Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Adamson’s energy, scoring sparks Carey at state

Panthers go 1-2, fall to champion Savages


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

Carey freshman Joe Parke finds it tough going against the Salmon River twin towers of Leighton VanderEsch (No. 23) and McCoy Hale (behind Parke) during Friday’s State 1A Division 2 semi-final game at Caldwell High School. Teammate Sheldon Hansen (right) takes a look at the action. Courtesy photo by John Peck

Carey High School has slightly under 70 students, small by Idaho standards. But the Panthers were large when it came to putting the basketball in the net during this year’s state cage tournaments.

On Saturday, Carey sophomore guard Nate Adamson finished a high-energy three-day stretch with 75 points to lead all scorers in six divisions numbering 48 teams and about 700 players competing in the Idaho High School Activities Association Real Dairy tournament.

Adamson set a State 1A Division 2 tournament record for total scoring (75 points) and scoring average (25.0 ppg), and also established a new class record for most field goals, 29.

It came just two weeks after Carey senior Jaide Parke (78 points) pulled off a similar feat as the leading scorer of all 48 teams and 700 players at the state girls’ basketball tournaments. Like Adamson, Parke set three class records including free throw shooting.

Last weekend, Adamson did everything except sing the national anthem for coach Dick Simpson’s Panthers (16-11). He rebounded and immediately took off down the floor on the dribble. He created scoring plays with deft passes. He made 46% of the shots he took. He played 93 of 96 minutes.

He scored 23 points in Thursday’s 50-37 win over the Kootenai Warriors (8-12). He tallied 28 points, 23 coming after the half, plus 6 boards and 4 steals in Friday’s 65-48 loss to eventual first-time state champ Salmon River of Riggins (25-1).

Adamson played every minute in Saturday’s 62-51 loss to the third-place Kendrick Tigers (28-9)—scoring 24 points with 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 assists. Coach Simpson encouraged him to make frequent visits to the bench for hydration.

Carey’s main problems in settling for a 1-2 record at state and missing out on a trophy for the first time in five years were twofold—lack of experience relying on two sophomores and a freshman, and the superior talent and front-court ability of Salmon River and Kendrick.

Salmon River’s 6-4 junior post Leighton VanderEsch (17 points, 14 rebounds) and 6-5 junior McCoy Hale (11 points, 7 boards) closed down the middle and made things difficult for Carey’s freshman post prospect Joe Parke (2 points, 7 boards). Salmon River led 32-15 at half and the two teams played evenly, 33-33, after halftime.

VanderEsch (61 points, 45 rebounds), who recorded three double-doubles in the tournament, was the Division 2 player closest to Adamson in points. Next best after Adamson were Isaiah Wright of Borah (67 points) and Shoshone’s senior sharpshooter Garrett Sant (62).

Salmon River went on to take the state championship 66-51 over defending champion Nezperce (17-6), with VanderEsch and sophomore guard Jimmy Shepherd each scoring 21 points in the finale.

Expending most of its energy coming back from a 16-10 first-quarter deficit for a 25-24 halftime lead against Kendrick Saturday, Carey ran out of gas in the second half and fell 62-51.

Kendrick outscored Carey 19-5 at the free throw line with junior guard Morgan Kerby (19 points, 6 boards) making 11-of-14 at the line. Kendrick shot 13-of-17 in the fourth quarter to clinch its trophy. Still, Adamson was a tower of strength with 15 of his 24 after halftime.

Sophomore Matt Whitworth (13 points, 7 rebounds) came on strong against Kendrick while senior Jordan Dilworth (10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 5 assists) closed out a fine career.

Coach Wayne Dill’s Dietrich Blue Devils, this year’s Northside Conference tournament champion, dropped its first state game 78-64 to Kendrick but roared back with a 77-74 overtime victory over Mackay and a 75-50 rout of Sho-Ban for the consolation trophy.

Check today’s Express Web site for more state details.

Other state results:

- 5A: Led by the clutch scoring of junior point guard Isaiah Wright (67 points, 22.3 ppg), the Borah Lions (25-1) from Boise captured their second straight title and 11th overall 47-44 over Rocky Mountain (21-5).

- 4A: Rigby (19-6) earned its second consecutive 4A championship 45-43 over Moscow (18-6). The Great Basin Conference champion Twin Falls Bruins (19-9) won their first game 52-48 over Century, then fell 57-55 to Moscow and 57-50 in the third-place game to Skyview (23-3).

