Knights snap Tigers' three-game winning streak

The Mountain Home Tigers boys basketball team saw their win streak snapped at three as they won at home but lost on the road.

Mountain Home 53, Skyview 22

The Tigers' defense took Skyview to the woodshed and back last Wednesday, holding the Hawks to just 22 points in a 53-22 conference boys basketball win at Mountain Home High School's Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.

Mountain Home came out shooting, hitting four, three-point shots in the first quarter and jumping out to an 18-6 lead after eight minutes. The tenacious defensive pressure kept Skyview frustrated as the Tigers went into the locker room at halftime with a 25-10 lead.

The Tigers kept up their defensive pressure in the second half and dominated the boards, rarely giving the Hawks more than one shot. Mountain Home led, 40-15, after thee quarters. After Brion Bethel Jr.'s three with 1:11 left, the lead went over 30 points at 51-20.

It was the first time the Tigers have ever accomplished that feat against Skyview.

The lead reached 53-20 before Skyview would score an uncontested basket as time expired with the Tigers sealing the win.

Mountain Home Tigers head basketball coach Brion Bethel said his Tigers played a solid game.

"The guys played well. They shot the ball well, they really played great defense, they really rebounded well," the coach said. "Honestly, they played well almost every phase of the game, and they communicated and played as a team and played team basketball."

Jymon Garretsom led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points. Jarek Schetzle recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and bringing down 14 rebounds. He also blocked three shots and had three dunks.

Jermaine Smith and AJ Woodruff both scored five points, Tyler Park added four, Brion Bethl, Jr. and Marcus Egusquiza both scored three and Chris Wright and Christen Riedel each had two points to round out the scoring. Garrett McKenzie and AJ Woodruff led the team in assists with four each.

Mountain Home shot 43 percent from the field, hitting nine of its 21 three balls. They went to the free throw line five times, converting four for 80 percent.

In comparison, Skyview shot a frigid 19 percent from the field, hitting only two of 11 shots outside the circle and hit six of 10 from the foul line.

Mountain Home dominated the boards, 36-23, led by Jarek Schetzle with 14 and Jymon Garretson with seven.

Bishop Kelly 61,

Mountain Home 53

Shots that fell in with ease at home last Wednesday found ways to rim out Friday night at Bishop Kelly, as the Knights tightened up the SIC 4A standings with a 61-53 win over the Tigers.

The first quarter had five lead changes and a tie before Bishop Kelly pushed ahead, 17-15, with a basket in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

Four three-balls by Bishop Kelly in the second quarter helped the team shoot out to an 11-point lead with two minutes left in the quarter. The Tigers fought back, narrowing the gap to 33-30 at the half.

The basket seemed to have a lid on it for Mountain Home in the third quarter as the team scored only two points on one for nine shooting. The Knights built their lead to 44-32 heading into the fourth quarter.

The never-say-die Tigers battled back in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to one, 49-48, with 1:30 left in the game. But critical turnovers led to Bishop Kelly baskets, and the Knights hit eight of 12 free throws over the final minute of the game to hold off the Tigers for a 61-53 win.

Coach Bethel thought the 20 turnovers during the game were a big factor in the loss.

"It's the story of our year," the coach said. "If our point guards perform well, we perform well. We as coaches have got to do a better job helping them in certain situations so we don't get so much pressure on them. I still have faith in our team. They're playing good basketball. We'll just put them in a better situation next time."

Jymon Garretson was the only Tiger to reach double figures in scoring with 15. Christen Riedel added nine, Jermaine Smith had eight, Jarek Schetzle scored seven points and pulled down 10 boards. Brion Bethel Jr. added five points, AJ Woodruff finished with three while Chris Wright, Garrett McKenzie and Tyler Park each scored two points.

The Tigers shot just 37 percent from the field, hitting seven of their 26 three-pointers. They hit eight of 12 free throws.

Bishop Kelly also shot 37 percent from the field, hitting six of 16 long balls. The Knights converted on 11 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter to finish the night 21 of 31 from the line.

With the loss, the Tigers stand 14-5 overall and 5-3 in conference in a four-way tie for first place with two league games left. Mountain Home hosts Middleton, which is 4-4 in conference, tonight during senior night. Mountain Home closes out its regular season schedule Friday night at Kuna, which is one of the four teams with a 5-3 conference record.

"We've put ourselves in a stellar position to be in the race for the conference championship, and that's the important thing," Coach Bethel said. "At the end of the day, we want to be in the spot where we can win it all and control our fate. We've just got to make sure we do the little things right."