It's a big week for Carey cage teams
This week is a big testing ground for the Carey High School boys' and girls' basketball teams. The Panthers are challenging Northside Conference powers Richfield and Dietrich in a preview of the battle for Northside tournament supremacy in February.
Both the Panther boys and girls brought six-game winning streaks into this week's homecourt tests.
Coach Dick Simpson's #4-ranked Carey boys (10-3, 6-0 home, 6-2 league) have lost only one home game in two seasons—that by a 48-40 score to Richfield last Jan. 29. Carey entertains #2-ranked Richfield (10-1, 8-0) Thursday, Jan. 22, trying to avenge a 52-50 road loss Dec. 12.
And the road doesn't get any easier for Carey when the #3-ranked Dietrich Blue Devils (8-4, 6-2) come into Carey Friday, Jan. 23. The Panthers then travel to The Community School and Mackay next week.
Coach Lane Durtschi's #5-ranked Carey girls (10-5, 7-2 league, 6-1 home) entertained the unbeaten #3-ranked Richfield Tigers (15-0, 8-0) Tuesday and will host #4-ranked Dietrich (12-3, 7-1) Friday. Carey lost by 29 points at Richfield Dec. 11 and by three at Dietrich Dec. 16.
Recent Panther games
The Carey boys picked up a pair of Northside victories last week.
Junior Trevor Peck (8-for-12 from the field) scored a season-high 19 points in Friday's 51-35 win over Camas County at Fairfield. Topping Camas were Carlos Robles (12) and Andrew Simon (11).
Other Panther scorers were Dillon Simpson 8 points and 4 assists, Heith Adamson 6 points, Tyler Chavez 2 points and 7 rebounds, Jared Cenarrusa 4 points and 2 steals, Brad Peck 3 points and 3 rebounds, Brett Adamson 3 points, Wacey Barg 3 points and 4 boards, Jacy Baird 2 points and 3 assists, and Todd Peck 1 point, 3 boards and 2 assists.
Thursday, Simpson's squad reached a season-high in a 74-47 league win at Bliss. The Panthers shot 38% from the field.
Carey contributors were Brett Adamson 19 points; Trevor Peck 14 points and 2 steals; Wacey Barg 10 points; Jared Cenarrusa 8 points; Jacy Baird 8 points and 9 rebounds; Gonzalo Zarate 7 points and 4 steals; Dillon Simpson 4 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists plus 2 blocked shots; and Tyler Chavez 4 points plus 7 boards.
The Carey girls posted back-to-back 44-8 and 47-32 league wins over Bliss and Camas County Thursday and Friday. Kayla Bailey (10 points) and Jessica Parke (7) led the way at Bliss, while Amy Ellsworth had a season-best 16 points and Parke added 12 against Camas. Katelyn Peterson (14) paced the Mushers.
Four wrestlers place at tough Madison tourney
Two-time defending State 4A wrestling champion Blackfoot reigned supreme at the end of last weekend's 14-school Madison Invitational prep wrestling meet in Rexburg. Nine of the state's 4A teams attended to give it a competitive flair.
Coach Tyson Young's Wood River Wolverines placed 10th as a varsity team and installed four wrestlers in the top six of their classes—Alex Jones second at 160, Tanner Orchard third 145, Andrew Orr fourth 152 and Nick Chase fifth 130.
Jones (3-1) captured 18-5, 6-4 and 7-4 decisions. Orchard (4-1) had a couple of pins plus an 8-2 decision. Orr (3-2) squeezed out 5-1, 8-3 and 5-4 decisions. And Chase (4-2) posted 10-2, 12-1 and 16-11 decisions, plus a fall. In all, the five boasted a 14-8 mark.
Taking 16 wrestlers to the varsity/JV meet and showing pride in their combined 34-25 record, Young said, "Our five varsity wrestlers proved that great rewards come from hard work. All the coaches were extremely proud of how hard each and every guy wrestled."
Blackfoot finished with 229.5 points and champs at 145 and 171. Second went to Pocatello with 182 points and three champs. Great Basin Conference power Jerome (163) had two winners. Wood River (64) finished ahead of Rigby (59), Burley (57) and Century (44).