- 3A: Snake River of Moreland (20-5) won its seventh state title and first since 2006 by 67-65 in overtime over Shelley (21-5). The Filer Wildcats (23-3) captured third place in a big way, trouncing two-time defending champion Fruitland 80-54.

- 2A: Grangeville (17-8) captured its first state championship since beating coach Fred Trenkle’s Wood River Wolverines for the title in 1974. Grangeville defeated New Plymouth (17-10) by a 47-32 score.

- 1A Division 1: Both teams in Saturday’s championship game dropped down from 2A last year. This time, Butte County of Arco (25-1) claimed its first championship since 1983 by a 58-45 score over last year’s State 2A runner-up Kamiah (19-7).

Setting other state team records in the fifth year of 1A Division 2 play were Kendrick for most points in a game (78), Dietrich for team scoring in the tournament (216) and team scoring average (72.0 ppg). Mackay’s Caden Betzer scored 34 in the overtime loss to Dietrich for another new mark.

Here are final Carey stats:

Overall record: Carey 16-11 (10-2 home, 6-9 away), second place Northside. Offense: 1497 points (55.5 ppg). Defense: 1346 points (49.9 ppg). Individual scoring: Nate Adamson 416 points (15.4 ppg), 21 double-digit games, 10 games 20-plus; Jordan Dilworth 287 points (10.6); Sheldon Hansen 210 (7.8); Matt Whitworth 161 (6.2); Joe Parke 149 (6.2); Poncho Gamino 108 (5.1); Patrick Baird 48 (2.2); Gunner Thompson 57 points; Luis Garcia 30; Jayce Koudelka 25; Glen Andrews 5; Tori Alvarez 1.

Rebound leaders: Nate Adamson 133 (4.9 per game); Jordan Dilworth 125 (4.6); Sheldon Hansen 119 (4.4). Assists: Jordan Dilworth 104, Nate Adamson 95. Steals: Nate Adamson 74, Jordan Dilworth 57, Sheldon Hansen 35. Blocked shots: Patrick Baird 19, Jordan Dilworth 13. 3-pointers (110-for-407, 27%): Jordan Dilworth 34, Nate Adamson 32, Sheldon Hansen 28. Free throws: Carey 207-350, 59%; opposition 269-482, 56%.

PANTHER NOTES—Last year, Carey had a 13-3 road record en route to second place in the state tournament. This season Carey was 6-9 away….

In three games at state Nate Adamson shot 29-for-63 from the field (46%) including 7-for-18 from 3-point range (39%) and 10-for-16 (63%) at the free throw line. He had 19 rebounds, 10 assists and 11 steals, and played 93 of 96 minutes on the floor…..His running mate in the backcourt, senior Jordan Dilworth, played 90 of 96 minutes and finished with 28 points (9.3 ppg). Dilworth shot 11-for-31 (35%) from the field…..Over the course of its 27-game season, Carey shot 38% from the field and 27% from 3-point range…At state Carey was colder from the circle, shooting 10-of-43 (23%) in 3-pointers…..

Getting to the free throw line was problematic for Carey against taller and more experienced front-courts at state. Carey made 19-of-33 free throws at state (58%) and opponents 43-of-73 (59%). For the entire season Carey hit 207-of-350 (59%) at the line, compared to 269-of-482 (56%) for its opponents. It meant Carey’s opponents went to the charity stripe 132 more times this season…..

The eight 4th District teams at last year’s state hoops tournament went 11-11 overall and won four trophies including a first and second place. This year didn’t turn out as well. The eight 4th District teams went 8-14 with two trophies—Filer’s third place in 3A and Dietrich’s consolation trophy.

Carey is 24-15 in its last 11 state trips. Last weekend the Panthers made their 17th state tournament trip in 21 years. Twelfth-year coach Simpson is 255-63 for a winning percentage of .802….Since 1991, covering 23 winter seasons, Carey boys’ varsity basketball teams have amassed a 426-154 record for a .734 winning percentage…..

Prior to Saturday, the Panthers had brought home a state boys’ basketball trophy for four consecutive years, after the frustration of losing the state consolation final for three straight years from 2006-08…..

Out of the eight teams in the Division 2 field, five had won state basketball titles—Carey (2011), Mackay six times (2009, 1999-2001, 1988, 1981), Dietrich (1966), Kendrick six times (1985, 1968, 1959, 1947, 1945, 1944) and four-time winner Nezperce (1978-79, 2010, 2012)…..

 




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.