, 2 steals), Danny Sibrian (6 points), Uhrig (4 points), Beckman (3 points, 3 boards) and Rutkowski (2 points, 5 rebounds).
Minico canned seven 3-pointers. Leaders included senior Kyle Straatman (11 points), sophomore Bill Carney (10 points, 7 rebounds), sophomore Dane Broadhead (7 points, 3 boards, 2 assists) and senior Jordan Crafton (3 points, 7 rebounds).
Second-seeded Jerome (16-8) eliminated Minico (7-16) by a 74-59 score Saturday night, then Jerome stunned host Burley 56-50 Monday to force a deciding game in the Great Basin. The winner of Tuesday's Burley-Jerome clash automatically advanced to the State 4A tournament March 2 in Caldwell.
Final season statistics for Wood River (8-14 overall, 4-6 home, 4-8 away): Offense—1,031 points (46.9 ppg). Defense—1,040 points (47.3 ppg). Free throws—Wood River 201-for-335 (60%) and opponents 166-for-293 (57%).
Cory Rutkowski 200 points (9.1 ppg) with 25 3-pointers; Erik Jacobson 145 (6.9); Jesse Stark 136 (6.2); Morgan Uhrig 116 (6.1) with 21 3-pointers; David Sibrian 109 (5.0) with 16 3-pointers; Cooper McCroskey 103 (4.7) with 11 3-pointers; Corbin Miniard 83 (3.7); Travis Beckman 40; Kyle Lubeck 37; Danny Sibrian 33; and Casey Lane 32.
