It wasn't so much that the Hillcrest Knights were deadly from the perimeter. They were, but it was more like the Wood River Wolverines couldn't buy short-range baskets when they needed them.
That pretty much summed up Tuesday's 50-40 Hillcrest boys' basketball victory over Wood River High School in a closely fought non-league game played in Hailey.
Wood River did a decent job working its low-post offense and getting good looks in the 10-foot range, but the shots never seemed to fall. The Wolverines out-rebounded Hillcrest 29-24 and committed only 13 turnovers but still lost.
That's because 5-10 junior southpaw guard Justin Coffin sparked Hillcrest (4-3) to make seven 3-pointers. Coffin (four 3s) scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half including 8-for-8 at the free throw line and two 3-pointers in the decisive fourth when the Knights out-pointed Wood River 18-9.
Wood River (2-6, 0-1 league), trailing by eight points late in the third quarter, cut Hillcrest's lead to 36-34 and 39-37 in the fourth before the Knights (12-for-15 at the line in the fourth, 13-for-17 all game) pulled away and won the game by 10 points.
Coach John Radford's Hailey squad (40.9 ppg) matched its scoring average but needed a few of the baskets that got away to make it a game.
Wolverine junior wing Greg Wakefield (10 points, 3 steals) had a season-high scoring effort and senior Matt Staskiewicz (7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 7 assists) was a threat every time he touched the ball before fouling out at the 0:06 mark.
Other contributors were Erik Jacobson (9 points, 8 boards), Ross Parsons (6 points, 3 rebounds), Michale Brunker (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) and Brian Tidwell (3 points, 6 boards, 2 blocked shots).
Besides Coffin, Hillcrest's other factors were Kade Olsen (11 points, 3 assists), Jake Hansen (6 points, 3 boards, 3 steals, 3 assists) and Steve Hansen (3 blocked shots).
On Thursday, Wood River closed out its pre-holiday cage schedule with a rematch against the #2-ranked Century Diamondbacks (5-1, 62.3 ppg) on the Hailey floor.
Wood River?s Greg Wakefield goes for two in an earlier this season against Buhl. Wakefield scored 10 points Tuesday to lead the Wolverines in a losing effort against the Hillcrest Knights. Photo by David N. Seelig
