Bashore’s ballot

Here is this week’s ballot for Times-News writer David Bashore in the Idaho prep basketball media polls. This is Week 3 for the girls poll and Week 1 for the boys poll. Check Friday’s Times-News print edition for the full poll.

Ballots cast Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Girls
Class 5A: 1. Coeur d’Alene, 2. Boise, 3. Lake City, 4. Centennial, 5. Capital
Class 4A: 1. Bonneville, 2. Jerome, 3. Middleton, 4. Bishop Kelly, 5. Wood River
Class 3A: 1. Sugar-Salem, 2. Marsh Valley, 3. Fruitland, 4. Shelley, 5. Kimberly
Class 2A: 1. North Fremont, 2. West Jefferson, 3. Parma, 4. Soda Springs, 5. Grangeville
Class 1A Div. I: 1. Lapwai, 2. Clearwater Valley, 3. Challis, 4. Troy, 5. Shoshone
Class 1A Div. II: 1. Richfield, 2. Dietrich, 3. Carey, 4. Summit Academy, 5. Camas County

Boys
Class 5A: 1. Madison, 2. Vallivue, 3. Post Falls, 4. Eagle, 5. Centennial
Class 4A: 1. Skyview, 2. Twin Falls, 3. Minico, 4. Middleton, 5. Moscow
Class 3A: 1. Priest River, 2. Fruitland, 3. Shelley, 4. Buhl, 5. Filer
Class 2A: 1. Glenns Ferry, 2. Declo, 3. Cole Valley Christian, 4. Melba, 5. Firth
Class 1A Div. I: 1. Prairie, 2. Castleford, 3. Genesee, 4. Cascade, 5. Shoshone
Class 1A Div. II: 1. Murtaugh, 2. Mackay, 3. Carey, 4. Nezperce, 5. Summit Academy

Highlights from the Bruin football banquet

By Bradley Guire – Times-News writer

Since the Twin Falls football team was kind enough to invite me to its banquet Monday,  I thought I would share the awards list. Here goes …

Most Dedicated Defensive Practice Player: Jordan Staley

Most Dedicated Offensive Practice Player: Aaron Julianto

Varsity Warriors: Jayson Welker, Cannon Sims Clark, Zack Van Loo, Zak Slotten, Brennon Lancaster, Brady Barton

Special Teams Player of the Year: Jayson Welker

Most Valuable Defensive Player of the Year: Zak Slotten

Most Valuable Offensive Player of the Year: Jon Pulsifer

Most Valuable Player of the Year: Zak Slotten

Dr. David McClusky Award: Brett Kohring

Paul Ostyn Award: Brett Kohring

Tale of the Tape: CSI vs. Missouri State-West Plains

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The dust has settled, and just two teams remain in contention for the 2009 NJCAA Division I volleyball national championship. The College of Southern Idaho takes on Missouri State University-West Plains on Friday night at around 5:30 p.m., MST.

Here’s a brief comparison of the two teams.

CSI
Record: 31-6
Seed: 4
Highest rank (excl. preseason): 1
Lowest rank (excl. preseason): 8
National championships: 8
Championship appearances (excl. 2009): 8
Key players: Jessica Peacock (RS), Torrey Hulsey (MB), Barbara Alcantara (S)

MSU-West Plains
Record: 27-8
Seed: 6
Highest rank (excl. preseason): 7
Lowest rank (excl. preseason): 9
National championships: 0
Championship appearances (excl. 2009): 2
Key players: Katja Stepanova (LS), Briana Walsh (LS), Patricia Figueiredo (S)

Common opponents: Salt Lake (CSI 4-2, MSU-WP 0-1), North Idaho (CSI 2-3, MSU-WP 0-1), San Jacinto-Central (both 1-0), Miami Dade (CSI 2-0, MSU-WP 0-2), Snow (CSI 2-0, MSU-WP 1-0), Eastern Utah (CSI 1-1, MSU-WP 1-0), Seminole State (both 1-0), New Mexico Military Institute (both 1-0), Frank Phillips (CSI 1-0, MSU-WP 0-1), Western Wyoming (CSI 2-0, MSU-WP 1-0)

