Tigers defeat Wood River as team begins to gear up for district play

The Mountain Home Tigers returned to the win column Saturday night at Wood River after dropping two conference games earlier in the week.

Knights 73

Tigers 61

The Mountain Home Tigers had trouble keeping with the hot-shooting Knights at Bishop Kelly last Tuesday, falling 73-61 in conference boys basketball.

The Tigers managed an early 3-2 lead on a basket and free throw by Alex Campbell, but Bishop Kelly hit three treys in the quarter to go on an 18-7 run the rest of the quarter and take a 20-10 lead. Mountain Home battled back in the second quarter and narrowed the gap to just one, 26-25, with 1:10 left in the half, but Bishop Kelly scored the final five points of the quarter to lead 31-25 at the half.

Bishop Kelly hit the first five points of the third quarter to increase its lead to 36-25. The Tigers hit four treys in the quarter to battle back to within three, 50-47, heading into the fourth quarter.

Chris Maholick scored to start the fourth quarter and bring the Tigers to within one, at 50-49, but as was the case all night, each time Mountain Home got close the Knights would go on a scoring spurt to push the lead back up. A 16-7 spurt made it 66-56 with a little over two minutes left. The Tigers got no closer than eight after that, losing 73-61.

"I think it was a great game, we were just on the wrong end of it," said Mountain Home Tiger basketball coach Tony Kerfoot. "We got down early, and I think we just didn't have the intensity that we needed to go in there and knock them off at their place. When you're slow on close-outs, they get wide open shots, and they hit 'em! I think we have to pick up some intensity defensively and pick up the shooters."

Alex Campbell led the way for the Tigers with a season-high 26 points. Kyle Kerfoot and D.J. Elliott both scored nine, Danny Snelgrow added six, Chris Maholick four, Logan Monasterio three, and Trevor Woodruff and Deion Brown both scored two.

Skyview 67

Tigers 57

The Tigers got down early to the unbeaten Hawks and had to play catch-up all night, but were never able to take the lead, although they stayed close, losing to Skyview 67-57 Thursday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.

Skyview shot out to an 11-1 lead early and led 20-9 after a quarter.

Down 30-15 midway through the second quarter, the Tigers got three treys from Danny Snelgrow to trim the Skyview deficit to 30-24 with 10 seconds left in the half, but Terrell Rowe canned a trey for the Hawks at the buzzer to push the lead to 33-24 at halftime.

Mountain Home got down by 12 points early in the third quarter, but went on a 12-3 run to come within three, 42-39, with 3:15 left in the quarter. They would not score again in the quarter, as Skyview rolled off 13 unanswered points to take a 55-39 lead into the fourth.

The Tigers were never able to get the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter, as it stayed between 12 and 16 points much of the way before they got within 10 at the end, 67-57.

"They're a very good ball club," said Coach Kerfoot after the game.

"I think our guys did a nice job, especially in the second half, and part of the first half. I thought we had a nice run in the first half and got back into it, and then we kind of let up defensively and didn't get to a shooter and they got three more before the half.

"I thought that kind of put a dagger in us. We came back in the second half and I thought we were a lot more composed for the entire half, and we played a lot better, and, you know, if we're not down as far as we were, I think we have a good chance to beat them."

Alex Campbell led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points, D.J. Elliott and Danny Snelgrow both netted 14, for Snelgrow, a new season-high. Kyle Kerfoot added five, David Bitrick and Trevor Woodruff scored two, and Logan Monasterio and Deion Brown both added one point.

The Tigers hit 25 percent (6/24) of their three-point shots, made 36 percent (12/33) of shots inside the arc and hit 63 percent (15/24) from the foul line.

Skyview hit 36 percent (4/11) on long balls, 54 percent (19/35) of two-pointers, and 71 percent (17/24) of their free throws.

Skyview won the rebound battle 37-29. Alex Campbell led the Tigers with 11.

Mtn. Home 60

Wood River 52

The Tigers took the lead for good right before halftime and snapped a two-game losing skid with a 60-52 non-conference win at Wood River Saturday night.

Mountain Home played the Wolverines without second leading scorer D.J. Elliott, whom Coach Kerfoot had sit out the game to rest his ailing ankles.

The Tigers started slow, trailing 8-7 after a quarter. A 7-0 run to end the second quarter put the Tigers up for good, 22-16, at the half. Wood River managed to tie the game at 24-24 early in the third quarter but the Tigers outscored the Wolverines 16-5 the rest of the quarter to take a commanding 40-29 lead into the fourth period.

Kyle Kerfoot and Danny Snelgrow both hit two treys in the final quarter as Mountain Home built up a 54-37 lead with 4:05 left in the game.

The Wolverines outscored Mountain Home 15-6 the rest of the way to make it a 60-52 final.

"Going into the game we were plagued a little bit with dead legs. With our third game of the week, it was a long road trip," said Coach Kerfoot.

"I rotated a lot of guys in the first half just so I could look at them, and I did see us gain some momentum as the game went, especially in that second half. We started shooting the ball better than we had been, and that was a good thing, a real positive. We had a little adversity a long way from home, but at least we stayed on top of it."

Nine Tigers scored in the game, led by Kyle Kerfoot with a season-high 14 points, which included four treys. Danny Snelgrow, Trevor Woodruff and Chris Maholick all scored eight points, Alex Campbell added seven, David Bitrick scored six, Dallin Dean a season-high four, Jared Sexauer three, and Logan Monasterio two.

The Tigers shot 38 percent (9/24) on their three-pointers, 32 percent (11/34) on two-pointers, and 75 percent (11/15) on free throws.

Wood River hit 25 percent (5/20) on treys, 39 percent (12/31) inside the arc, and 65 percent (13/20) from the free-throw line.

The Tigers won the rebound battle 34-29 with David Bitrick and Logan Monasterio both bringing down six.

The win improved the Tigers to 8-11 on the season.

Mountain Home closed out its regular season schedule last night at home against Emmett for Senior Night.

The team opens district tourney play Saturday afternoon.