They've set the bar pretty high this season under second-year coach Mendy Benson. Now, the Wood River High School girls' basketball team faces its biggest hurdles and questions in the next 10 days.
Can the Wolverines break the school record for wins? Can they pull off some upsets and qualify for only the second state tournament berth in school history? Can they continue to win away from home?
Wood River (14-5, 8-1 home, 6-4 road, 5-5 league) is getting ready for the six-team Great Basin Conference tournament starting Tuesday, Feb. 2. Benson's squad will host Burley (10-9, 4-6) in a first round game of the double elimination tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the Hailey hardwoods.
Last Tuesday night, Wood River took care of business with a 59-45 home victory over the second-seeded Minico Spartans (13-6, 6-4). That outcome tied Wood River with Twin Falls (12-7, 5-5) for third place in the league. Because WRHS and Twin split their meetings, a coin flip took place Wednesday, and Twin Falls won the flip.
So, Wood River dropped to the fourth seed and drew fifth-seeded Burley. Third-seeded Twin Falls drew #6 Canyon Ridge (0-20, 0-10) for a first round game Tuesday. Top-seeded Jerome (18-1, 10-0) and #2 Minico have Tuesday byes.
One reason the coin flip was important was the Wood River-Burley winner will travel Thursday, Feb. 4 to Jerome, where the Tigers have won 38 consecutive home games. The Twin Falls-Canyon Ridge winner will go to Minico Feb. 4.
At stake in the league tourney are two berths for the State 4A meet Feb. 18-20 in Meridian. Wood River has been to state only once, in 2004 as a 3A school, one year after posting a school-best 16-7 record at 3A.
The Wolverines looked sharp against Minico. Leading scorer Kaitana Martinez (11.8 ppg) scored 19 points with 3 rebounds, 4 steals, 5 assists and two 3-pointers. Senior Monica Garceau added 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Tristin Bowers added 8 points and 3 assists.
Wood River established its lead with a 19-2 run spanning the first and second quarters. There were six different scorers led by junior Allie Hesteness (8 points), who made two 3-pointers. The halftime lead was 34-19, and Minico never cut its deficit under 10 points.
A suffocating zone defense by Wood River led to many of Minico's problems. Other Wolverine contributors were Grace Lagodich (7 points), Haylee Thompson (5 points, 10 boards), Cheyenne Swanson (2 points, 5 rebounds) and Jade Glenn (3 reboiunds). Brecka Fetzer (11 points) and Marlee Chandler (10 points, 5 boards) led Minico.
Wood River had its "Senior Night" Thursday against a tough Kimberly team (16-1) trying to avenge its only loss, 45-42 at home to Wood River Nov. 24.
Carey hands Dietrich first league loss
The Carey Panthers (12-4, 8-1 home, 7-1 league) staked their claim to Northside Conference supremacy with a strong defensive effort in Tuesday's 43-31 "Senior Night" home league win over Dietrich (14-3, 6-1).
Dietrich, ranked second in the Idahosports.com 1A Division 2 poll, had been unbeaten in league and had won at home over Carey 46-35 Jan. 5. Since, coach Lane Durtschi's Panthers have won six of seven games. Jessica Parke (19 points) and Amy Ellsworth (11) led the way against Dietrich.
Carey had one more major hurdle playing at top-ranked Richfield (12-2, 5-2) Thursday night. The Panthers nipped Richfield 39-36 back on Dec. 18. The league tournament opens Saturday, Feb. 6 at Carey. The conference gets two-and-a-half seeds to the state tournament.
Carey’s Jessica Parke drives past Dietrich’s Ellie Dalton and Kelci Dalton en route to a game-high 19 points in Tuesday’s 43-31 Carey win. Photo by David N. Seelig
