The small farm community of Carey is still sky high over its State 1A Division 2 eight-man football championship won Nov. 17 inside the Holt Arena dome in Pocatello.
Carey School's boys' varsity basketball team, with only a handful of practices because of its extended football season, will ride that winning momentum into the 2006-07 season starting tonight in Oakley.
"We're hoping the winning attitude carries over to basketball," said sixth-year Carey coach Dick Simpson (107-23), who guided last season's Panther cagers to the winningest record (24-3) in school history.
Because of its football success, the Panthers will be strutting like winners for some time. But basketball is a different kind of game, and Carey will ride a different kind of wave on the court this winter.
Gone to graduation is the inside-outside scoring combo of second-team All-Staters Tadd Green and Tyler Cook. They accounted for 53% of Carey's (62.9 ppg) offense.
Top rebounder Green (17.4 ppg) ended up fifth on Carey's all-time scoring list with 1,155 points in 76 games (15.2), and 70% free throw shooter Cook (15.6 ppg) finished eighth on the all-time list and first in 3-pointers with 217 in 76 games.
Coach Simpson has been blessed with two outstanding inside-outside scoring combinations since 2002 in Green and Cook, preceded by Ty Simmons and Blake Surerus.
And the Panthers have succeeded in their half-court offenses because of their personnel in that time period.
The result? Carey has prospered with three Northside Conference tournament titles in four years including last winter's 14-0 run of the Northside table. Indeed, Carey's 16-season basketball run since 1991 is now 278-114 (71%). Other teams like to beat the Panthers. It just hasn't happened much.
"Everybody steps up their game against Carey," said Simpson. "We've been to state a lot, which says a lot about our program."
Without Green and Cook, however, Carey is returning to some of the basics that have carried the Panthers to 10 state tourney trips in 14 years. Those basics are defensive pressure and an up-tempo offense to make up for lack of height.
Simpson said, "I don't see us playing inside-outside this year. But we can handle the ball well, and we have a lot of kids who can play anywhere between the #1 and #5 spots."
"I think we'll have to play 32 minutes of pressure basketball," Simpson added. "It's been four or five years since we've really had to go after it on defense. We're quick and fast and we'll use it to our advantage. I think we've got the kids who are willing to work extra hard.
"Our biggest kid is only 6-1 and we'll miss the board power. We're not going to get those second and third opportunities, so we'll have to go more up-tempo to make up for it.
"It seems like we've always had one kid who can play post. Without a true post, we'll have to create one as we go along. We'll spread the floor, play a two-man game, do the pick and rolls and screen away."
Carey has four seniors, all on varsity since they were sophomores. "The seniors definitely bring a lot of hustle and heart to the team," coach Simpson said. "We hope it goes along to the rest of the squad."
 ” Cody Baird, Carey senior, made the All-Northside squad last winter not because of his 4.0 ppg scoring average, but because of his hustle and all-around contributions.
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They are second-team All-Northside Allen Peck (9.2 ppg with 104 rebounds), James Carlson (2.6 ppg), Brad Hunt (2.9 ppg in an injury-shortened season) and All-Northside honorable mention Cody Baird (4.0 ppg, 72 rebounds, 48 assists).
Carlson, at 6-0, is the tallest of the four and can penetrate with the ball, Simpson said. Peck, at 5-8, is a smart #2 shooting guard who can make the 3-ball. Hunt, at 5-10, can go inside and rebound and drill the baseline jumper. Speedy 5-8 guard Baird can pass well and has a knack for making the big play.
"I think we'll be able to shoot the 3-ball pretty well," said Simpson, whose team last winter made 141-of-480 for nearly a 30% success rate. Overall the Panthers shot 41%.
Juniors on the 11-player varsity are D.J. Simpson, Tyler Parke, Blake Whitby, Kade Peterson, Scott Ellsworth, Connor Rivera and Kyle Brooks. Simpson and Parke had the most playing time last winter. The coach hopes to get two injured juniors, 6-6 Tyler Wilde and 6-2 Jordan Surerus, back by January so he kept them on varsity.
