Jivaro Headhunters had too many players, too much scoring power and too much of everything Thursday in the championship game of the Blaine County Recreation District Men's Basketball League tournament at The Community Campus gym, Hailey.
Led by the scoring of Stephen Vouch and Jeff Stedman, Jivaro (15-1) exploded past an outmanned Sturges Productions squad 71-41 and captured its fifth Outlaw League tournament title in six years. Vouch and Stedman each scored 11 points helping Jivaro to a 33-24 lead at half.
Defending champion and top-seeded Jivaro brought 11 veteran players to the task and Sturges, filled with former Wood River High School stars, had only six players for the finale of the 10-team tourney. Sturges couldn't keep pace and tired from Jivaro's man-to-man defensive pressure.
Trailing 7-2 early, Jivaro mounted a 10-0 run for a 12-7 lead. With guard Morgan Uhrig scoring 8, Sturges battled back into a series of five ties. Finding the open man, Jivaro (17 assists) exploded for a 10-3 run at the end of the half and added a 10-0 run starting the second half to build a 17-point cushion.
Stedman (18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, two 3-pointers) and Vouch (15 points, 7 boards, 2 steals, 4 assists, 1 block) were the main producers, but Jivaro ended up putting 10 players into the scoring column and boasted eight different scorers during its 38-point second half.
Averaging a league-best 74.8 ppg in the season and 71.0 in its four tourney victories, Jivaro won its third game in four tries over No. 2 Sturges (14-3).
Jivaro sent a brigade of tall and tough defenders like Darryl Tullis, Dan Willett and Erik Lisk to guard the primary Sturges scoring threat, Bryan Tidwell. Tidwell (16 points, 7 rebounds) had scored 40 points in the semi-final the previous night and in February had pumped home 57, just four shy of Steve Anderson's 61-point single-game league standard.
Travis Beckman (8 points, 9 rebounds) played a strong game for Sturges (11-for-16 free throws). Uhrig (4 boards, 2 assists) finished with 10 points. Other contributors were Mike Bellamy (7 points, 4 rebounds, 6 steals, 2 assists, Cam Lloyd (3 boards) and Keaton Sturges (2 rebounds).
Rounding out the Jivaro scoring were Mike Payne (7 points, 4 rebounds), Jay Fry (8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 steals), Darryl Tullis (7 points, 1 block), Buddy Peterson (5 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Dan Willett (4 points), Mike Schlatter (3 points), Erik Lisk (2 points, 7 boards, 1 block) and Eric Dobie (2 points, 2 boards).
BCRD Men's Basketball League
Final regular-season standings
TEAM, SPONSOR RECORD. OFF, AVG. DEF, AVG.
1—Jivaro Headhunters 11-1 823 (74.8) 553 (50.3)
2—Sturges Productions. 11-1 872 (72.7) 718 (59.8)
3—AMBL 8-4 813 (67.8) 696 (58.0)
4—Rocky Mtn./Soundwave 8-4 680 (61.8) 633 (57.6)
5—Thornton/Muleshoe 8-4 648 (58.9) 619 (56.3)
6—Elevate/Atkin/Hayden 5-7 729 (60.8) 695 (57.9)
7—Prof. Roof/Home Media 4-8 595 (54.1) 740 (67.3)
8—SV Auto/Growing Conc. 4-8 712 (59.3) 858 (71.5)
9—Power Engineers 3-9 579 (52.6) 695 (63.2)
10—Santa Cruz Biotech 0-12 667 (55.6) 969 (80.8)
Coeneo 4-8 399 (57.0) 341 (48.7)
<
City tournament standings
TEAM, SEASON REC. RECORD. OFF, AVG. DEF, AVG.
Jivaro Headhunters (11-1) 4-0 284 (71.0) 198 (49.5)
Sturges Productions (11-1). 3-2 338 (67.6) 336 (67.2)
SV Auto/Growing Conc (4-8). 5-2 463 (66.1) 415 (59.3)
Power Engineers (3-9) 2-3 279 (55.8) 310 (62.0)
Elevate/Atkin/Hayd. (5-7) 1-2 125 (62.5) 138 (69.0)
Prof. Roof/Home Media (4-8) 1-2 183 (61.0) 189 (63.0)
Thornton/Muleshoe (8-4) 1-2 170 (56.7) 204 (68.0)
AMBL (8-4) 1-2 53 (53.0) 32 (32.0)
Rocky Mtn./Soundwave (8-4) 0-2 94 (47.0) 106 (53.0)
Santa Cruz Biotech (0-12) 0-2 108 (54.0) 169 (84.5)
FINAL SEASON RESULTS
AMBL 94, Santa Cruz Biotech 51 (Paul Zimmermann 18, Marshall Turner 17)
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Winner bracket
SV Auto Club/Growing Concern 70, Power Engineers 65
Prof. Roofing/Home Media 73, Santa Cruz Biotech 49
Thornton Heating/Muleshoe 57, Rocky Mt. Hardware/Soundwave 56
Elevate/Atkinsons/Hayden by forfeit over AMBL
Jivaro Headhunters 59, SV Auto Club/Growing Concern 45
Sturges Productions 79, Prof. Roofing/Home Media 58
Jivaro Headhunters 79, Thornton/Muleshoe 46 (Buddy Peterson 24, Jeremy Silvis 14)
Sturges Productions 70, Elevate/Atkinsons/Hayden 65 (Bryan Tidwell 22, Mitch Smith 28)
Jivaro Headhunters 75, Sturges Productions 66 (Jeff Stedman 20, Bryan Tidwell 16)
Loser bracket
SV Auto/Growing Concern 96, Santa Cruz Biotech 59 (Stone Sutton 30, Marshal Turner 22)
Power Engineers 61, Prof. Roofing/Home Media 52 (Jared Eby 25, Gene Korby 22)
SV Auto/Growing Concern 49, Rocky Mt./Soundwave 38 (Mark Davidson 11, Christian Nickum 11)
AMBL 53, Power Engineers 32 (Brent Hope 19, Jared Eby 8)
Power Engineers 69, Thornton/Muleshoe 67 (Kyle Bennett 28, Greg Edwards 12)
SV Auto/Growing Concern 68, Elevate/Atkinsons/Hayden 60 (Mark Davidson 22, Cody Michael 20)
SV Auto/Growing Concern 68, Power Engineers 52 (Josh Perron 20, Jared Eby 21)
Sturges Productions 82, SV Auto/Growing Concern 67 (Bryan Tidwell 40, Mark Davidson 22)
Championship game
Jivaro Headhunters 71, Sturges Productions 41 (Jeff Stedman 18, Bryan Tidwell 16)
Bryan Tidwell of Sturges drives against the defense of Jivaro’s Dan Willett (center) and Jeff Stedman (right) during Thursday’s Outlaw League final. Photo by Roland Lane
