One problem with having only nine players in your basketball program and no junior varsity is that you don't have enough bodies to play five-on-five games in practice and to simulate game situations.
Coach Mike Wade's Community School Cutthroats are in that situation this year, and they scrambled mightily in Wednesday's season-opening 55-32 loss at Hansen.
Wade said, "We hadn't done much five-on-five playing, and we got some exposure to pressure defense in Hansen."
It wasn't a surprise that highly-regarded Lighthouse Christian Academy (2-2) threw the full-court press on The Community School's inexperienced guards Thursday when the two teams collided in the Cutthroat home debut.
Although the Cutthroats (23 turnovers) made their share of mistakes, Wade's determined squad of nine made up for them with a remarkable team effort and beat the cold-shooting Lions 52-42 for their first victory of the 2006-07 season.
Spencer Harris (15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) and Mac Whittington (8 points, 13 boards, 2 steals, 2 assists) are the big Cutthroat guns and they pulled their weight despite being saddled with personal foul woes. But they got lots of help from the other three starters and benefited from some fine minutes from the reserves.
Christian Cairncross (10 points, two 3s, 4 rebounds), Max Harris (10 points, 9 boards) and point guard Ian Ingram (8 points) did yeoman work. Reserves Si Park, Eddy Albarran and Lucas Vorsteveld pulled down 3 rebounds apiece. Casper Brun made a free throw as the 'Throats (18-for-25) sank 12-of-16 in the fourth.
"We got over our first-game jitters against Hansen and it was nice to see them turn the corner in this game," said Wade after Thursday's homecourt triumph over the Lions.
"We ran the offense well and got a lot of good shots. I couldn't be prouder of the kids coming off the bench. They came in when three of our starters were on the bench with fouls. They hung in there, did the job and kept us in the game."
Defensively, the Cutthroats worked hard to put a lot of defensive pressure on the Lions perimeter shooting. The Sun Valley players trapped in the corners as well.
Wade said, "Lighthouse wasn't shooting well and we got a break there. But our defense forced them to take a lot of shots from the outside. And we scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, which is amazing for us. Our kids really stepped up and hit their free throws down the stretch."
Despite making 13 turnovers in the first 11 minutes, the Cutthroats led the whole game and extended their lead to 25-17 in the third with Cairncross, Whittington and Spencer Harris all sitting with fouls.
Ingram, a 5-11 junior making only his second varsity start, held the team together with some nice driving baskets and 5 points in the third. "Ian was under a lot of pressure and handled the ball well," said Wade. "Our bench guys did a great job of maintaining the lead until our starters returned in the fourth."
Cairncross (7 points in the fourth) re-entered the game and struck for five big points including a 3-pointer for a 36-23 cushion. Spencer Harris (7 points fourth) went 5-for-8 at the free throw line and Whittington had 7 huge rebounds. Wade said, "Christian was tough down the stretch for us, and so were Spencer and Mac."
The coach added, "We responded to everything they tried to do really well and held on for the win."
The Cutthroats (2-1) have their Northside Conference debut Friday, Dec. 8 at Shoshone and then entertain Twin Falls Christian Academy Monday, Dec. 11 at 5 p.m.
Monday matinee is a winner
Christian Cairncross had the hot hand Monday afternoon sparking the Cutthroats to a 65-43 non-conference home win over the Magic Valley Christian Conquerors in a game just added to the team's schedule.
Cairncross (26 points, 3 rebounds, 5 steals) shot 6-for-14 from behind the 3-point arc and came close to matching his own single-game school record of seven 3-pointers established last Jan. 31 in a 54-53 home league loss to Bliss. The 26 points were a personal best.
The single-game school scoring record is 37 set by Greg Koenig in the 1987-88 season.
As a team the Cutthroats shot very well, 25-of-51 for 49% from the field. They raced to a 23-14 first-quarter lead with Spencer Harris scoring 10 points and Cairncross 8 in the opening eight minutes. And they crashed the glass well (31 rebounds, 14 offensive).
Spencer Harris (5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) finished with a personal-best 18 points and Mac Whittington had 15 points plus 10 boards, 6 offensive.
Other Cutthroat contributors included Max Harris (2 points, 6 rebounds), Ian Ingram (2 points, 4 assists, 3 steals), Casper Brun (2 points) and Eddy Albarran (3 assists).
Magic Valley Christian 6-5 senior Branden Van Esch (19 points) and 6-3 junior Jordan Jarvis (10) topped the visitors from Twin Falls (0-3).
