Tigers drop first three games of season

The Mountain Home Tigers dropped their first three boys basketball games of the season last week, but showed progress from game to game.

Timberline-Boise 67

Mountain Home 37

Turnovers and frigid shooting plagued the Mountain Home Tigers in their season opening boys basketball game at Timberline last week as they lost to Wolves, 67-37.

The Tigers turned the ball over 12 times in the first quarter as Timberline came out in a half-court trap that helped the Wolves run to a 17-7 first quarter lead.

"They hit us with a half-court trap and it looked like we'd spent about 10 minutes getting ready for a half-court trap, and that's about the way it was, too," said Tiger basketball coach Tony Kerfoot in radio comments after the game.

"I can't really blame the kids, but it's the first game, and it's in November, and we get ready for so much, so we spent about 10 minutes working on a half-court trap."

The Tigers had 20 turnovers by halftime, and had shot just 20 percent from the field and trailed, 28-14 at the half.

Robert Moss scored with 5:20 left in the third quarter to bring the Tigers within 12, 32-20, but they would not score again until 47 seconds remained in the quarter when Jake Posey's basket stopped a 14-0 run by the Wolves, who increased their lead to 48-22 after three quarters.

The Tigers had their best quarter of the night in the fourth, scoring 15, as the game ended 67-37 Timberline.

"I thought we hustled and we played hard, we just had way too many turnovers," said Coach Kerfoot. "We've got to learn to take better care of the ball.

"There were some positives from the game, and we've just got to keep on working on the positives and try and hide the negatives and keep a positive outlook when we play the tough teams."

Robert Moss led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points, Nick O'Briant and Jake Posey each added seven, and O'Briant led the team with 10 rebounds. Kyle Kerfoot, Stephen Bitrick, Nick Barrie and Brandon Doble all scored two points.

The Tigers hit just one of 10 three-point attempt and shot 29 percent (12/41) inside the arc. They hit 10 of 18 (56 percent) free throws.

Timberline hit four of 18 (22 percent) treys, and 50 percent (22/44) inside the circle, and 69 percent (11/16) from the charity stripe.

The Tigers ended the game with 32 turnovers. Timberline had 20.

Vallivue 83

Mountain Home 48

The Tigers hosted the Vallivue Falcons in their home opener Friday night, and lost to the Falcons, 83-48, in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium, as the Falcons shot well from the field.

Mountain Home looked a lot better than they did in their season opener two nights earlier at Timberline.

The Falcons, who have moved up to the 5A level this year, and picked by some to win the state title, shot out to a 13-0 lead before Mountain Home finally got on the scoreboard on a basket by Kyle Kerfoot with 4:23 left in the quarter. The Tigers battled back to within seven, at 16-9, before Vallivue hit the final four points of the quarter to lead, 20-9, after one.

Vallivue, who hit 10 treys on the night, had four of them in the second period as they extended their lead to 44-20 at the half.

The Tigers had their best quarter of the night in the third, when they scored 16 points, but still trailed, 65-36 heading into the final quarter.

Vallivue's biggest lead was 83-43, with 2:40 left, and the Tigers hit the final five points of the game to make it an 83-48 final.

Despite the lopsided loss, Coach Kerfoot was quick to stress the positives for his team's effort.

"I was happy. This early in the year, I was looking at our kids and I thought we really competed hard. I saw improvement from Wednesday night's game at Timberline, and that's the hardest that we've ever played, and I was pretty pleased with our performance.

"I'm not happy about the fact that we got beat by 35 points, but I understand how good that Vallivue team is."

Mountain Home had three players score in double figures, led by Kyle Kerfoot's 13 points. Robert Moss netted 12, and Jake Posey added 11. Nick O'Briant scored four points, Nick Barrie, three, Kyle Hall and Brandon Doble both scored two, and Ryan Carlen added one.

The Tigers connected on four of 13 treys for 31 percent, and shot 34 percent (14/41) on two-pointers. They were a dismal 40 percent (8/20) from the foul line.

Vallivue shot a blistering 56 percent (10/18) on long balls, and shot 48 percent (25/52) inside the arc, and made three of five (60 percent) free throws.

Nick O'Briant led the Tigers on the boards with nine, as the taller Vallivue squad controlled the boards, 43-25.

Buhl Indians 70

Mountain Home 56

Playing their third tough game in four nights, the Tigers saw their early first quarter lead go by the wayside against a hot-shooting Buhl club, losing to the Indians, 70-56 Saturday night at Buhl.

A 7-0 run by the Tigers midway through the first quarter put the Tigers up 9-4, and they maintained their five-point lead until Brad Twiss came off the bench to score seven points, and lead the Indians to a 19-17 lead after a quarter.

Brad Twiss continued his hot hand, adding six more points in the second quarter as the Indians increased their lead to 37-29 at the half. Twiss added 14 more points in the third period, as Buhl increased their lead to 60-46 heading into the final quarter.

The Tigers could do no better than match baskets in the fourth, as the Indians prevailed, 70-56.

"Buhl's got a good ball club and they shot the ball better than I've seen them shoot and heard that they can shoot," said Coach Kerfoot.

"They shot the ball well and we didn't go out and defend. Our goal was to try to keep them under 55 (points), and we obviously didn't do that. Had we done that, defensively, we would have won the game, because we scored 56.

"In a way I'm happy, because I saw some good things. We just can't maintain it for four quarters. That will be something we'll be working to do the next 10 days that we have off."

Robert Moss and Jake Posey led the Tigers in scoring with 12 points apiece. Nick O'Briant had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Barrie hit for nine points, Kyle Kerfoot added seven, Ryan Carlen, four, and Brandon Doble had one.

The Tigers made just two of 19 three-pointers (11 percent), but shot 55 percent (23/42) inside the arc. The Tigers were a frigid 24 percent (4/17) from the free-throw line.

Buhl hit 50 percent (5/10) of their treys and 42 percent (20/48) of their twos, and connected on 15 of 19 (79 percent) foul shots.

The Tigers, led by Nick O'Briant's 11 boards and Jake Posey's seven, won the battle of the boards 34-30.

The Tigers have this week off, returning to action on Dec. 12, when they host the Buhl Indians.