In the Madison JV meet, Wood River placed a heady fourth behind Blackfoot, Mountain Home and Pocatello. Placers: 1—Juve Ruiz (4-0 at 171). 2—Kasey Barker (3-1 at 171), Robbie Trautwein (3-1 at 125) and Auden Ruhter (2-1 at 215). 4—Tyler Jaramillo (3-2 at 140).
Other JV wrestlers and their records were Conner Bennett 2-2, Andrew Beck 2-2, JR Hill 1-2, Zach Brown 0-2, Zach Ezell 0-2 and Teague Ruhter 0-2. JJ Thomson also wrestled varsity in the 189-pound weight class.
Coach Young also said Wood River wrestlers did a good job in Wednesday's triangular meet at Wendell. Wood River out-wrestled Wendell 40-30 and lost to Filer 42-36.
Young said, "A lot of individual guys battled hard and broke out of their shells at this tri-dual. Zach Brown, Auden Ruhter, Kasey Barker and JJ Thomson all stepped it up. Some of the younger wrestlers are starting to get some wins under their belt and are feeling more confident."
Winning by fall against Filer were Tyler Bartlett at 103, Orchard at 145 and Auden Ruhter at 215. Orr and Jones both had 5-2 decisions, at 152 and 160. Forfeit winners over Filer were Chase 130 and Barker 171. Bartlett added a junior varsity win, as did Ezell at 140.
On Friday, Jan. 23, Wood River hosts Burley in a 6 p.m. Great Basin Conference West dual in Hailey.
WRHS boys look to rise to Burley challenge
Wood River High School's boys, losers of six straight games, are looking to get well in a hurry tonight, Wednesday when the rebuilding Burley Bobcats come to Hailey for a Great Basin Conference West game.
Coach John Radford's Wolverines (1-9, 0-1 league) will be seeking their first home victory against a Burley squad (4-8, 0-1) that dropped its GBW debut 60-50 at home to #2-ranked Jerome (12-2, 2-0) Thursday.
It will be a tall order, particularly since Burley is the two-time defending State 4A champion and was 53-1 for coach Jack Bagley in two seasons before this winter's reboot.
Wood River is still trying to get into a rhythm, although the Hailey boys had a promising start Thursday with a 23-18 halftime lead at Filer. Then the Wildcats (7-2) outscored Wood River 29-9 in the third and coasted to a 61-46 non-league win.
Senior Greg Wakefield (8.8 ppg) tallied a season-best 15 points, Bryan Tidwell (10.1 ppg) added 14 points and Michale Brunker (8.5 ppg) had 12. The 46 points represented the third-best point total in the season's first half for Wood River (40.4 ppg).
Minico (5-5, 0-0), losers of four straight, hosts Burley Friday. Then Wood River visits Jerome Jan. 28.
Boys fall 64-32 to Jerome
The Wood River High School boys' varsity (1-8, 0-1 league) was no match for the #3-ranked Jerome Tigers (10-2, 1-0) in the first Great Basin Conference West boys' game of the 2009 season Tuesday in Hailey.
Jerome raced to a 34-15 halftime lead and doubled up the host Wolverines 64-32. Greg Wakefield (10 points), Michale Brunker (6) and Juan Martinez (5) led Wood River, which dropped its fifth straight game.
Wood River played Filer (5-2) Thursday and plays host to Burley (4-7, 0-0) in GBW action Wednesday, Jan. 21 in Hailey.
Buhl girls visit Thursday
Having completed its Great Basin Conference West league schedule Tuesday night with a visit to defending GBW champion Jerome (13-3, 3-1 league), the Wood River High School girls' varsity should have a more competitive game Thursday.
Wood River (4-11, 0-5 league) will entertain the Buhl Tribe (3-11) Thursday on the Hailey hardwoods in a make-up game from Nov. 14. Coach Mendy Benson felt her Wolverines squandered a late lead in a 37-33 overtime loss at Buhl Dec. 6 and should perform better this time.
The Wolverines (2-5 home) had a lackluster offensive game in a 40-23 home loss to Skyline of Idaho Falls (6-8) Friday night. Kaitana Martinez (11 points) was the only Hailey player in double figures and Monica Garceau added six points.
