Tigers drop games to Jerome, Skyview squads

It was a long week for Mountain Home's varsity basketball team as the Tigers fell to Jerome and Skyview

Jerome 57

Mtn. Home 44

The first battle of the Tigers went in favor of Jerome last Friday night, as the host Tigers downed Mountain Home 57-44.

Mountain Home fell behind, 6-0, early, but went on a 12-0 run to go up, 12-6. It was 12-9 Mountain Home after a quarter.

Kyle Kerfoot's fourth trey of the game gave Mountain Home their biggest lead of the game, 24-16, with 1:54 left in the half.

Jerome battled back to cut the margin to just one, 26-25, at halftime then took the lead in the third quarter, and the best Mountain Home could do was tie it at 32 and 35, as Jerome took a 42-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

A basket and free throw by Jake Posey with 7:53 left in the game --seven seconds into the final quarter -- brought the visiting Tigers back within two, 42-40, but Mountain Home would not score again until Posey hit one of two free throws with 2:13 left, snapping an 11-0 run by Jerome. Kyle Kerfoot hit his fifth trey of the game in the final minute as Jerome took the contest, 57-44.

"I think we played a good three quarters, and I thought we did pretty well there for three quarters, but we didn't execute in the fourth quarter and they did," said Mountain Home Tiger boys basketball coach Tony Kerfoot in radio comments after the game.

"I know they're a good ball club, and I thought we did some good things tonight, we just couldn't sustain them for four quarters.

"This is always a tough place to come down and play, and I thought for three quarters we were right there, and we set ourselves up, we just didn't execute in that fourth quarter. That's sort of the same thing that happened up at Baker, and we've got to learn how to put one away in the fourth quarter, and it's by coming down and executing, going four or five passes not one pass or two passes and getting a quick shot."

Kyle Kerfoot led the Tigers in scoring with a career high 17 points. Jake Posey added 12 points and brought down nine rebounds. Nick Barrie scored seven points, Travis Gordon, six, and Chris Maholick, two.

Skyview 66

Mtn. Home 59

The Mountain Home Tigers poured in 24 points in the fourth quarter Friday night against Skyview,but it was too little, too late, as they lost to the Hawks, 66-59, in conference boys basketball at Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

Skyview shot out to an 8-0 lead early, but Mountain Home came back to tie the game at 8-8. Skyview then went on an 11-0 run to end the quarter up, 19-8.

The Hawks built the lead up to 30-10 midway through the second period, but a 12-4 run by Mountain Home made it 34-22 Skyview, at halftime.

Skyview built the lead back up to 20 points in the third quarter, and took a 52-33 lead into the final eight minutes.

A 7-0 start to the fourth brought the Tigers back within 12, 52-40, before Skyview pushed the lead back out to 15, at 59-44, with 2:26 left.

A 15-6 run by the Tigers got Mountain Home within six, 65-59, with 22 seconds left, but that was as close as they would come, as they fell 66-59.

Tiger basketball coach Tony Kerfoot gave credit to the Hawks in comments after the game.

"Skyview plays hard and they played a lot harder than scouting reports I've been told. They played a different level than teams we've been seeing, and definitely a lot higher level, quicker level than what we see everyday in practice, and I think that shell-shocked us the first few minutes."

Coach Kerfoot was pleased with the way his Tigers battled back to make a game of it.

"The kids didn't give up, and even in the first half, I think there was a stand there where we picked it up and played their tempo and we were playing as hard as they were and we started making a little comeback on them, and then we thought, 'okay, let's tough it up and go man-to-man,' and I think they took it to us a little bit when we manned-up, and they started posting us up, so we had to switch some things, and I think the pressure is what ended up working the best for us when we extended and went a lot of full court pressure, but the kids were playing hard then, too."

Nick Barrie led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points, Alex Campbell put in a season high 14, and Jake Posey added 11. Jake Hiler and Chris Maholick both scored seven, and Kyle Kerfoot had three points.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 2-7 overall, and 1-3 in league play.

Mountain Home plays at Bishop Kelly Thursday night, and hosts Emmett on Saturday night.

"We've got to start stepping up and we can't sit around and play passive," said Coach Kerfoot. "We have to be ready to play as aggressive as what Skyview was in this game, and I thought for a while there they really outplayed us. I think we came back and we gained some ground and we put a scare in them, we just need to be ready to come out the gate that way."

Mountain Home dropped to 2-7 overall with the losses.