Tigers' losses continue to mount

The Mountain Home Tigers nearly broke their losing streak Friday night when they battled the Bishop Kelly Knights at Bishop Kelly.

Earlier in the week, the Tigers had lost to Skyview at home.

Skyview 55, Mountain Home 27

The Mountain Home Tigers started the second time through their conference schedule last Wednesday night when they hosted the top-ranked Skyview Hawks at Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home. Skyview kept its conference record unblemished, downing the Tigers 55-27.

Any hopes Mountain Home may have had of surprising the Hawks were quickly dashed in the first quarter when Skyview went on an 18-0 run while the Tigers went five and a half minutes without putting a point on the board before Michael Daniels scored with a minute left in the quarter to make it 22-5.

Mountain Home would not score again until 2:25 were left in the first half, when Michael Daniels scored to make it 32-7, Skyview. It was 41-11 Hawks at the half.

The Tigers pretty well matched buckets with Skyview in the third quarter and trailed 54-22 heading into the fourth quarter.

With the clock not stopping in the fourth quarter due to the mercy rule, Mountain Home managed to outscore the Hawks 5-1 to make it a 55-27 final.

"They were hitting on all eight cylinders tonight. They're a well-oiled machine," said Tigers basketball coach Brion Bethel. "(Skyview is) a well-coached, well-disciplined, fine team. We tried several different defenses and a lot of different things trying to slow them down a little bit, but the fact of the matter is they executed very well against everything we'd do or try to do."

Cristian Riedel led the Tigers in scoring against Skyview with nine points, hitting three treys. Michael Daniels added six points, Jose Rodriguez had five, Jarek Schetzle three, and Jeremy Hopper and Doug Long had two apiece.

The Tigers shot just 28 percent from the field, hitting only three of 17 three-point shots. They shot a dismal two of eight from the free-throw line.

Skyview had a hot first half of shooting, hitting 53 percent, but cooled off a bit in the second half to finish at 43 percent, which included four of 13 on long balls. They shot just 50 percent from the charity stripe.

The Hawks won the battle on the boards 37-22. Jarek Schetzle led the Tigers, bringing down six boards.

Bishop Kelly 52, Mountain Home 36

For nearly three quarters Friday night the Mountain Home Tigers had the Bishop Kelly Knights on the ropes, and it looked like the Tigers would finally break into the win column -- but a six-minute scoreless span helped the Knights gain the momentum they needed to take control in the fourth quarter for a 52-36 win.

Mountain Home started strong, shooting out to a 12-3 lead halfway through the first quarter. They led 12-5 after a quarter.

Bishop Kelly battled back to tie the game at 18-18 with less than a minute left in the half, but a trey by Doug Long pushed the Tigers up 21-18 before Turner Simmon's basket at the buzzer made it 21-20, Tigers, at halftime.

Mountain Home built its lead back to seven, 29-22, with 2:16 left in the third quarter, but would then go six minutes before they would score again.

Turner Simmons' trey in the closing seconds of the third quarter put the Knights ahead 32-29 heading into the fourth quarter. The run would reach 18-0, and the score 40-29, before Michael Daniels' basket with 4:15 left stopped the run.

Doug Long then hit two free throws with 3:39 left that cut it to 40-33, but the Tigers could get no closer, as Bishop Kelly finished the game on a 12-3 run.

"Our guys are playing hard and I know they're getting better every week. We've just got to get a little more experience," said Coach Bethel after the game. "They gave me their all. I can't asked them to give me any more than they did. We'll get there."

Doug Long and Christian Riedel led the Tigers in scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Michael Daniels added six points, and Jose Rodriguez, Jarek Schetzle and Tyler Elliott each scored two.

Mountain Home shot 34 percent from the field, hitting five of 14 three-pointers. They went to the foul line only six times and converted three of them for 50 percent.

Bishop Kelly shot 40 percent from the field, including four of 12 long balls. They made 10 of 21 shots from the free-throw line. The Knights controlled the boards 33-21. Jose Rodriguez led the Tigers with seven rebounds.

The Tigers fall to 0-10 in conference and 0-14 on the season. They host Kuna Friday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.

"We have seven days to get ready, so we're going to do a lot of shooting and get a lot of shots and work on rebounding. We've got some stuff to work on, but overall the kids are still working hard and I'm so proud of them. They're getting better every week."

Friday night's Tiger-Kuna game is part of a girls-boys varsity doubleheader. The frosh-soph and JV games will be played Saturday starting with with the frosh-soph girls game at 9:30 a.m.