There is one week left before the Northside Conference boys' basketball tournament, with local teams Carey High School and The Community School planning "Senior Night" fetes.
Coach Ed Flory's Community School Cutthroats (10-6, 7-4 league) will honor seniors Paul Davis and Tanner Flanigan today at 5 p.m. during a Northside clash against Murtaugh (12-3, 8-3) at The Fish Tank.
The top-ranked Carey Panthers (17-2, 13-0 league) will salute seven seniors—Dillon Simpson, Brett Adamson, Trevor Peck, Tyler Willis, Wacey Barg, Tyler Chavez and Brad Peck—during Monday's home finale against Bliss.
Carey stays atop 1A division
Coach Dick Simpson's Carey Panthers had a tough stretch of three games in three days last week and emerged with the wins they needed—Northside triumphs over The Community School and Murtaugh.
Thursday, the Panthers sent their best defender, 6-2 Dillon Simpson, out against 6-9 Cutthroat star Daniel Gomis (19.9 ppg). For the most part Simpson kept Gomis away from the basket, but Gomis still scored a season-high 31 points and 24 rebounds.
Nevertheless Carey put together scoring runs whenever the Cutthroats relaxed for a minute and escaped with a 71-55 victory. Trevor Peck (17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) and Brett Adamson (13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists) led the way for Carey (8-2 road).
Gomis tallied 16 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, but he only managed 3 steals, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot and 2 dunks against Simpson's tough defense. Sophomore Henry Rickbeil (3 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) picked up slack.
Trailing 12-0 after four minutes, the Cutthroats pieced together a 23-12 run to creep ahead 24-23 with three minutes left in the second quarter. But Carey embarked on a 12-2 run to restore order by halftime with a 35-26 advantage. The lead reached 23 points in the third quarter before Gomis' scoring splurge in the fourth.
Other Carey scorers were Blair Peck 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 5 assists; Tyler Chavez 9 points and 6 rebounds; Wacey Barg 8 points and 10 boards; Simpson 5 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists; Shane Bingham 2 points and 2 rebounds; Brad Peck 3 points and Tyler Willis 2.
Cutthroat contributors were Paul Davis 9 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists; Will Brokaw 5 points and 6 boards; Tanner Flanigan 4 points and 2 rebounds; Hunter Weaver and Dane Inman 3 points apiece.
Friday night at home, Carey swept the season series with #3-ranked Murtaugh 68-48. The Panthers drilled seven of their eight 3-pointers building a 40-23 in the first half and never looked back. The hottest hands with three treys each belonged to Trevor Peck (20 points, 3 rebounds) and Blair Peck (11 points, 6 boards, 5 assists).
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Other Panthers were Adamson 11 points, 7 boards, 4 assists; Barg 8 points and 6 rebounds; Simpson 7 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists; Bingham 6 points and 2 assists; and Chavez 4 points and 5 boards. Topping Murtaugh was Manuel Pacheco, 16 points, 5 boards.
Playing on the road less than 24 hours later, Carey saw its 14-game winning streak come to an end at Hagerman 68-60. Adamson (19 points) and Dylan Brooks of Hagerman (27 points, six 3-pointers) led the scoring.
"Senior Night" for WR boys
Wood River High salutes its boys' basketball seniors during "Senior Night" festivities tonight, Wednesday in the Hailey gym. Losers of five of their last seven, the Jerome Tigers (10-8, 4-4 league) will visit for Great Basin Conference games against Wood River (2-14, 1-8).
The Wolverines wrap up their regular season Friday, Feb. 12 against Hillcrest in Idaho Falls and open the league tournament Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Wrestlers bounce back, third at Challis
Going into last weekend's Challis Invitational, Wood River High School wrestling coach Shawn Huntington was hoping his matmen would bounce back from a long and rough Thursday night trip.
On that trip, Wood River (8-9 duals) lost to Minico of Rupert 65-3 and to Canyon Ridge of Twin Falls 52-30. Freshman 103-pounder Jared Anderson earned the only win against Minico and Tanner Orchard pinned at 152 against Canyon Ridge—other points by forfeit.
Huntington turned out to be pleased with Wood River's third-place team finish in the 10-team Challis tournament Friday and Saturday. The Wolverines amassed 141.5 points to trail only Challis (204) and Salmon (191.5) in the tally.
Huntington said, "Great job at Challis! We had 10 placers in the top six and took home the team plaque for third place."
Senior Nick Chase won Wood River's only championship at 145 pounds. Second places went to Anderson at 103, senior Orchard at 152 and junior Kasey Barker at 189.
Taking third was sophomore Auden Ruhter at 215. Junior Tyler Bartlett placed fourth at 112. There were three Wolverines in fifth—sophomore J.R. Hill 171, junior Alex Thomas fifth 285 and senior Juve Ruiz 189. In sixth place was sophomore Andrew Beck at 125.
Wood River visits Gooding Thursday, Feb. 11. The state-qualifying Great Basin Conference tourney is Feb. 17.
Carey High School senior Brett Adamson is very comfortable driving the baseline, where he picks up many of his points. Photo by David N. Seelig
