Carey’s Northside Conference championship team. Front, from left,
D.J. Simpson, Cody Baird, Brad Hunt, Allen Peck, Bryan Hill and Dillon
Simpson. Back, from left, head coach Dick Simpson, Devin Simpson, MaKay
Neilson, Tadd Green, Tyler Cook, Ty Simmons, K.C. Rivera, Blake Surerus
and assistant coach Danny Simpson. Express photo by David N. Seelig
A night of
Panther Power
Carey (19-1) runs the Northside
table,
58-39 over Richfield
Blake Surerus doesn’t mind a
little rough-housing, and Carey School’s 6-3 senior rebounding star had
his fill from the fired-up Richfield Tigers Monday night in the
Northside 1A Sub-District tournament title game in snowy Shoshone.
Surerus (18 points, 13 rebounds, 5
blocked shots) gave as good as he got, though, and his powerful presence
in the lane helped top-seeded Carey roll to its second straight
Northside tournament title 58-39 over #6-seeded Richfield.
"Blake controlled the boards in
the second half," said Carey coach Dick Simpson, whose Panthers (19-1,
11-0 road) won their 17th consecutive game and ran the league table to
the tune of 28 consecutive Northside wins over two seasons.
"Panther Power" reigned.
It was a physical game, with the
officials letting Richfield’s upstarts hammer away with virtually free
license at favored Carey. Surerus, for one, didn’t think it was as
physical as Carey’s tournament-opening 64-54 win over Dietrich Friday.
His coach thought otherwise.
"I wouldn’t have wanted to be out
there playing," said Simpson with a laugh. "Our defense with Blake
controlling the boards limited Richfield’s shots in the second half. But
Richfield’s defense did a good job taking away our 3-point shots, so we
had to go inside."
Soph Tadd Green (12 points, 4
rebounds, 5 steals) helped Surerus inside with 5 points in the second
when Carey built a 22-15 half-time lead. The lead grew to 10 points
after three—with Surerus blocking 3 Richfield shots in the third. Green
had 4 more points and 3 boards close to the hoop in the third.
In the fourth Carey pulled away
with leading scorer Ty Simmons (18.6 ppg) finally shedding the tough
defense of Richfield’s Harlie Amy and scoring 7 points. Surerus added 8
points and 5 boards in the fourth, and Tyler Cook 6 points.
Surerus enjoyed the outcome for
several reasons.
Tadd Green, Carey sophomore, scores two of his 12 points Monday
against Richfield. Express photo by David N. Seelig
"We were 3-0 in conference
championships the last three years, and this game made it 4-0," he said
afterwards. Whatever success he has enjoyed, "I owe to the team," he
added.
Carey’s JV teams featuring many of
this year’s seniors were 40-3 with two Northside JV championships in
2001 and 2002. The Carey varsity beat The Community School 45-41 in 2003
and Richfield this year.
The Panthers, 11-point and
13-point winners over Richfield during the season, thus nailed down
their ninth State 1A tournament berth in 12 years. Panther varsity cage
teams are 236-100 in 14 seasons since 1991.
Third-place state finishers last
March, Carey will start its 2004 state quest Wednesday, March 3 in
Caldwell.
Carey woke up to a nice surprise
Tuesday when the Panthers discovered that top-ranked Raft River (18-1)
had lost to Castleford 57-44 in the Southside 1A tournament Monday
night. Carey had been ranked second to Raft River in the Idahosports.com
poll.
With the top seeds, Raft River and
Hagerman having lost so far, Carey will watch closely to see which team
emerges from the Southside. Defending Fourth District king Carey will
play the Southside winner for state seeding Thursday, Feb. 26 at
Murtaugh.
Carey opened its Northside
tournament quest Thursday with a 64-54 victory over Dietrich. The
Panthers led 32-16 at half-time and breezed the rest of the way, behind
21 points by Cook (5 3-pointers).
The Panthers, averaging 65.3 ppg
this season, five points better than last year’s squad, have led at
halftime in 18 of 20 games this season and in 41 of 45 games over two
winters.
Simmons added 18 points. Leading
the #5-seeded Blue Devils was ex-Carey player Vance Dill (26 points, 3
3s).
