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Lady Tigers seek win as basketball season continues
Mountain Home High School's Lady Tigers basketball program is coming off a season with a combined seven wins between the three programs.
Injuries piled up quickly, hampering opportunities to create continuity with the rotations. Only one of the returning five lettermen were on the opening night varsity roster a season ago.
With 17 new players and one new coach in the high school program, the Lady Tigers have a drastically different look this season.
"We are definitely playing more up tempo and trying to play faster," said varsity head coach Brent Keener regarding stylistic changes to the program. "We've got some athletes that can get out and run."
The Tigers' new blood would be tested early and often with a difficult schedule to begin the season. Mountain Home began its season on the road at Wood River in Hailey on Nov. 13. The freshman team, under new head coach Jack Dooley, found themselves on the losing end of a 32-31 nail biter.
Forward Ashley Drake led the team in scoring with 12 points.
During the season opener, the junior varsity team defeated Wood River Wolverines with every member of the team scoring.
Meanwhile, the varsity team fell to the Wolverines, 52-43. The Tigers had a big run in the second half to cut the deficit to three, but Blair Radford (18 points) and the Wolverines would keep the Tigers at arm's length for the rest of the game.
The Lady Tigers had their home opener Nov. 17 against 5A Boise High, who finished second in state last season. The Lady Tigers were swept by the Braves but had flashes of promise.
Mountain Home played tough defensively and forced the Braves to go away from their bread and butter -- inside scoring. Boise shot incredibly well from outside, hitting five three pointers in the second half to put Mountain Home away, 71-25.
The Lady Tigers would play their second road game of the season Nov. 19 against 5A Borah. All three teams competed well in the first half, with Borah pulling away late in all three contests.
The frosh team added a new weapon to their repertoire -- the long ball.
"The biggest advantage in the game of basketball is the three shot," Coach Dooley said. "Sarah (Miller) was unguarded for a corner three in the first half on a baseline out-of-bounds play. She missed the basket by a good three feet. Borah deflected it out of bounds, and we were in the same situation.
"The defense didn't even bother to adjust, and she had nothing but net," the coach added. "That is the purest definition of shot confidence. Once her teammates saw the ball go in, they too began to have that shot confidence."
The freshman team was down by 15 at the half but could not muster a second-half comeback. Miller, a freshman, made her season debut that evening and led the Lady Tigers with seven points.
The junior varsity squad came out on the losing end of a game that featured plenty of offensive firepower. Leading the offensive outburst for the Tigers was freshman Emily Cruser, who scored a career high 23 points in a losing effort.
The varsity squad started off strong against Borah. The Tigers led for a better part of the first quarter.
Junior Anna Pedroza led the early charge and had the Lady Tigers trailing Borah by one at the end of the first quarter. Foul trouble would rear its ugly head in the direction of the Tigers with starters Pedroza, Jazzi Cristobal and Jacey Carr all having two fouls early in the second quarter.
Borah took full advantage, controlling the final three quarters by a score of 46-13. The Tigers would drop their third straight by the score of 57-23.
The Tigers would get swept for the third straight time Nov. 21 against Kimberly. The freshman team sputtered in the first quarter and fourth quarter, falling 39-19.
The junior varsity team fell to Kimberly in overtime. Even though the JV team fell short, head coach Benjamin Rayfield felt his team has found a competitive edge.
"Our goal is to win everything and anything that gives us a competitive advantage," he said. "We want to beat our opponents at rebounds, defense, communication, teamwork, fortitude, etc. They believe that if they compete possession by possession, the end result is inevitable.
"I am lucky to have this group that works hard and sticks together, and I am excited to see where the season takes us," Coach Rayfield added.
The varsity team again found themselves on the wrong end of the foul count. The Tigers shot the ball well from the charity stripe, but opponents were averaging twice as many attempts from the line.
Foul trouble was compounded by missed shots as the Tigers shot less than 20 percent from the field.
"We've got to take care of the basketball and get quality shots up," Coach Keener said. "We can't turn it over so much and get people shots in the right spots to make shots. Shots that are quality shots that people make in practice all the time. I really think the scoring is going to get better."
One player that seemed to turned the corner offensively that night was freshman Adrie Blanksma. She struggled on the offensive end in the first three games but was taking quality shots. During the game, the ball started to go in for Blanksma, who posted a career high 14 points against Kimberly.
The most positive thing that the Tigers have that they lacked last season is their ability to stay relatively healthy.
"(Program health) has been great so far minus a few small injuries with some of the JV players. It makes practices better and allows for better competition," Coach Keener said.
The Tigers will look to seek out revenge on the Wood River Wolverines this Friday at Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium, coming off a bye week. Assistant coach John Cristobal believes the program is improving daily.
"Our kids are playing hard and our coaches are coaching hard," the coach said.
With an extra week of preparation, Dooley said to look for Mountain Home to put a tally mark in the win column Dec. 4.