Lady Tigers rebound after Vikings' loss to beat Nampa

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers lost to Middleton and won at Nampa in conference basketball games last week.

Middleton 53, Mountain Home 34

The Middleton Lady Vikings shut down Dakota Barrie and the Mountain Home Lady Tiger offense in the second half on their way to a 53-34 conference win Thursday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

Hailey Belt's rebound basket with 5:45 left in the first quarter gave Mountain Home a 4-2 lead, but it was the only lead of the night for the Lady Tigers and was quickly erased by a three-point basket by Kenna Hopkins that put Middleton back in the lead, 5-4.

Middleton led 18-14 after a quarter and stretched its lead to eight, 23-15, early in the second quarter, before the Lady Tigers went on a 7-0 run to battle back within one, 23-22, with 2:22 left in the half.

The Lady Tigers had their chances to take the lead, but found themselves down 28-25 at the half.

Middleton put the clamps on the Lady Tigers in the second half, as Mountain Home managed just a basket by Hailey Belt and a free throw by Jessica Liercke in the third quarter, while the Lady Vikings put in 16 points to take a 44-28 lead into the final period.

Mountain Home hit the first four points of the fourth quarter on baskets by Emilee Schetzle and Keesha Janis-Gibson, but 44-32 would be the closest they would get the rest of the way as Middleton won 53-34.

"Middleton really played some good 'D' in the second half," said Lady Tiger coach Brent Keener after the game. "The first half was pretty good, but even then we missed opportunities -- missed numerous lay-ins -- and should have been up at half.

"But they're a good club. We've got to play a lot quicker than we played defensively. I thought some girls got after it -- I think Keesha never quit and Dakota was in foul trouble, which made a difference defensively -- but we've got to get some other girls moving a little quicker."

Offensively, Coach Keener lamented the nine-point second-half effort.

"That's just not going to cut it -- you've got to score buckets. I thought we had some decent looks in the second half, but we obviously turned it over too much. We've got to finish those bunnies."

Dakota Barrie led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 15 points, all in the first half. Meanwhile, Jessica Liercke and Hailey Belt both added six points while Keesha Janis-Gibson added five and Emilee Schetzle sank two.

Mountain Home shot just 29 percent (14/49) from the field, including one of five on three-pointers. They shot just 17 percent (4/23) in the second half. They made just 50 percent (5/10) of their free throws.

Middleton shot 41 percent (18/44) from the field, hitting 7 of 14 of their long balls. They shot 59 percent (10/17) from the foul line.

Mountain Home did win the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Lady Vikings 35-24, led by Keesha Janis Gibson with 15.

Mountain Home 47, Nampa 26

The Lady Tigers shot out to a 33-6 halftime lead and coasted in for a 47-26 win over Nampa Saturday night at Nampa.

Mountain Home started slow, going over two and a half minutes before scoring, but then reeled off 10 unanswered points on their way to a 12-4 first quarter lead. A 21-2 second quarter put the game away.

The Lady Tigers managed just two points in the third quarter, but Nampa scored just six to make it 35-12 after three. They upped their lead to 44-16 midway through the fourth before Nampa rallied to make it a 47-26 final.

Coach Keener was pleased with the first half effort, but thought the second half was sloppy.

"We had a decent first half, but I guess we just packed it in after that, because that second half was not pretty at all."

Keesha Janis Gibson led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 13 points.

Courtney Christiansen came off the bench to score a season-high eight points. Rachel Warila added seven, Jacci Cristobal six, Jessica Liercke and Dakota Barrie both scored four, Kelsey Egusquiza three and Hailey Belt scored two.

Mountain Home shot just 31 percent (18/58) from the field, hitting two of six three-pointers, and converted 69 percent (9/13) of their free throws.

Nampa shot just 17 percent (7/42) from the field and hit four of 21 treys. They hit 67 percent (8/12) from the foul line.

Mountain Home won the battle of the boards 37-26, with Keesha Janis-Gibson bringing down 14.

The Lady Tigers improved to 8-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play. They hosted Kuna Tuesday night for Senior night and close out their regular season schedule Thursday night at Columbia.

The district tourney opens Feb. 2 with the Lady Tigers hosting the first round.