Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Jivaro (17-0) goes wire-to-wire, 72-54 over Sturges

Sofro (30 points) emerges as top scorer, MVP


Sutton & Sons season leading scorer and tournament MVP Carson Sofro takes the ball past Keaton Sturges of Sturges Productions during the March 2 semi-final game between the two teams, in Hailey. Photo by David N. Seelig

Upset-minded Sturges Productions was doing fine and dandy until former University of Redlands 3-point sharpshooter Carson Sofro started hammering 26-foot 3-pointers like they were free throws.

Sofro drilled three of his five 3-pointers in an amazing 21-0 Jivaro Headhunters run that erased an early Sturges Productions 19-5 lead in the first half of Sunday's Sutton & Sons men's title game at The Community Campus gym, Hailey.

League Most Valuable Player and leading scorer Sofro ended up with a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds leading top-seeded Jivaro Headhunters (17-0) to an undefeated season and the championship of the Sutton & Sons men's basketball league tournament for 2008.

Jivaro defeated #3-seeded Sturges Productions 72-54 to become only the seventh unbeaten team in city basketball league annals.

It was the first city tournament title for Jivaro since the Headhunters ran off three straight titles from 2001-03. And it was the seventh time in eight years that the 12-year-old Jivaro group anchored by Ron Harrison, Dan Willett and Darryl Tullis has been in the Outlaw League championship.

Mike Bellamy (18 points) topped Sturges (12-6), which had dropped a 77-58 contest to Jivaro in the 10-team tournament's winner bracket final just a week before in Hailey.

Sturges Productions had upset three-time defending champion Jivaro 66-59 in the 2004 championship game—and Sturges looked like they might force an extra game when they grabbed an early 19-5 lead.

The scoring of Bellamy, Zac Hays (8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and Matt Staskiewicz (6 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, 4 blocked shots) propelled Sturges Productions to its hot start.

But 6-6 Community School graduate Sofro (4 assists, 3 blocks) started heating up from beyond the circle and Jivaro—too tall, too talented and too deep for Sturges—was off and running. Their halftime lead was 34-22, Sofro scoring half of those points with a 17-point first half.

The last unbeaten team was Phoenix Bar & Grill (16-0) in 2005. Jivaro's Mike Payne was a member of the first Outlaw League undefeated squad, Low Profile, back in 1988.

Besides Payne (5 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists), other Jivaro contributors were Jay Frye (11 points, 5 rebounds), Darryl Tullis (9 points, 5 boards), Erik Lisk (7 points, 3 rebounds), Eric Dobie (6 points, 3 boards, 2 assists), Ron Harrison (4 points, 2 rebounds) and Mike Schlatter (3 rebounds).

For Sturges, it was Keaton Sturges (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), 6-6 Garrett Ford (8 points, 14 boards), Kyle Livingston (5 points, 6 rebounds) and Cam Lloyd (3 points).

Check the March 19 Local Life edition for more photos of the Jivaro-Sturges match-ups.

Sutton & Sons Men's Basketball League

Final city tournament standings

TEAM, SEASON RECORD. RECORD. OFF, AVG. DEF, AVG.
1—Jivaro Headhunters (13-0) Apr-00 351 (87.8) 264 (66.0)
2—Sturges Productions (9-4). 2-Mar 340 (68.0) 353 (70.6)
3—Soundwave/RMtn. (9-4) 2-Mar 343 (68.6) 315 (63.0)
4—Growing Concern (10-3) 2-Feb 327 (81.8) 295 (73.8)
Professional Roofing (4-9) 2-Feb 232 (58.0) 255 (63.8)
Hailey Auto Exchange (5-8) 2-Feb 304 (76.0) 352 (88.0)
Vazquez Construction (2-11) 2-Jan 149 (49.7) 164 (54.7)
Whiskey Jacques (5-8) 2-Jan 202 (67.3) 223 (74.3)
Sutton & Sons (5-8) 0-2 102 (51.0) 117 (58.5)
Little Wood Builders (3-10) 0-2 123 (61.5) 135 (67.5)

________________________________________________________

CITY TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Championship—Jivaro Headhunters 72, Sturges Productions 54 (Carson Sofro 30, Mike Bellamy 18)

Sturges Productions 83, Soundwave/Rocky Mountain Hardware 69 (Mike Bellamy 29, David Morgan 33)

Soundwave/Rocky Mountain Hardware 80, Growing Concern 63 (David Morgan 24, Tim Richards 19)

LEAGUE HONORS (Team MVPs and honorable mentions)

Jivaro Headhunters—MVP Carson Sofro, HM Ron Harrison. Sturges Productions—MVP Mike Bellamy, HM Keaton Sturges. Soundwave/Rocky Mountain Hardware—MVP Luke Macdonald, HM David Morgan. Growing Concern—MVPs Danny and David Sibrian, HM Tim Richards. Professional Roofing—MVP Riley O'Grady, HM Daniel Hollis. Whiskey Jacques—MVP Matt Stacey, HM Fernando Murga. Hailey Auto Exchange—MVP Aaron Tremayne, HM Jesus Villaneuva. Vazquez Construction—MVP Jorge Garcia, HM Sean Moore. Little Wood Builders—MVP Buddy Peterson, HM Buffalo Lamb. Sutton & Sons—MVP Ross Sutton, HM Wes Southward.




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