Two-time defending Great Basin Conference champion Jerome (19-1, 10-0 league) is a big favorite in the 2010 Great Basin Conference girls' basketball tournament that opened Tuesday night with two games.
But where do you look after Jerome for the second and final Great Basin berth to the State 4A tournament Feb. 18-20 in Meridian? It's a conference with terrific, well-traveled coaches in Jerome's Brent Clark, Burley's Gordon Kerbs, Minico's Joe Shepard and Nancy Jones of Twin Falls.
And then there's the upstart, the new kid on the block—Wood River's second-year head coach Mendy Benson.
No, she hasn't done much, tongue in cheek, with the fourth-seeded Wood River High School Wolverines (15-5, 9-1 home, 6-4 away, 5-5 league). Take, for instance, the victory total—15—of a fairly young squad. Wood River teams in their first five years of 4A play won only 16 of their 104 games.
In five years at 4A, Wood River coming into this season had a 6-51 road record. They've won six on the road this winter. The Wolverines snapped a 39-game league losing streak 37-35 over Twin Falls in December. A week later, they ended a 32-game, 25-year losing streak to Burley teams 38-29, in Hailey.
Benson has worked these small miracles with patience, combined with a steely resolve to get things done right. She doesn't panic in rough patches, and neither does her team. She doesn't get too high when things are running smoothly. The girls are learning that, too.
The Wolverines have been dismantling history step-by-step this season and they hope to make some history in what should be a very competitive six-team Great Basin tournament. Everything should be settled by Thursday, Feb. 11, or the next day if an extra game is needed.
Just hosting a tournament game is a big step for Wood River, which entertained #5-seeded Burley (10-10, 4-6) Tuesday in Hailey. The Wolverines have never hosted a GBC tournament game and entered Tuesday's match-up with a 0-10 GBC tourney record since 2005, losing by an average 21 ppg.
They came into the Burley game on a bit of a roll, winning three straight and four of five interrupted only by a 32-30 loss at Burley Jan. 19. Meanwhile, 2007 state champion Burley entered on a three-game losing skid, having lost five of seven.
Wood River, grappling with one hurdle at a time, survived a big challenge from one of the state's best 3A basketball programs, Kimberly, on Thursday's "Senior Night" in Hailey. The Wolverines won 42-39 and swept the season series with Kimberly (17-2). The Bulldogs lost only twice, to Wood River.
Benson said, "Kimberly is tough—I was surprised they played as tough on the road as they do at home, but they are a perennially successful team that plays with a ton of confidence." And the 'Dogs had to be tough, to overcome Wood River's 31-12 rebounding advantage and a 14-point deficit.
Sophomore guard Tristin Bowers (14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals) tallied 10 of her points including two 3-pointers during a 24-8 Wolverine run that put the home team ahead 26-12 late in the second period. Senior Monica Garceau (9 points, 7 boards, 2 assists) added 6 points in the big surge and junior Allie Hesteness (4) chipped in with two transition buckets.
Although Wood River's game-long press and tough zone defense held Kimberly (48.4 ppg) to a season-low 39 points and just 15 points in the first half, coach Rich Bishop's 'Dogs have an excellent all-around player in their only senior, Alex Pfefferle. And you can only hold her down for so long.
Benson said, "Alex is a great player who hurts you in different ways. She seems to always play well against us because she is too quick for our posts and too tall for our guards."
Pfefferle (16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 5 assists) scored 9 points in the third and Wood River made 9 turnovers, many unforced. The result? Kimberly went on a 16-2 run and crept ahead 31-28 before Garceau made an important putback at the buzzer for a 31-30 Kimberly lead at the break.
"Their press hurt us a bit in the third quarter which truly surprised me because their press put us in the lead in the first place," said Benson. "For some reason the girls came out of halftime and looked like they hadn't seen a press before—I'm not sure what happened, but we'll have to work on it."
Another problem for Wood River was the lack of scoring by Kaitana Martinez (11.7 ppg). She didn't have a field goal in the first three quarters but started looking for her shot early in the fourth. She caught a Garceau pass for a driving basket and a 32-32 game, then drilled a 3-point baseliner from Grace Lagodich for a 39-34 lead.
Martinez ended up with 9 points, 5 steals and 6 assists.
Benson said, "The nice thing about our team is that when teams try to shut KT down, we have other guards who can and do step up for us offensively. KT seems to draw the opponent's toughest defender. That frees up Tristin, Allie Hesteness, Alex (Lindbloom) or Grace a little bit more.
"When we are successful, at least one and usually more than one of them contributes in double digits which Tris definitely did against Kimberly.
"I think we either need KT to score, or for her to find open teammates when she gets double teamed. And then those teammates need to convert on easy baskets. At times we did really well with that, and at other times we struggled."
Benson said the Wolverines didn't play up to their potential against Kimberly. She hoped that, and the two-point road loss at Burley, would motivate her girls in Tuesday's tournament game against the 'Cats.
The winner of Tuesday's Wood River-Burley game will travel to Jerome for a second-round game Thursday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. There's a possibility that Wood River could meet Burley again, in the loser bracket, on Saturday, Feb. 6, also in Hailey.
Other contributors were Cheyenne Swanson 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists; Lindbloom 4 rebounds; Lagodich 4 points and 2 steals; and Haylee Thompson 7 boards. Talya Murphy (10) helped Pfefferle for Kimberly.
JV finishes with 28-26 win
Coach Bruce Bowers' Wood River junior varsity finished with an 11-9 record Thursday, beating Kimberly 28-26 in Hailey. The Wolverines (10-23 free throws, 6-10 fourth) outscored the Bulldogs 12-8 in the fourth to end up on the winning note.
Scorers were Haillie Taylor 7 points, Megan Morrell 6, Hunter Thompson 6, Brooke Bowers 3, Cookie Benson 3, Lucy Paisley 2 and Michaela Rodriguez 1. Topping Kimberly was Heidi Funk, 9 points.
Hailey boys hit season's homestretch
Wood River High School's boys' basketball team continued to run its offense well but come up short on the scoreboard during two home games last week. Four games remain before the Great Basin Conference tournament starting Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Canyon Ridge's Riverhawks (3-13, 1-7) earned their first league win 44-34 over the Wolverines Friday in Hailey. It was close all the way, but the Hawks led by Alex Ridgeway (16 points) and Casey Petty (10) outscored Hailey 26-18 after half.
Stone Sutton 10 points, Juan Martinez 8, Pedro Contreras 6, Kevin Jensen 5, Alex Padilla 2, Ryan Dean 2 and Quentin Dowdle 1 were the Wood River scorers.
On Saturday, Wood River (2-12, 1-7 league) dropped its ninth straight game 62-28 to the hot-shooting Hillcrest Knights (13-3) in Hailey. The Knights buried eight of their nine 3-pointers before half for a 37-15 lead.
Padilla matched his season-high with 7 points plus 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Contreras added 4 points, 7 boards and 3 steals while Sutton and Martinez chipped in 6 points apiece. Other contributors were Jensen and Olle Hoeglund (2 boards) with 2 points each, and Ryan Dean 2 steals.
Hillcrest had 10 scorers topped by Matt Hansen 14 points and Kade Olson 12 points plus 6 boards. The Knights out-rebounded Wood River 32-20 and had 17 steals for the game.
Wood River visits Buhl today and Twin Falls Friday. The "Senior Night" game is Feb. 10 with Jerome.
Wood River sophomore guard Tristin Bowers makes the steal and leaves Kimberly junior Nellie Makings grasping for straws during Thursday’s 42-39 Wood River win in Hailey. Photo by David N. Seelig
