Tigers lose to Middleton, Emmett

The Mountain Home Tigers head into the final two weeks of the regular season still looking for their first win of the season. Games against Middleton and Emmett went into the loss column last week.

Middleton 55, Mountain Home 30

On the strength of 69 percent shooting from the field, the Mountain Home Tigers shot themselves to a 21-19 lead after one quarter last Wednesday in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium against the Middleton Vikings. But then their shooting eye clouded over as they shot just 12 percent the rest of the night, getting outscored 36-9 and losing to the Vikings, 55-30, in conference boys basketball.

The Tigers cooled off to 25 percent from the field in the second quarter but remained close, trailing just 32-27 at the half.

The Tigers managed just one field goal in the third quarter, however, a basket by Michael Daniels with 2:03 left in the quarter. It was 44-29, Middleton, after three quarters.

The fourth quarter saw Mountain Home go 0 for 7 in field goal attempts, and only one for four from the free-throw line, as the Vikings coasted to a 55-30 win.

"We went completely cold from the field after that first quarter," lamented Tiger coach Brion Bethel. "We couldn't hit shots. I thought our kids were still working hard, we just couldn't buy a basket."

Michael Daniels and Cristian Riedel both scored eight points to lead the Tiger scoring. Daniels also had five assists. Jose Rodriguez and Doug Long each scored six and Long had six rebounds. Jeremy Hopper rounded out the scoring with two points.

After shooting 48 percent from the field in the first half, the Tigers got just one of 22 shots to fall for them second half, to finish the night at 28 percent, including three of 15 on three-point shots. They only went to the foul line five times and converted only one for 20 percent.

Middleton ended the night shooting 40 percent from the field, hitting six of 17 long balls. They shot 82 percent from the free-throw line.

Emmett 56, Mountain Home 34

A bad third quarter was the difference Friday night at Emmett, as the Tigers lost to the Huskies 56-34.

Mountain Home scored the first basket of the ball game, but trailed 13-7 after a quarter. They stayed close in the second, trailing 21-14 at the half.

The Huskies outscored the Tigers 22-7 in the third quarter to take a commanding 43-21 lead into the fourth quarter. Emmett's biggest lead was 52-25 midway through the fourth, before the Tigers went on a 9-4 run to end the game and make it a 56-34 final.

"We've got to do a better job coaching to help our guys execute better," Coach Bethel said. "We did a pretty fair job in the first half, but in the second half, we didn't execute and didn't have an answer for what Emmett was doing.

"As a far as a silver lining, Jeremy passed the ball well and it was nice to have Devin back, and Jose did a good job on the board for us, but we've just got to shoot better," the coach added.

Doug Long led the Tigers in scoring with nine points. Michael Daniels added eight points and Cristian Riedel six. Devin Wright played his first game after missing seven games with an ankle injury. He contributed four points and four rebounds. Tyler Senger and Jose Rodriguez both scored two points. Rodriguez brought down eight boards. Tyler Elliott had one point and Jeremy Hopper handed out five assists.

The Tigers shot 28 percent from the field, hitting just two of 13 treys. They continued their dismal shooting from the free-throw line, hitting just four of 13 free throws.

Emmett shot 47 percent from the field, nailing 35 percent long balls. They shot 60 percent from the foul line.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-13 in league play and 0-17 on the season. They host Columbia on Thursday, Feb. 7, and travel to Nampa on Friday.