Tigers fall short of qualifying for state tournament

After beating Kuna in the opening round of the District III 4A Basketball Tournament, the Mountain Home Tigers were just a win away from a state 4A tourney berth, needing to beat an Emmett team they had come close to beating twice during the regular season.

The third time wasn't the charm, and they lost at Emmett, 62-48. Then came a loss to Middleton that ended their season.

Emmett 62

Mtn. Home 48

The Emmett Huskies used a 24-point third quarter to pull away from the Mountain Home Tigers for a 62-48 win in the District semi-finals.

The Tigers found themselves down 6-0 in the first minute of the game at Emmett last Tuesday night, as Jordan Taylor and Nick Hovda both drained threes. The Tigers battled back, getting two baskets from Alex Campbell with one from Nick Barrie sandwiched in between to tie the game at 6-6, with 4:14 left in the quarter.

Jordan Taylor canned another trey for the Huskies, but Alex Campbell scored twice more and Zane Bundy scored to give Mountain Home a 12-9 lead after a quarter.

The second quarter saw the score tied at 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21. The Tigers played for the final shot, but Emmett got a steal and a lay-up by Cory Holm to go into the locker room up 23-21, at halftime.

Building on the last play of the first half, the Emmett Huskies came out charged, and scorched the nets for 24 points -- they had just 23 in the first half -- in the third quarter to build up a 47-36 lead heading into the final quarter.

Mountain Home managed to whittle the lead down to six on a couple occasions in the final quarter, the last at 52-46, with 1:54 left, but the Huskies outscored Mountain Home, 10-2, the rest of the way for the 62-48 win.

Tiger basketball coach Tony Kerfoot agreed, the third quarter really turned the game around.

"They shot their way to it, and hats off to them, it was pretty good shooting. I think they were like 11 of 16 in the third quarter, and we do shooting drills without defense, and I don't know if we're always 11 for 16.

"That was impressive, that was hard to keep up with, and it got us a little bit on our heels. I thought we did a good job of fighting and staying in it. There was one time we had an open three look in the corner, and we'd cut it to six, and if we had hit that, it's a three-point ballgame, and we're right back in it.

"I thought we played hard, and we did some things at the end that we wouldn't have done if it was a three-point game, but we were still in it fighting."

Jake Posey led the Tigers with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Alex Campbell added 12 points. Kyle Kerfoot and Danny Snelgrow both scored seven points, Nick Barrie had six, and Zane Bundy, two.

Middleton 45

Mtn. Home 42

The loss to Emmett put the Tigers in the consolation bracket against Middleton. The third-seeded Vikings had been upset by Columbia, 75-74, in triple overtime, in their district opener, but they bounced back to beat Nampa and end the Bulldogs' season.

In a defensive struggle the Tigers came up short, 45-42, Thursday night at Nampa High.

Mountain Home shot out to a 7-0 lead, and led, 14-11, after a quarter. The Tigers scored just four points in the second period, and trailed the Vikings, 19-18, at the half.

The Tigers hit four treys in the third quarter, three by Kyle Kerfoot as Mountain Home fought back to take a 32-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

Dillon Wartman hit two treys to start the fourth quarter as the Vikings went up, 35-32, with 6:17 left.

Jake Posey hit a basket and free throw to tie the game at 35-35, with 5:43 left. Alex Campbell gave the Tigers the lead, 36-35, hitting on one two free throws with 5:09 left.

Dillon Brown sank two free throws to put Middleton back up, 37-36, with 3:59 left.

Kyle Kerfoot sank two free throws to give the Tigers the lead, 38-37, with 2:28 left.

Dillon Brown countered with a basket and a free throw to make it 40-38, Middleton, with 1:26 left. Skylar Davis added a basket with 32 seconds left to make it 42-38, Middleton.

Kyle Kerfoot hit two free throws with 27.7 seconds left to cut the deficit to two, 42-40.

Dillon Wartman sank two free throws with 18.2 seconds left to push the lead back to four, 44-40.

Kyle Kerfoot scored on a lay-up to cut it back to a two-point game, 44-42, with 12.2 seconds left.

The Tigers fouled Dillon Wartman again, and he made the first of two to make it, 45-42, with 11.3 seconds left. The Tigers got the rebound on the missed free throw and got it down for a three-point attempt that was off the mark. Middleton held on to win 45-42.

"I thought we came out and started real good," said Coach Kerfoot after the game. "They switched into kind of a soft zone match-up, and they were switching some defenses on us and they got us back on our heels offensively, and we never really picked up any rhythm after that. We had a lot of shots, and I thought if we make the shots, we win the game. We didn't make the shots and they won it."

Kyle Kerfoot led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points. Alex Campbell was next with nine, Danny Snelgrow, Nick Barrie and Jake Posey each added five points.

The loss ended the season for Mountain Home. The Tigers finished 8-15 overall, in what Coach Kerfoot called a "most competitive season. We had a lot of games like this that went down to the wire.

"I think the kids played very competitive basketball, I was very proud to coach them, and I think they showed a lot of improvement through the year."

Coach Kerfoot loses six seniors this year, but thinks the future of Mountain Home Tiger basketball looks bright. "I think the whole program is looking up and it's looking a lot more positive. This group, I thought they played their hearts out, and they've set a tone here -- that's the best defense we've played in Mountain Home for awhile, and that's the thing that, before you get great teams, you've got to be good defensively."