With three games in the books after the weekend, it looks like the Wood River High School girls' varsity basketball team is going to be relying on its young players and talented freshmen this winter.
Coach Mendy Benson's Wolverines (0-3) played perhaps their best game of the opening week with a 48-36 non-conference home loss to the Filer Wildcats (2-1) Thursday night. It was tied 17-17 at half and Filer led 28-27 after three quarters, but the Wildcat press took its toll in Filer's game-winning 20-9 fourth quarter.
Eight different Wolverines scored points against Filer so the Hailey girls definitely can put the ball in the basket for first-year coach Benson. But Filer's offensive rebounding advantage and 19-10 scoring edge at the free throw line were key factors. Filer out-rebounded WRHS 34-31.
For the game Filer was 19-for-37 at the charity stripe compared to Wood River's 10-for-17. Indeed, the Wolverines made 30 fewer trips to the free throw line than their first two opponents, Filer and Skyline.
But Wood River fans will be anxious to follow the progress of freshmen Kaitana Martinez and Cheyenne Swanson as the season goes along.
Martinez (9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists) was an all-around factor against Filer and Swanson (7 points, 11 rebounds) was the game's rebounding leader, pulling down six of her 11 boards in the final period.
Other Wolverine contributors were Grace Lagodich (8 points), Samantha Engel (2 points, 6 rebounds), Monica Garceau (4 points, 4 boards), Taylor Hayes (2 points), Angela Coleman (2 points) and Alex Lindbloom (2 points).
For Filer, senior Roccio Gutierrez (9 rebounds, 2 steals) tallied 11 of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter to make the biggest difference in the 12-point final spread. Other stars were Natalie Hughes (7 points, 6 boards), senior Lacie Heimkes (8 points, 2 assists) and Taylor Twitchell (6 points, 2 steals).
Saturday night, Wood River never scored more than six points in a quarter and fell 43-20 at Mountain Home (1-3) in a non-conference game. Lagodich (8 points) and Engel (6) led the way for the Wolverines. It was the first win for Mountain Home, a 39-28 home loser to Jerome.
Wood River (0-3) traveled to Kimberly (1-1) Tuesday night and then takes a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, returning Tuesday, Dec. 2 for its Great Basin Conference West home opener against the highly regarded Jerome Tigers (5-0).
Kimberly (22-2 last winter) won its first 22 games before falling in the 2008 State 3A semi-finals to eventual state runner-up Bear Lake 49-40. This season, the Bulldogs debuted with a 56-35 loss at Valley before beating host American Falls 59-21.
