After Nampa win, Lady Tigers falter against Bishop Kelly

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers kept their season alive with a win over Nampa. However, they couldn't get many of their shots to drop against Bishop Kelly as they ended their season with a loss to the Lady Knights.

Mountain Home 53, Nampa 42

Facing Nampa in a loser-out game Feb. 7, the Lady Tigers did something they hadn't done all season as they beat the Lady Bulldogs.

Nampa had taken both games during the regular season, with a 57-36 win on their home turf and a 50-39 victory at Mountain Home. But with their backs against the wall playing on a neutral sight at Skyview, the Lady Tigers prevailed.

Mountain Home shot out to an early lead and held a two-point advantage after a quarter. The Lady Tigers continued to dominate the court with a 26-23 lead at the half. The Lady Bulldogs closed the scoring gap in the third but still trailed by two.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers built up their lead and extended it at the end with the 53-42 victory.

"The girls stepped up and came through tonight. That was good to see," said Lady Tigers coach Brent Keener.

Courtney Christiansen led the Lady Tigers in scoring with a season- and career-high 16 points. Keesha Janis-Gibson added 12 points, Emilee Schetzle put in eight, Marissa Streeter added six, Haley Belt sank four while JaDene Palmer, Tessa Pachner and Selena Foster each had two with Teresa Fredell chipping in one.

Mountain Home shot 38 percent from the field for the game, hitting four of its 13 long balls. They went to the free throw line 27 times and connected on 17 of them for a 63 percent completion rate.

In comparison, Nampa dropped in just 25 percent from the field, hitting just one of 19 three-point attempts while shooting 59 percent from the foul line.

Lady Knights 45, Lady Tigers 34

The Lady Tigers were able to overcome cold shooting in the first half with solid defense in the first half. However, those troubles continued in the second half as Bishop Kelly built a lead to hold off the Lady Tigers, 45-34, in the District III third-place game.

Mountain Home shot just 14 percent from the field and made just one of its 10 two point shots to trail 6-13 in the first quarter. The Lady Tigers improved their shooting to 18 percent in the second quarter. On the strength of hitting nine of 10 free throws, they trailed 19-21 at the half.

Trailing by one in the second half, the Lady Tigers had a chance to take the lead several times down the floor but either turned it over or missed those key shots.

The Lady Tigers had another dismal shooting quarter in the third, hitting just one of its 10 shots and scoring just three points as Bishop Kelly built up a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Knights extended their lead to 43-26 late in the fourth before the Lady Tigers rallied to make it a 45-34 final.

In comments after the game, Coach Keener lamented the team's poor shooting, especially in the first and third quarters.

"That's two ugly quarters right there," he said. "We couldn't get any buckets to drop in that third quarter, which killed us. Then we went away from the game plan a little in the third trying to get some turnovers, which hurt us. They got some really easy open looks, but you have to shoot the ball better than that."

Teresa Fredell led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 11 points. Keesha Janis-Gibson closed out her playing career at Mountain Home with another double-double, scoring 10 points and bringing down 13 rebounds.

Mountain Home ended the game shooting 22 percent from the field, hitting three of 16 treys and 79 percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Bishop Kelly shot 33 percent from the field, hitting just two of its 16 three-pointers while sinking 11 of its 16 shots from the foul line.

The loss ended the Lady Tigers season at eight wins and 16 losses, but Coach Keener thought his girls played hard all season long.

"We were competitive all year," he said. "The wins weren't there, but we could have beaten anyone on any night, which is a good thing. There were only a couple games where we didn't show up."

Coach Keener loses six seniors from this year's team but believes the future is promising for Mountain Home Lady Tigers basketball club.

"We've got some good young kids coming up," he said. "They've got to put in some time in the gym obviously and get a lot better and a lot more confident with the basketball. That's a huge thing, but yes, the future does look bright."