Tigers soar to three wins during season opener

The Mountain Home Tigers won just six basketball games all last season, but this year's team already has half that total after just three games.

Mountain Home 87, Columbia 44

The Mountain Home Tigers opened their 2014-15 boys basketball season with an 87-44 win over the Columbia Wildcats last Tuesday night at Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

The Tigers scored early and often in building up a 31-8 first quarter lead. They upped it to 50-22 at the half, and took a 72-37 lead into the final quarter.

Tiger head basketball coach Brion Bethel said the team played great during their first effort of the season.

"They came out with a lot of intensity, passed the ball real well, shot the ball real well," the coach said. "A lot of things came together for us."

Jarek Schetlze led the Tigers with a double-double, scoring 17 points and bringing down 12 rebounds. Christen Riedel added 13 points, Jymon Garretson netted 12, AJ Woodruff 11, Chris Wright and Marcus Egusquiza both scored nine, Tyler Park seven and Jermaine Smith five, while Brion Bethel Jr. and Garret McKenzie each scored two points to round out the scoring.

Mountain Home shot a hot 55 percent from the field, including 9 of 17 three-pointers. They hit 11 of 17 of their free throws.

Mountain Home 55, Jerome 26

Mountain Home used its height advantage last Wednesday night, rolling to a 55-26 win over Jerome in Lloyd Schiler Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

Tiger senior post Jarek Schetzle lead the Tigers with 24 points, 20 in the first half --10 in each of the first two quarters -- as the Mountain Home Tigers led 24-11 after a quarter and 40-23 at the half.

Jerome adjusted defensively in the second half, using a tight zone to limit Mountain Home's 6-foot, 10-inch Schetzle to just four points, but the Mountain Home defense held the visiting Tigers scoreless in the third, as Mountain Home increased its lead to 53-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

After a steal and layup by Garrett McKenzie to start the fourth quarter, Mountain Home was content to pass the ball around and look for the open shot.

Jerome's basket by Logan Geist with 4:23 left in the game was the first points Jerome scored in over 13 minutes and their first field goal since the 2:03 mark of the second quarter -- a gap of 13 minutes and 40 seconds.

Coach Bethel was pleased with the win.

"I wish we were shooting the ball better," the coach said. "We didn't shoot the ball that well in the second quarter, so it looked like we slowed the game down, but we decided to be disciplined and look for the shots that worked for us."

Jarek Schetzle led Mountain Home with 24 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Tyler Park added nine points, Marcus Egusquiza had five, Jermaine Smith scored four and handed out seven assists. Christen Riedel also scored four and AJ Woodruff three. Brion Bethel Jr., Garrett McKenzie and Jymon Garretson each scored two points to round out the scoring.

Mountain Home shot just under 50 percent from the field, hitting just two of 12 shots from outside the arc, and went to the free-throw line just four times, converting three of them for 75 percent.

Jerome shot just 27 percent from the field, also hitting just 17 percent on three-pointers. They hit on four of six free throws.

Mountain Home 73, Nampa 68 (OT)

Mountain Home blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter Friday night, but took control in overtime to down the Nampa Bulldogs 73-68 in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

Mountain Home shot out to a 19-9 lead after a quarter and withstood a Nampa surge in the second to go in to the locker room at halftime with a 34-30 advantage.

After Nampa scored the first basket of the third quarter to cut the Tiger lead to two, Mountain Home went on an 11-3 run to make the lead double-digits at 45-35 and led 49-39 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs hit four three-point goals in the fourth quarter, the final one knotting the game up at 59-59, with 55 seconds left in regulation.

Mountain Home played for a final shot, with Jarek Schetzle getting fouled with five seconds left. Schetzle missed both shots and Nampa's shot at the buzzer was no good, sending the game to overtime.

Mountain Home jumped out in front in overtime, as Jymon Garretson sank a trey. Nampa hit two free throws to cut it to 62-61, but that would be as close as the Bulldogs would come. Jarek Schetzle's slam dunk with 35 seconds left put the lead at 71-66 and Mountain Home went on to a 73-68 win.

Mountain Home had five players score in double figures on the night. Tyler Park led the way with 15, Jermaine Smith and AJ Woodruff both contributed 13 and Jymon Garretson and Jarek Schetzle both tallied 11. Christen Riedel added six, and Brion Bethle Jr. and Chris Wright both scored two.

Coach Bethel said the Nampa win represented a total team effort.

"We've been preparing for these situations and that preparation paid off," the coach said. "We have lots of work to do to reach our full potential, but we feel like we're on the right track. We believe our best games are yet to come."

The Tigers are on the road now until January. They were at Jerome Tuesday night and travel to Minico Friday. Mountain Home will take Christmas off and return for the Twin Falls Tournament Dec. 29 to 31. Their next home game is Jan. 6 against the Gooding Senators.