Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Carey boys greet new season on court

New team, same high hopes


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

Carey boys’ basketball coaches Dick Simpson (left) and son Danny Simpson direct the Pan-thers during March’s State 1A Division 2 tournament title game against Nezperce at The Idaho Center in Nampa. Photo by David N. Seelig

     They may not be the dominant powerhouse they’ve been in the recent past, but Carey High School boys’ basketball players should come together and be a factor on the hardwoods in the 2012-13 season.

     Carey opens its 20-game regular-season schedule Tuesday, Nov. 27 with a non-conference game on the road at 1A Division 1 Glenns Ferry. That’s after Carey hosts a pre-season jamboree with Hagerman and Shoshone Monday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m. in Carey.

     The state runner-up Panthers (19-7) lost five key seniors and 81% of their 55.4 points per game scoring from last year’s squad that won the school’s seventh Northside Conference title in 10 years—and qualified for state basketball for the 16th time in the last 20 seasons.

     Coach Dick Simpson (239-52) takes such departures in stride and looks ahead with optimism. He said, “The kids have a tendency to step up when it’s their turn.”

     Coached by Simpson, Carey has earned a berth in the State 1A Division 2 championship game for three consecutive years and has won once, in 2011. They’re 9-3 at state with four straight trophies since 2009. In that four-year span Carey has lost at state only to 2010 and 2012 king Nezperce.

     Starting last winter, Carey strengthened its schedule and started playing 12 of its 20 games against bigger 2A and 1A Division 1 schools. It paid off last year with Carey winning 17 straight games all the way to the state title game, where the Panthers fell to Nezperce 62-47.

     That kind of scheduling will continue this season with the bulk of the tougher big schools scheduled in the early going through early January. Simpson said, “We’ll have a challenge every night. We may not win a game until January.

     “On paper we’re probably not supposed to win the conference again. We’re probably not as dominant as the past. But we could knock on the door.”

     This year, Simpson and assistant coach Danny Simpson have welcomed 22 players.

     Carey doesn’t have much height or proven rebounding, but it does have a scoring threat and true point guard in sophomore Nate Adamson. Simpson said, “Nate likes to take it to the hole and dish it off, and likes to shoot the 3s.

     “Nate finds people and has  court awareness and high basketball IQ. I expect we’ll run a lot more motion offense to find the open man. We’ll use high pick-and-rolls to get clear-outs and get guys to the basket.

     “We’re not big by any means, but we may create mis-matches with a five-guard offense. On defense, it will have to be a real team effort, with a lot of help and scrambling. We’re quick—not necessarily fast—but quick enough.”

     Seniors expected to contribute for Northside Conference “Coach of the  Year” Simpson include Sheldon Hansen (4.0 ppg last year, 16 3s), Jordan Dilworth (3.9 ppg, 12 3s), Patrick Baird (2.0) and Francisco “Poncho” Gamino.

     Coach Simpson expects state third-place basketball finisher Dietrich, recent state football runner-up Lighthouse Christian Academy and Castleford to contend for the Northside title.

     Here is the Carey roster:


VARSITY

     Head coach, Dick Simpson (12th year, 239-52, .821 winning percentage). Since 1991, covering 22 seasons, Carey teams are 410-143 for a .741 winning percentage.

     Seniors (6): 5-11 Sheldon Hansen; 5-10 Jordan Dilworth; 6-1 Francisco “Poncho” Gamino; 6-1 Patrick Baird; 5-9 Jayce Koudelka; and 5-9 Gunner Thompson.

     Juniors (2): 5-10 Tori Alvarez; and 5-8 Luis Garcia.

     Sophomores (2): 5-7 Nate Adamson; and 6-0 Matt Whitworth.

     Freshmen (1): 6-1 Joe Parke.

 


JUNIOR VARSITY

     Head coach, Danny Simpson (10th year, 9 appearances in the Northside JV title game, 5 first-place finishes, 4 second places.

     Sophomores (6): Matt Whitworth, Chris Peck, Alex Durtschi, Joe Gamino, Jesus Morales and Corban Johnson.

     Freshmen (7): Joe Parke, Dallin Dilworth, Collin Whitby, Zach Olsen, Mario McLaughlin, Colton Metzler and Salvador Ramos.




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.