Here are Monday’s title game
statistics and the summary from the Dietrich game:
Carey 58-39 over Richfield—Blake
Surerus 18 points, Tadd Green 12, Tyler Cook 11, Ty Simmons 9, K.C.
Rivera 6, Devin Simpson 2. Rebounds (30)—Surerus 12, Simmons 6,
Rivera 5, Green 4. Blocked shots—Surerus 5. Steals—Green
5, Rivera 3. Assists—Rivera 8, Surerus 3. 3-pointers—Cook
3, Simmons 1. FG—39%. FT—10-16. Opp FT—6-9.
Carey 64-54 over Dietrich—Cook 21, Simmons 18, Rivera 10, Green 9,
Surerus 4, Simpson 2. Rebounds (30)—Green 12, Simmons 6, Surerus
5. Blocked shots—Simmons 3. Steals—Rivera 4. Assists—Rivera
5. 3-pointers—Cook 5, Simmons 2. FG—39%. FT—11-14.
Opp FT—6-20.
Offense—65.3 ppg.
Defense—48.1 ppg. FG—45%. Free throws—Carey 172-307
(56%). Opposition—115-245 (47%). Top individuals—Ty Simmons 18.6
ppg, Tadd Green 11.8, Tyler Cook 11.2, Blake Surerus 10.3, K.C. Rivera
9.4, Devin Simpson 3.5. Rebounds—Surerus 188, Simmons 155.
Blocked shots—Surerus 58. Steals—Rivera 79. Assists—Rivera
113. 3-pointers—Cook 57, Simmons 39.
Hustling Carey JV
grabs its own
title
They’re not big, so they have to
hustle for their points.
And the Carey School boys’ junior
varsity basketball team hustled plenty during the six-team Northside
Conference JV tourney that wrapped up Monday at Shoshone.
Sparked by freshmen Cody Baird,
Brad Hunt and Allen Peck, top-seeded Carey (19-3) nipped upset-minded
Camas County by a single point Saturday then held off a taller Shoshone
squad 52-46 in Monday’s championship game on the Shoshone floor.
"We’re smaller and quicker than
everybody else, so we have to work hard—and that’s what paid off," said
first-year Carey JV coach Danny Simpson. "Those three freshmen really
stepped it up."
With Hunt (a game-high 18 points)
enjoying a big second quarter, Carey built a 31-21 half-time lead
against #3-seeded Shoshone Monday. But the Indians erased the lead with
a 15-2 run after the half and surged ahead 36-33 before Carey starting
coming back.
Hunt’s 3-pointer tied it 36-36,
then Peck (10 points) made a bank shot for a 38-37 Panther lead.
That’s when Baird (16 points) took
over—hitting a 14-foot jumper, a 3-pointer at the buzzer and another
field goal starting the fourth quarter stretching Carey’s lead to 45-39.
"Cody always hustles. He’s a
sparkplug for us," said Simpson.
Shoshone rallied again, led by
junior Luis Tarango (12 points). But Hunt made a couple of clutch
baskets, blocked a shot and pulled down a huge rebound with 16 seconds
left.
Bryan Hill and Luke Harmon added 4
points apiece for Carey.
Shoshone had beaten #6 Dietrich
53-47 and toppled #2 Richfield 42-35 to make the title contest.
To reach Monday’s final game of
the six-team tournament, top-seeded Carey had to survive a wild ride
that ended with a 46-45 victory over #5-seeded Camas County Saturday.
Peck scored a game-high 23 points
including the game-winning free throws—the first a swish, the second
using the front of the rim—with six seconds left. Peck finished with 16
points in the second half including 8-for-8 at the stripe in the fourth.
It look like Camas might pull off
the upset when freshman Logan Ivie pulled down an offensive rebound and
hit a looping 10-footer with 12 seconds left. But Peck drove down the
lane, was fouled and made two to erase the brief 45-44 Camas lead.
Hunt had 9 points, Harmon 8 and
Baird 6 for Carey (14-for-19 free throws). For Camas County, Chase Lee
tallied 11 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. Zack Kandler
added 9 points and Trevor Dalin 8 for the Mushers.