Tigers win three straight to qualify for state tourney

Things looked sort of bleak after last week's upset loss to Kuna in the first round of the District III 4A Boys Basketball Tournament, but the Mountain Home Tigers regrouped, knowing they would have to win three straight games to make state, and they got the job done, beating Nampa, Middleton and Columbia.

Tigers 56

Nampa 42

The Tigers pulled away in the second half to down the Nampa Bulldogs, 56-42, in a loser-out game of the District III 4A Boys Basketball Tournament in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home last Tuesday night.

The Tigers shot out to an early 8-0 lead and led 14-7 after a quarter and 20-16 at the half.

A 16-4 edge for the Tigers to start the third quarter put the game out of reach, as Mountain Home led 38-26 after three and pulled away in the fourth for a 58-42 win.

"I thought the kids did a nice job," said Tiger basketball coach Tony Kerfoot after the game. "I thought offensively, we were controlled and we kind of spread them out and had some good looks. I don't know how many of them we actually finished , but enough to win the game.

"I thought we really tried to dissect and take what they gave us, and I thought we did a good job of that."

Alex Campbell and Danny Snelgrow both scored in double figures for the Tigers, Campbell with 14 and Snelgrow with 12. Logan Monasterio had a season-high eight points, Kyle Kerfoot added seven, Trevor Woodruff six, Deion Brown four, D.J. Elliott three and Dallin Dean two.

The Tigers shot just 20 percent (3/15) on three-pointers, but were 55 percent (21/38) inside the arc. They shot 83 percent (5/6) from the foul line.

Nampa shot 27 percent (3/11) on treys, 37 percent (11/30) on twos, and 52 percent (11/21) from the line.

Mountain Home won the rebound battle 27-19, led by Alex Campbell with seven.

Mtn. Home 58

Middleton 48

The Tigers faced Middleton last Thursday night as the district tourney moved to Columbia High School in Nampa for the final two nights of the tournament. Middleton, the number two seed, had been upset by third-seed Bishop Kelly 73-53 on Tuesday night at Middleton.

The Tigers shot out to an early lead and never looked back as they ended the Vikings' season 58-48.

The Tigers fell behind early, 3-0, on a trey by Sterling Mortenson, but two baskets by Alex Campbell put the Tigers up, 4-3. A basket by Erik Foreman put the Vikings back ahead, 5-4, with 5:24 left in the quarter.

Mountain Home then went on a 9-0 run -- a run started by Alex Campbell with a trey, and ended by Campbell with a basket -- to go up 13-5 and the Tigers would never trail again in the game.

The Tigers led 15-8 after a quarter, and after Middleton cut the lead to three points on three different occasions, the last at 21-18 with 1:28 left in the half, Chris Maholick canned a trey to push the lead to 24-18. It was 25-20, Tigers, at the half.

Mountain Home had an 8-0 run to start the third quarter to go up 33-20, with 5:28 left in the quarter, but the Vikings responded with an 8-0 run of their own, to pull back within five, 33-28, with 3:00 left in the stanza. The Tigers took a 43-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

Mountain Home stretched its lead to 11 points early in the fourth but the Vikings whittled the lead down to three, 49-46, with about two minutes left. The Tigers cashed in at the free-throw line, hitting seven of eight down the stretch to win it 58-48.

"We showed a lot of experience tonight," said Coach Kerfoot in radio comments after the game. "And although we may not have shown it through the year at times, I think we showed we've learned from some of our mistakes -- maybe not all of them -- but some of them. I thought we did a good job of executing early, and defensively. I thought we played hard, we rebounded fairly well, and that's the key, and if we do those things, we've got a chance to beat anybody!"

Four Tigers scored in double figures against Middleton, led by Alex Campbell with 18. Kyle Kerfoot netted 12 points and Danny Snelgrow and D.J. Elliott both added 10 points. Trevor Woodruff and Chris Maholick both had three points and Logan Monasterio scored two points.

The Tigers hit 24 percent (4/17) of their three-pointers, 41 percent (14/34) on two-pointers, and shot 69 percent (18/26) from the free-throw line, including 11 of 14 in the fourth quarter.

Middleton shot 31 percent (4/11) on treys, 45 percent (14/31) inside the arc, and hit just 50 percent (8/16) of their free throws.

The Tigers won the rebound battle 42-26, led by Alex Campbell with 13.

Tigers 65

Wildcats 51

The win over Middleton put the Tigers in the third-place game against Columbia. The Wildcats had knocked off Kuna 68-53 on Thursday night to advance to Friday's third-place game. The Tigers led from start to finish in beating Columbia 65-51.

Trevor Woodruff came in the game averaging 4.7 points per game and got the start from Coach Kerfoot. The 6' 3" junior scored 11 of his season high 19 points in the first quarter as the Tigers built up a 21-12 first quarter lead. Mountain Home did not let the Wildcats get any closer, as the Tigers led 37-23 at the half.

Columbia managed to come within 10, 46-36, with 1:04 left in the third quarter, but a free throw by Alex Campbell and a basket by Kyle Kerfoot pushed it to 49-36, heading into the final quarter.

The Tigers missed their first five free throws of the fourth quarter, but Columbia was unable to come any closer than 11 points, as the Tigers downed the Wildcats 65-51 for third place and a state 4A tourney berth.

"The kids did a great job and I think we've improved as the season's gone on. I think we've stepped up a little bit at tournament time also," said Coach Kerfoot after the game. "We've been able to get out to a great start. Tonight it was Trevor Woodruff. We put him in the starting lineup and he was huge in the first quarter, and we got that edge and we were able to hold on to it.

"Defensively, we did what we needed to, and offensively, although we struggled a time or two, we still found a way to put some points on the board and stay ahead."

Trevor Woodruff led the Tigers with 19 points. Danny Snelgrow and Chris Maholick both added 10, Kyle Kerfoot put in eight points and had seven assists, Alex Campbell had seven points and 12 rebounds, Logan Monasterio and D.J. Elliott both scored three points, David Bitrick and Deion Brown each had two and Jared Sexauer had one point.

Mountain Home shot 36 percent (4/11) on long balls, and were a sizzling 58 percent (19/33) inside the circle. The Tigers shot just 54 percent (15/28) from the foul line.

With the win, the Tigers earned third place in the district tourney and the final berth from District III to the State 4A Tournament, which starts Thursday at Borah High School in Boise.

"That's what we've been working for (state)," said Coach Kerfoot. "That was the goal at the beginning of the season, so it's nice to see it come true."

This is Mountain Home's first appearance at state since 1994 and Coach Kerfoot was the Tiger coach then, also. Kerfoot left after that year and went to Kellogg, where he coached and taught until returning to Mountain Home in 2001.

The Tigers' first opponent is no stranger to Mountain Home.

Like the Lady Tigers, Mountain Home will face Jerome, the District IV-V champion, in the first round at 6:15 p.m. Thursday evening at Borah.