CSI advances to quarters

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — The College of Southern Idaho volleyball team defeated Seminole State College (Okla.) 25-17, 25-12, 25-19 at the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Championships Thursday afternoon to advance to the evening’s national quarterfinals.
Jessica Peacock had 11 kills to pace CSI (29-6), which got nine from Torrey Hulsey and six each from Samantha Misa and Elisa Brochado.
CSI hit .363 as a team, committing just six errors in attack and 13 total. The Golden Eagles got five solo blocks, two each from Misa and Hulsey and one from Peacock.
CSI will play Miami Dade (Fla.) at approximately 7 p.m., MST Thursday evening for a berth in the semifinals.

Bruin stats and thoughts from Allyn Reynolds

By Bradley Guire – Times-News writer

The Twin Falls football team hosts Blackfoot at 7 p.m., Friday at Bruin Stadium in a Class 4A state semifinal game. The winner will advance to next week’s championship contest against the winner of Sandpoint-Hillcrest.

Bruin head coach Allyn Reynolds

On Blackfoot …

“They’re 9-1 and haven’t given up a lot of points. The quarterback (Anthony Clarke) is the key. We’ve got to stop him. He’s a good athlete and makes a lot of plays.”

On Blackfoot’s playoff experience and the Bruins’ own …

“They won it two or three years ago, so it’s not like it’s new frontier for them, but it is for our kids. You always have to be leery of that. We’ve just got to keep telling our kids, ‘Those of us who have been there a few times, let us help you.’ We’ve had good practices this week.

“The kids are focusing. I told them after practice (Wednesday) that you’ve got to expect it to get better and better each week we stay in this thing. You want that. There won’t be any pushovers. It’s just like a heavyweight fight. You’re going to get a good shot in, and they’re going to get a good shot back.

“We’re excited. The kids aren’t just happy to be here, they want to see if they can get to next week. We’ve never been in that position this year.

On what the staff learned of the team character in its fourth-quarter comeback against Nampa last week …

“I think it’s another one of those barriers or hurdles you cross in any program. You convince yourself that you’re able to do that.

“I was talking to a former coach, and he said, ‘Damn, coach, you’re not supposed to have to win those things twice.’ And that’s what we did. We kind of put it on cruise, and you have to play four quarters of football. We finished, but we had a little lapse of … I don’t know if it was a momentum swing, and we didn’t get back on our heels, but we didn’t finish some things.

“We learned that our kids have the ability to get down and fight back. ”

Season stats

Passing

T.J. Ellis 157-322, 1987 yards, 22 TD, 12 INT

Receiving

Jon Pulsifer 38, 463 yards, 8 TD

Ricky Akridge 14, 203 yards, 2 TD

Brady McNew 23, 365 yards, 3 TD

Jared Jordan 11, 119 yards, 3 TD

Brennon Lancaster 46, 557 yards, 5 TD

Jayson Welker 13, 134 yards

Mark Christensen 5, 89 yards

Rushing

Josh Settlemoir 38, 188 yards, 3 TD

Akridge 37, 323 yards, 2 TD

Ellis 28, 169 yards

Christensen 44, 197 yards, 4 TD

Brett Hardman 53, 292 yards, 7 TD

Welker 16, 238 yards, 3 TD

Zak Slotten 3, 45 yards, 1 TD

Zach Davis 9, 88 yards

Logan Wright 2, 5 yards, 1 TD

More from the Bruins

By Bradley Guire – Times-News writer

There were more key moments in the Twin Falls football team’s 28-14 victory over Nampa than I had room to write about in our print edition, so I now present some more thoughts from the Bruins on their Class 4A state quarterfinal victory.

Brady McNew

On catching a key 2-point conversion pass from quarterback T.J. Ellis late in the fourth quarter …

“As soon as I turned to go out (to the left corner of the end zone), I saw the (Nampa) corner covering me go toward Jon (Pulsifer). My eyes got big, and I knew the ball was coming to me.”

