Carey High School girls' and boys' basketball teams will use the holiday break to prepare for challenging Northside Conference North Division league games in January.
First, there was the matter of those final pre-holiday contests—which amounted to a couple of big wins and two big non-conference losses for Carey in the waning days of 2010.
Coach Lane Durtschi's Carey girls (5-3, 4-0 home) stayed unbeaten on their court Thursday with a solid 59-21 win over Castleford's Wolves. Then host Butte County squashed Carey 72-36 Saturday in Arco.
The Carey boys (7-2, 1-0 league) coached by Dick Simpson also remained undefeated at home and posted their first North Division win 50-19 over The Community School Friday. But Butte County battered cold-shooting Carey 71-41 Saturday.
Ten scorers in Castleford win
Carey girls put 10 players in the scoring column Thursday with their 38-point win over Castleford. The Panthers led 20-4 after one period, 38-12 at half and 51-13 after three.
Leading scorer Jaide Parke (15.4 ppg) topped the scoring parade with 18 points. She added a team high seven steals as Carey had 23 of them. The Panthers shot 31% from the field to Castleford's 20%.
Sophomore post Morgan Parke (12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) enjoyed her best game and played all 32 minutes. And junior guard Nicky Gomez (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals) was all over the court.
Other contributors were Micaela Adamson (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Lorene Andrews (6 points, 2 boards), Jessica Richardson (4 points, 3 steals), Ashley Durtschi (3 points), Charmaine Kirkland (3 points), Darby Northcott (2 points, 3 boards, 2 steals) and Lilly Rivera (1 point, 2 steals).
Saturday night, the Carey girls ran into a buzzsaw losing 72-36 to the Butte County Pirates (7-1) at Arco. Only Jessica Parke (19 points, three 3-pointers) and Adamson (15) could consistently find the range. Butte County led 43-18 at halftime. The Pirates had eight different scorers topped by Chelsie Pope (18 points).
Carey has a challenging five-game stretch right after the holiday, with four of those games at home. The Community School visits Tuesday, Jan. 4 and Carey hosts defending State 1A Division 2 champion Richfield on Thursday, Jan. 6.
The Panthers will host two of their conquerors when Challis comes to town Saturday, Jan. 8 followed by Butte County Jan. 11, then Carey travels to Dietrich on Friday, Jan. 14.
Saturday night, host Dietrich (7-1, 2-0 league) got 17 points from Moriah Dill and slipped past Richfield (7-3, 0-1) by a score of 43-40 in overtime. The Tigers had eight 3-pointers in the North Division clash.
Panther boys take Cutthroats, fall at Butte County
Although the Panther girls have yet to play a North Division game, the Carey boys opened their league schedule Friday with a 50-19 home win over The Community School of Sun Valley (1-4, 0-1 league).
Ten Carey players made it into the scoring column led by leading scorer Blair Peck (13.2 ppg) with 9 points and Shane Bingham also had 9. Other Panther contributors were Dillon Cenarrusa 8, Brandon Dilworth 8, Jack Cenarrusa 6, Joey Laidlaw 2, Chance Chavez 2, Jacy Baird 2, Baley Barg 2 and Caleb Cenarrusa 2.
Henry Rickbeil (10 points) led the Cutthroats followed by Nick Krekow 3, Jake Flaherty 2, Reed Roudabush 2 and Doug Dufur 2. Leading scorer Taylor Adler (14.5 ppg) didn't play because he was ski racing in Utah.
On Saturday, Carey suffered through its poorest shooting first half of the season (4-for-30) and got way behind the eight ball by a 43-15 count against the hot-shooting Butte County Pirates (18-for-32 first half) at Arco. Butte County went on to win 71-41.
Butte County put five players in double figures led by Wyatt Andreason (13 points) and Brandon Pearson (12). There were 11 3-pointers in the game, five by Carey (5-for-23 from behind the arc). Blair Peck led the way with 10 points for the Panthers.
Other Carey scorers were Baley Barg (9 points), Jack Cenarrusa (9), Shane Bingham (4), Joe Laidlaw (4), Dillon Cenarrusa (4) and Caleb Cenarrusa (1).
The Carey boys pick up play Tuesday, Jan. 4 at home against Valley of Hazelton and entertain Butte County on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Carey freshman guard Ashley Durtschi scored a 3-pointer during Thursday’s win over Castleford in the Panther den. Photo by David N. Seelig
