Sometimes a high school kid needs a second chance to succeed. That was certainly the case with Camas County's Andrew Simon during Saturday's Northside Conference boys' basketball game in Sun Valley.
Late in an extremely close game against The Community School Cutthroats at The Fish Tank in Sun Valley, Simon stepped to the free throw line with the score tied 29-29 and only 37 seconds remaining.
Coach Ben Stroud's Mushers were seeking their first victory of the 2008-09 season. The tension of a game featuring five ties and nine lead changes got the best of Simon. He air-balled his first of two free throws.
But he got a second chance when the officials whistled the Cutthroats for a lane violation. Given a reprieve, Simon calmly swished two charities for a 31-29 Musher lead. And, with one second left, he sank two more free ones to finalize the 33-29 score and give Fairfield's boys a rare win.
Either team could have won, but Camas (1-6, 1-3 league) had fewer turnovers, two more rebounds, a 13-5 advantage at the charity line and two in double figures—5-8 junior Mickenzie Boggs (11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and 6-2 senior Cory Brand (11 points, 9 boards, 2 steals).
Simon (9 points, 3 rebounds) was another big factor for the Mushers in a close game where the biggest lead for either team was five points.
For coach Ed Flory's Cutthroats, senior Lucas Vorsteveld (5.8 ppg) tallied a season-best 13 points including two 3-pointers. He added five rebounds. Second-high scorer was Eddy Albarran (6 points, 3 boards).
Other Sun Valley contributors were Casper Brun (5 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists), Paul Davis (2 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Will Weston (2 points, 7 boards), Chet Stephens (1 point) and Tanner Flanigan (2 steals).
The Cutthroats (2-4, 2-2) hosted Dietrich (4-2, 3-1) Tuesday night and have two more home games this week—Thursday at 5 p.m. against the Twin Falls sophs and Saturday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. against the tough Northside Conference-leading Richfield Tigers (6-0, 4-0, 62.7 ppg).
Musher girls down TCS
Playing without junior sparkplug Maggie Flood, The Community School girls' junior varsity basketball team couldn't muster much offense Saturday afternoon and dropped a 36-13 decision to Camas County. Flood was slightly injured in a holiday auto accident, but was expected back for this week's prep games.
Cutthroat contributors against Camas were Natalie Goddard (5 points, 2 steals), Kayla Cloud (4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists), Sylvie Krekow (5 rebounds), Freya Dickey (2 points), Chelsea Cloud (3 rebounds, 2 steals) and Sophia Carkonen (3 rebounds).
Post-holiday action picks up for prep cagers
High school basketball picked up again last weekend with three varsity games involving Blaine County teams from Carey and Wood River.
Normally consistent in scoring in double digits each quarter, coach Dick Simpson's Carey boys (4-3, 2-2 league) picked a bad time for a cold streak Friday during a rescheduled non-conference game against the Valley Vikings in Hazelton.
Valley (4-4) out-pointed Carey 18-5 in the second quarter and fought off a second-half Panther comeback for a 49-45 victory. Three Carey players scored in double figures—Brett Adamson 16 points, Trevor Peck 12 and Wacey Barg 10.
Montana Barlow, a 5-11 Valley senior, topped out with 23 points.
The Panthers went to Murtaugh Tuesday and visit Magic Valley Christian Friday, both Northside Conference games. Then, Carey hosts Oakley Saturday, Jan. 10 and entertain Mackay's Miners Tuesday.
Meanwhile, coach Lane Durtschi's Carey girls (4-5, 3-2 league) couldn't shut down Valley's 6-0 senior Katie Hall (23 points) and host Valley (9-3) captured a 63-44 non-conference win Friday. It was Valley's second victory over Carey.
Jessica Parke (12 points), Shelby Hansen (11), Kayla Bailey (8), Kelsey Green (6) and Amy Ellsworth (5) led Carey's effort. It was a season-high total for Hansen, who had scored 20 points in the first eight Carey games.
Wood River back in action
Wood River Wolverine basketball teams greeted the New Year with games after the Christmas holiday.
Riding a three-game winning streak, coach Mendy Benson's Wood River girls (3-8) were due to debut 2009 at home against Mountain Home Tuesday but bad roads postponed that game. Wood River travels to Minico Thursday. Saturday, it's a non-conference evening home game against Gooding.
Coach John Radford's boys' varsity got a season-best 19 points from senior guard Michale Brunker but fell 58-34 at Mountain Home Friday. It was the first win for the Tigers (1-5), who out-pointed Wood River 17-3 in the second quarter.
BryanTidwell (6 rebounds) added 2 points for Hailey while Brent Hope had 5, Jordan Doan 4, Keven Abbott 2 and Juan Martinez 2.
Wood River (1-5) hosts Hillcrest of Idaho Falls today, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on the Hailey hardwoods, then travels to Kimberly Friday, Jan. 9 and goes to Jerome Tuesday for a Great Basin Conference game.