On preparing for Blackfoot in the semifinal round …

“We’ve got to prepare for whatever. We’ve got to keep those up-tempo practices going next week.”

T.J. Ellis

On the game, compared to the first game against Nampa, a 28-14 loss in Week 1 …

“We were unprepared for the first game. (This game) we were more prepared and executed our game plan.”

On throwing two interceptions, one of which was overturned on penalty …

“I didn’t (worry). Those were bad reads on my part.

On the play of the offensive line, who allowed no sacks …

“They did well the whole night. Earlier, they said that (Nampa was) the best team they had faced yet. I was impressed with how they did.”

LIVE BLOG: CSI at the Region 18 Tournament

CSI plays North Idaho College at 4 p.m., this afternoon in the Region 18 semifinals. Click HERE to follow our live blog coverage.

REGION 18 TOURNAMENT: CSI hammers CNCC to advance

By David Bashore
Times-News writer

SALT LAKE CITY — The College of Southern Idaho volleyball team wasted no time getting acclimated to the Salt Lake Community College gymnasium and the Region 18 Tournament.
CSI routed Colorado Northwestern 25-3, 25-10, 25-11 on Friday morning, eliminating the Spartans and advancing to the region semifinals this afternoon against national No. 1 North Idaho College. CSI (26-5) is ranked sixth in the season’s final poll.
Danielle Dean had 12 kills in 17 attempts for CSI, hitting with an eye-popping .647 efficiency.
“Dani had a great game,” said CSI coach Heidi Cartisser.
CSI had a total of 16 errors, meaning it contributed 2/3 of the points for Colorado Northwestern (5-20) in the match.
But the Golden Eagles as a team hit .468 and had seven total blocks. Britani Hathorn had a team-high 14 kills and reeled off six aces in an 18-point run in the first set that made the score 19-1.
“I thought we just came out and played our game,” said Dean. “It helped that we had an early match to get rid of the jitters and get used to the gym and all that. I thought we played well.”
The Times-News will provide live blog coverage of the NIC-CSI match at 4 p.m. The blog will be available here and at Magicvalley.com.

More notes from Twin Falls vs. Nampa

– Bradley Guire, Times-News writer

More stats and comments from the Bruins prior to their Class 4A state quarterfinal game against Nampa. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., Friday at Bruin Stadium

Passing

T.J. Ellis 144 of 299, 11 INT, 1843 yards, 21 TD

Receiving

Jon Pulsifer 33 rec., 413 yards, 7 TD (12.5 yards per reception)

Ricky Akridge 13-192, 2 TD (14.6 ypc)

Brady McNew 21-329, 3 TD (15.7 ypc)

Jared Jordan 11-119, 3 TD (10.8 ypc)

Brennon Lancaster 41-510, 5 TD (12.4 ypc)

Josh Settlemoir 13-134 (10.3 ypc)

Rushing

Settlemoir 29 carries, 139 yards, 2 TD (4.8 yards per carry)

Akridge 32-287, 2 TD (9 ypr)

Ellis 25-163 (6.5 ypr)

Mark Christensen 36-172, 2 TD (4.8 ypr)

Brett Hardman 53-292, 7 TD (5.5 ypr)

Jayson Welker 12-223, 3 TD (18.6 ypr)

Zak Slotten 3-45, 1 TD (15 ypr)

Zach Davis 9-88 (9.8 ypr)

Twin Falls head football coach Allyn Reynolds

On Nampa …

“The thing that’s a little concerning about them right now is they’re bigger than us. A lot of teams have been this year. They’ve kind of gone in the last three weeks to more of a power-I. They ran a little bit of that against us in the first game, but they were still a little bit more of a spread. They ran some quarterback-counter and other things we’ll still see, but they have shown that when they’re in the lead, they’ll jump into that and play ball control. It’s kind of like that philosophy back in the ‘70s with Oklahoma and Nebraska when they went with the wishbone. That’s kind of the mentality they’re showing us on tape. We haven’t seen that from them in the last three times we’ve played them.