D.J. Simpson (5.5 ppg with 100 rebounds, 7.3 ppg at state) is currently Carey's biggest player at 6-1 and he may be the most versatile. He'll handle the ball along with Baird and Peck, and Simpson will also rebound and take the 3-pointer. "He's a smart, intense player," the coach, his father, commented.
Parke (2.1 ppg with 42 rebounds in 107 minutes) is a blue-collar worker who can post and rebound and get in the proper place at the right time.
Whitby is a hustler who creates havoc whenever he's on the floor, Simpson said. Peterson, at 6-0, can make the 12-foot jumper and Ellsworth is an unselfish defensive specialist. Rivera's speed usually raises a ruckus on the front of the press, and Brooks is a valuable 11th man on the bench.
"It's a different kind of team and I'm really excited about it," said Simpson. "We'll be able to do different things out there."
Carey is being regarded by other coaches as a Northside favorite, Simpson acknowledged, but in truth the league has a lot of parity, he added.
He said, "We'll have to battle Richfield hard, Dietrich has just about everybody back, Shoshone has 20 kids out and will be back in the hunt, Camas has that (Chase) Lee kid and about three or four others, and Ketchum has the big kid.
"Our goals as always are to win all our home games and half our road games which would put us in a good position. We want to win the conference and the sub-district and then the district. We want to get to state and we'd like to be #1."
Carey's junior varsity is coached for the fourth year by 1999 Panther graduate Danny Simpson. His teams have won the last two Northside JV tournament titles including last year's 67-48 rout of Dietrich.
On the 12-player JV are sophomores Jared Cenarrusa, Heith Adamson and Andrew Carlson plus nine freshmen—Dillon Simpson, Trevor Peck, Todd Peck, Brad Peck, Tyler Chavez, Wacey Barg, Gonzalo Zarate, Tyler Willis and Brett Adamson.
Holiday tournament Friday
Basketball tournament fireworks are getting an early start for the 2006-07 prep season on the hardwoods.
Carey's Panthers and Mackay's Miners, who duked it out twice on the football field this fall, meet Friday, Dec. 1 in the marquee boys' varsity basketball game of the Carey Holiday Tournament, in Carey.
The 8 p.m. tipoff of the four-team boys' varsity tournament is a rematch of last year's Carey Holiday Tournament championship won dramatically by Carey 67-60 in overtime. It was Carey's first boys' win in its own tournament since 1996.
Challis and Lighthouse Christian Academy of Twin Falls will face off at 8 p.m. in the old gym to complete Friday's boys' action. The winners will meet for the championship Saturday at 8 p.m. in the new gym.
Dick Simpson, Carey head coach, acknowledged that his Panthers haven't been playing 2002-04 holiday champion Mackay in the first round of the tournament in recent years. That clash has usually been reserved for the title game, which Carey lost to Mackay in 2002 and 2003.
He said, "It should be a good tournament. Mackay has some height and Lighthouse Christian has a good bunch of kids who are expected to run the table in the Southside."
Of course, Carey and Mackay are two of the top teams in the State 1A ranks for 2006-07. At the state tournament last March, Mackay lost to eventual state champion Lapwai 55-47 in the second round, and Carey made the consolation championship before falling to Hagerman 67-58.
In Friday's boys' junior varsity action at 5 p.m., Challis goes against Lighthouse and Carey plays Mackay.
The girls will also be in action this weekend, with Carey playing Challis and Mackay taking on Lighthouse—the junior varsity teams playing at 3:30 p.m. in both gyms and the varsity squads at 6:30 p.m.
Last year's girls' varsity champion was Challis 40-37 over Mackay.
Allen Peck, driving the baseline last season, is one of four Carey seniors leading the Panthers into the new basketball season. Photo by David N. Seelig
