Bellevue's Tim Richards is best known locally as the Wood River High School varsity volleyball coach and an influential teacher. But he can also mix it up among the big boys on the recreational basketball court.
Richards (11 of his game-high 17 rebounds after half) scored the final four points of the game as #4-seeded Growing Concern Hair Design (14-6) continued its Men's Basketball League tournament roll Tuesday with a come-from-behind 55-52 win over #7-seeded Sutton & Sons (9-9).
Growing Concern, winning its sixth straight game in the 10-team double elimination competition after an opening-round loss, forced an extra game in the Sutton & Sons Men's League tournament. That game was played Thursday night, also at The Community Campus gym in Hailey.
Richards (15 points, 6-for-6 at the line) and Wood River High junior Matt Staskiewicz (20 points, 11 boards, 5 steals, 5 assists) were the big guns for Growing Concern.
The winners, trailing by 10 points early and 38-32 at halftime, didn't take their first lead until the 50-minute game was 38 minutes old, at 41-40. Sutton & Sons' Mike Scullion (7 points, 5 rebounds) scored back-to-back banks giving his team a 46-41 lead. But the lead didn't last long.
Richards and Staskiewicz went to work on the boards and on penetration buckets and Growing Concern (13-for-20 free throws) inched ahead for the final time on a Richards putback off an airball with one minute left. Richards made two charities at 0:10 for a 55-52 lead. Two 3-pointers missed the mark for Sutton & Sons.
In the early going, Sutton & Sons looked like it would march unbeaten to the championship. Creigh Christensen (22 points, four 3-pointers) nailed his first four shots sparking Sutton to a 16-6 lead.
Growing Concern chipped away—Tom Liston (8 points, 5 boards) scoring six and Gary Carr (5 points) drilling a 3-pointer in the first half. Sutton & Sons made a well-designed alley-oop from Morgan Uhrig to Christensen on the first play of the second half, then didn't score again for the next 13 minutes.
Other Growing Concern contributors were Brian Ros (5 points, 4 rebounds), Corbin Miniard (2 points, 2 boards) and Lewis Garza (2 rebounds).
For Sutton & Sons, contributors were Ross Sutton (8 points, 9 rebounds), Uhrig (6 points, 2 steals, 3 assists), boards factor Wes Southward (6 points, 8 rebounds), Anthony Rooney (3 points, 3 boards) and Shane Quarles (4 rebounds).
Sutton and Sons? Wes Southfield goes for two amidst a host of defenders in Men?s Basketball League tournament play Tuesday at the Community Campus gym in Hailey. Defending, from left, are Growing Concern Hair Design cagers Matt Staskiewicz, Tim Richards and Corbin Miniard. Photo by David N. Seelig
