Lady Tigers win again, beat Caldwell

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers came away with a split of their two games last week, losing at Kuna, but winning at home against Caldwell.

Kuna 47

Mountain Home 36

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers experienced some cold shooting in the second half at Kuna last Tuesday night and as a result, fell behind and were never able to mount a sustained rally to come back, losing to the Lady Kavemen, 47-36.

Mountain Home battled back from a 5-0 deficit to take a 7-6 lead on a basket by Teysena Chatman with 2:35 left in the first quarter, but trailed, 10-7, heading into the second period.

The Lady Tigers battled hard in the second quarter, taking the lead on a couple occasions, the last, 17-15, on a basket by Ashley Kipp, with 1:32 left in the half. A basket by Brianna Hansen with eight seconds left in the half, gave Kuna the lead, 18-17, at halftime.

Mountain Home fell behind, 25-19, with 5:50 left in the third quarter, but battled back, getting a basket by Jessica Egusquiza, two free throws from Erica Stanton, and a basket by Sammy Doge to tie the game at 25-25, with about four minutes left in the quarter. Another basket by Dodge tied it at 27-27, with 3:15 left, but the Lady Tigers managed just a free throw by Kaleena Bluemer the rest of the period, and trailed 34-28, heading into the fourth.

Kuna stretched its lead to 10, 41-31, with 5:05 left in the game. Two free throws by Marquina Gilliam followed by a trey by Gilliam cut the lead in half, 41-36, with 2:29 left, but the Lady Tigers would score no more, and Kuna sank six of eight free throws down the stretch to pick up their first win of the season, 47-36.

"One of these days we're going to make those shots, and when we do, we're going to score 100 points," said Mountain Home Lady Tiger basketball coach Brian English, in radio comments after the game.

"Once we fell behind, it was really tough for us to come back. We just weren't making shots. The foul line did us in again. We have our opportunities, they're there, and sooner or later they're going to fall. It's just a matter of the girls staying positive and not getting down on themselves too much, because we played a good game defensively tonight.

"Give Kuna credit, though, we fouled them and put them on the line and they made their shots when they needed them."

Marquina Gillium led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 12 points. Ali Hillman added seven points and brought down 10 rebounds. Sammy Dodge scored five points, Lisa Kellerman, three, Erica Stanton, Ashley Kipp, Teysena Chatman and Jessica Egusquiza all scored two points, and Kaleena Bluemer added one.

Mountain Home shot 35 percent (6/17) from the field in the first half, but were a frigid 21 percent (6/29) in the second half, to end the night, 12 for 46, or 26 percent. The Lady Tigers hit just one of six (17 percent) treys, and connected on just 11 of 24 (46 percent) free throws.

Kuna shot 30 percent (14/47) from the field, including three of eight (38 percent) long range, and were 18 of 30 (53 percent) from the charity stripe.

Mountain Home 38

Caldwell 20

Mountain Home shot out to a 14-6 first quarter lead and never looked back Friday night, as they downed the Caldwell Lady Cougars, 38-20, in SIC 4A conference basketball in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

The Lady Tigers led 22-14 at the half, and defensively put the clamps on Caldwell shooting in the second half -- they hit just one field goal and scored just six second half points -- to coast to victory.

"The girls played really, really well and played some great defense, holding Caldwell to just 20 points."

English also credited the great student section as being a big factor in the win.

"The student section was awesome. They were loud, they cheered, they were doing everything, and the girls just fed off that and got better and better and better!"

Marquina Gillium led Mountain Home with 12 points and eight rebounds. Erica Stanton added eight points. Jessica Egusquiza netted seven points. Ali Hillman added six points, and brought down a season high 13 rebounds. Lisa Kellerman and Kaleena Bluemer both scored two points, and Sammy Dodge added one.

Mountain Home shot 29 percent (12/41) from the field, including 17 percent (1/6) beyond the arc. They made good on 13 of 28 (46 percent) of their free throws.

Caldwell shot just 16 percent (7/45) from the field, and missed all 16 three-point attempts, and hit six of 13 (46 percent) free throws.

Mountain Home won the battle of the boards, 49-29, led by Ali Hillman's 13.

The Lady Tigers took a 2-6 record to Jerome last night, and travel to Skyview tomorrow night to face the Lady Hawks, returning home to face Bishop Kelly on Saturday night.

"We've got the big four coming up," said Coach English.

"We've got Skyview, Bishop Kelly, Emmett and Vallivue. That will show us where we stand. We'll know a lot more after that."