Varsity basketball team ends post season after 2 losses

The post season is commonly referred to as a "brand new season" in high school sports, where regular season records mean nothing and anything can happen.

But for the Mountain Home Tigers, the post season was a continuation of their regular season with the Tigers playing hard but coming up short as they left the District III 4A Tournament after two games.

Knight 65, Tigers 32

The Mountain Home Tigers were hoping the third time would be the charm as they prepared for the district opener against top-seeded Bishop Kelly. Unfortunately, time was against the Tigers as they fell to the Knights, 65-32.

The Knights went on a run in the first quarter, pulling away to a 13-5 lead after eight minutes. Mountain Home was unable to mount much of a rally in the second quarter and trailed by 10 at the half.

The Knights poured in 20 more points in the third quarter to up their lead to 44-23 before they added 21 more in the fourth to clinch the 65-32 rout.

"They're a pretty good ball club," said Tigers basketball coach Tony Kerfoot regarding the Knights. "They're beatable, but not by us maybe. They had us in a few places once they started hitting shots. Defensively, I thought they did a pretty good job with us, but I thought we also had good looks. We just didn't cash in on the opportunities, and if you don't score points, you're in trouble."

Brent Sexauer was the only Tiger to hit double figures in scoring with four treys on his way to 16 points. Michael Daniels added seven points, Ricky Castillo sank four and Dion Salinas and Tony McKenzie each had two.

Cougars 56, Tigers 46

The Caldwell Cougars went on a 14-0 run in the first quarter, and it proved to be more than enough for the as the Tigers battled hard but came up short, 56-46, Saturday night at Caldwell High School.

With the loss, the Tigers were eliminated from the district tournament.

Brent Sexauer hit a three-pointer with 6:45 to go in the first quarter to put the Tigers up, 3-0. But Caldwell then went on a 14-0 run on its way a 16-6 lead after a quarter.

Mountain Home managed to cut the deficit to five, but the Cougars went on another 10-point run and led, 30-15, at the half.

The Tigers got within six again in the third, 34-28, with chances to get closer. However, their shots wouldn't drop, and they trailed by eight after three.

Caldwell increased its lead to 48-34 in the fourth before the Tigers made a final charge that brought them back to within eight. However, Mountain Home couldn't get any closer.

Coach Kerfoot thought his Tigers played much better defensively and offensively in the second half, but their first half effort hurt them.

"The first half, I thought we were a little lackluster, defensively -- not good the first half," he said. "We let the ball go where it wanted to inside. I thought the second half we did a little better job with that."

Brent Sexauer capped off his career with the Tigers with a season- and career-high 23 points. Ricky Castillo added eight points, Michael Daniels, had six, J.T. Cristobal sank four, Luke Filipovich dropped three and Tony McKenzie added two.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 3-19 on the season and ended their season. Despite the lack of wins during the season, Kerfoot enjoyed working with this group of Tigers and thought they always played hard.

"We had some weaknesses -- size, controlling stuff inside -- the things that you have to have to compensate for that weakness is you have to be able to shoot. Our shooting hasn't been that good all year long, and it's pretty tough to compete. But we do have very good kids, though. They're great people, they play their hearts out, and they're good kids and they're going to have success in the future wherever they go."

Despite losing seven seniors to graduation, the coach thinks the future for Tigers basketball remains bright.

"We have to have some kids to put some time in," during the off season, he said. To remain competitive, his players need to spend more time shooting the ball and focusing on the fundamentals.

"I think that kind of bit some of the guys this year," the coach said. "They didn't spend a whole lot of time shooting last summer and in the off season, and it was kind of foreign for them during the season. That's kind of where the guys have to turn it up a little bit."