“Of course, the last two years, they had the Quaid kid, and it wasn’t condusive to put that in the power-I. They’re big up front, and they put one of their linemen in the backfield, kind of similar to what we do when we get in our short yardage. But they’re running it more in the middle of the field. That’s a little more concerning.

“Like you heard me say to the kids (Tuesday), the game each week is going to get faster and more physical. We have to be able to rise to that next level. That’s a concern because I think probably they’ve played — they’re in a strong conference with Bishop Kelly and Middleton — they’ve had those games, and they’re at that level. We need to get back to that level. We need to get back to that level we were playing at when we played Skyline and Century. That’s the kind of game I think we’ll see on Friday night: that speed, that intensity, that physicality.

“But as far as Nampa defensively, they haven’t shown anything that different. I don’t know why they would change. Defensively, I don’t think you switch gears in the middle of the road. You stay with what like we’ve done, pretty much get your kids reacting instead of thinking and let them play defense. So we’re not seeing anything different, no wrinkles.”

On improvement on the line and reading defenses …

“We brought the kids in Monday early and spent a lot of time watching tape. We went back and showed our kids the first game against Nampa. Our offensive line was noticing that we’re so much better at passing things off right now as far as stunts and blitzes, and we’ve been able to keep most of those guys together. We haven’t had to move them around. They’re communicating a lot better, and that’s the key with an offensive line. If you can keep five guys healthy and playing in the same spot all year round, by this time of the year they have that silent communication. When to let that go, when to pick this up. We’re seeing that. We weren’t seeing that in the first game. Unless we have a terrible breakdown on Friday night, we’re going to be a lot more solid up front.

“Plus the fact that our backs are a lot more straightened out on picking up blitzes. T.J. has grown in 10 games to where he knows on certain formations that he’s got to account for one guy. We can’t block that one guy, and he’s good at getting the ball out when that guy comes. He’s getting better and better at that each week.”

On special teams …

“We’ve been harping on special teams this time of year. I firmly believe that the breakdowns in games come in special teams, either a bad punt or a blocked punt or a missed PAT. I think those things come back and hurt you in a playoff game. I think that’s because a lot of times you get that point in the year, you can go through the motions. We’re really focusing on our special teams. That’s either going to win or lose a game for us in playoffs. It’s a third of the game. To an ex-quarterback, it’s boring. I’m not a special teams guru, but there are guys in that (coaches’) office that are, and they’re doing a great job in making our kids believe in special teams.”

On kicker Dustin Hegstrom …

“It’s nice to know you have a guy with the potential to do that (Hegstrom converted a 40-yard field goal against Burley on Oct. 30). We haven’t had that for the last two years. That’s in the back of your head now. Let’s give it a try. He’s got a good leg. It’s nice to have the soccer team cooperating with you to come over and do that.”

Josh Settlemoir RB

On the Nampa game …

” We’ve got to give it all we’ve got. We know what they’re about. They know what we’re about. …We have a great team. We all get along, and that’s what it takes.”

Zack Van Loo DL

On the Nampa game …

“We played them once. Both teams know each other. It comes down to who executes better, who runs plays better, who has mental mistakes.”

Mike Smith, freshman team coach, quarterback for the 2004 Bruins

More on hismessage to the Bruins …

“You’ve got to trust everybody you’re playing with, all the way around the football. I know that was one of our strong points. I knew (teammate Martin de la Presa) was going to give 100 percent the entire time. I felt obligated to do the same. If you can think that way … trust and accountability are tied together. It’s a huge part of getting this far and going farther.”

On memories of his playoff days …

“I remember sitting in the weight room with Zach Schaal, and he asked me, “Do you know how close we are right now? We’re so close right now to where we want to be.” If you think about it, right now, a week from today, if we’re practicing right now we’re playing to make the state championship. That’s how close it is. If you can see yourself there, you can do it.”

Martin de la Presa, freshman team coach, member of the 2004 Bruins

On his message to the Bruins …

“I want them to leave it on the field and give everything they have. I guess the most important thing is to go out from the first snap to the last whistle, go out there play your heart out.”