"Senior Night" is the Jan. 29 home game with Kimberly. Wood River will open as the fourth seed in the GBW tourney Feb. 3, most likely visiting the winner of the Jan. 27 season finale between #2-ranked Jerome and #5-ranked host Burley (12-4, 3-1). Burley hosts Minico (7-8, 3-2) Thursday to set up that clash.
Cutthroats build a lead, hold off Conquerors 38-37
Not being used to prosperity, The Community School Cutthroats very nearly shared their wealth with the Magic Valley Christian Conquerors Friday night in an exciting prep boys' basketball game in Sun Valley.
Coach Ed Flory's Cutthroats enjoyed their biggest halftime lead of the 2008-09 season, at 27-18, before the Conquerors roared back and almost pulled off an incredible comeback in the closing moments of the Northside Conference game.
Junior Paul Davis (7 points) and senior Alex Conn (6 points) hit clutch fourth-quarter baskets and the Cutthroats (3-8, 3-5 league) held on for a 38-37 win. The outcome snapped a six-game Fish losing skid and swept the season series with Magic Valley Christian (0-10, 0-7).
Flory said, "We just continue to improve, in all facets of the game. Our guys are working hard, especially on defense. We are a vastly different team than when we started eight weeks ago."
In Friday's action-packed game, there were five ties in the tight first quarter. But five different Cutthroats scored in a 15-8 second-quarter outburst. The Cutthroat lead crested at 11 points, 27-16, when Conn stole the ball and made a transition basket with 30 seconds left before the half.
Turnovers (14 of their 24 in the middle quarters) plagued the Conquerors. Cutthroat senior Lucas Vorsteveld (9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists) kept the lead at 11, 34-23, with a fast-break basket and free throw as the third quarter ended.
That's when the Cutthroats went cold with their shooting and started mishandling the ball. The home team didn't score a field goal for six minutes. The Conquerors clawed back led by 6-6 junior Matt McClimans (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) and 6-4 junior Zach VanEsch (21 points, 7 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists).
Davis stopped the bleeding with a nice 17-footer then Conn took a Vorsteveld pass for a driving basket making it 38-33 with 2:05 left. Then McClimans had a good look at a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer but the shot went wide.
Vorsteveld's nine led seven Cutthroats (17 turnovers) in scoring. Others were Casper Brun (8 points, 3 rebounds), Tanner Flanigan (4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists), Chet Stephens (2 points, 3 boards) and Eddy Albarran (2 points, 2 steals). Dylan VanEsch (4 points, 3 boards) also helped out Jerome.
The Cutthroats entered Friday's game coming off a solid offensive performance in a 54-38 league loss at Murtaugh last Tuesday. Senior wingman Stephens drilled a season-best 12 points including four 3-pointers. Brun and Vorsteveld added eight points apiece for the Fish.
In JV action at Murtaugh, speedster Dane Inman scored 13 points including three 3-pointers, and Henry Rickbeil added seven, but the deeper Red Devils prevailed 39-24.
Flory's squad visited Bliss Tuesdsay and travel to Fairfield Friday, Jan. 23 for a 7 p.m. boys' varsity game against Camas County. The Jerome freshmen and junior varsity come to The Fish Tank Saturday for 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. games.
TCS girls win 27-20 OT
In another exciting game, The Community School girls' JV went on a 7-0 spree in overtime to beat Magic Valley Christian 27-20 Friday.
Junior forward Kayla Cloud (7 points, 3 rebounds) scored five of her points in the extra session including a clutch 3-pointer for the winners. She made two-of-three free throws.
Other contributors were Maggie Flood (14 points, 6 steals), Sylvie Krekow (4 rebounds), Natalie Goddard (2 points), Freya Dickey (2 points) and Chelsea Cloud (2 points, 3 steals). Leading the Conquerors was Michelle Koostra (8 points).
Carey senior Shelby Hansen (#24) drives hard to the hole through the defense of Mackay’s Brook Neilson during the 47-37 Panther home victory over the Miners Jan. 13 in Carey Photo by David N. Seelig
