BY MICHAEL DAVID
The Canyon Ridge Riverhawks came into the Wolverine Den at Wood River High School Wednesday night in search of their first conference victory this season.
They are still looking following the Wolverines’ convincing 52-23 win.
Much to the delight of the many Wood River grads who attended Alumni Night, Wood River won their third straight game to improve their record to 5-3 in conference and move into sole possession of third place in the Great Basin Conference with two games remaining in the regular season.
Wood River jumped out to an early 6-0 lead to start the first quarter and would never trail in the ball game. Ferocious Wolverine defense resulted in five first quarter steals and a 15-4 lead after the first eight minutes. Wood River continued their strong defensive pressure to take a 16-point lead into the locker room at the half, 25-9.
The Wolverines refused to let the Riverhawks back into the contest after the halftime break with an 11-2 run at the start of the third quarter, eventually pushing their lead to 38-19 at the end of the third stanza. More relentless defense and good ball movement on offense was the story of the final quarter, building their lead and allowing Coach Matt Newhouse to get all his players quality time on the court.
Wood River used balanced scoring to tally their 52 total points. Alec Nordsieck and Cade Schott led the way with 12 points each. Nic Tidwell had 10 points, while Travis Swanson and Bodie Bennett finished with 6 points apiece. Nelson Cantrell, Brock Mary and Brandon Scott each contributed 2 points. Nordsieck had 6 of the team’s 13 assists, and Swanson grabbed 5 rebounds.
Next up for the Wolverines is a tough road game against conference leader Minico (which is currently ranked No. 2 in Idaho) on Friday night before returning home for Senior Night versus Burley next Wednesday, Feb. 10.