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FRIDAY January 30, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels January 5, 2004 Grills girls riding high, face Pelicans next By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings A week removed from a grueling, though highly successful five-day stretch, the Ashland High girls' basketball team will play its Southern Oregon Conference home-opener Tuesday night against Klamath Union. The Ashland High boys, fresh off an up and down 4-6 preseason, play their league-opener the same night at KU. For the Grizz girls, it will be a chance to show the home crowd at Mountain Avenue gym why there's so much promise surrounding the team's blistering 10-1 start. The SOC coaches labeled Ashland the team to beat in a preseason poll last week, and if that prediction holds up the Grizzlies will secure their first league title since 1999. A one-two scoring punch to die for makes that a very real possibility. The offense Behind the junior backcourt duo of Alysse Carlson and Hilary Huyett the Grizzlies are averaging 54.2 points per game and are riding an eight-game winning streak. In their latest win, a 56-48 overtime thriller at Eagle Point, Carlson scored 28 points and spearheaded the Grizzlies' comeback from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit. Carlson's 3-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime as Ashland captured its SOC-opener. Now the Grizzlies will look to continue the streak against a wounded Pelican squad that's also off to a hot start. Klamath Union enters the game 7-2, but is reeling from the loss of junior point guard Tabatha Cooke. Cooke, a starter and a team leader, blew out her right knee in KU's second game and is out for the season. In Cooke's absence, junior wing Jenni Ritter has provided additional scoring punch. A former second-team all-SOC selection, Ritter has utilized her deft outside stroke to average 16.5 points per game. Ashland is 3-0 at home, winning by an average of 16 points per game, but head coach Steve Humann is expecting a stern test from the Pels. "John Riggs is rebuilding that program, so they're going to come over here very disciplined and running that flex offense they run, and we had a little problem with that (against Eagle Point)," he said. The defense Prior to last week's Les Schwab South Coast Holiday Tournament, which Ashland won, Humann said his greatest concerns heading into league play were the Grizzlies' thin bench and their occasionally porous defense. Four big wins later, Humann feels pretty good about the Grizz bench - thanks, in part, to a string of strong performances by sophomore guard Bailey Hasty and freshman post Whitney Chase - but is still waiting for his defense to turn the corner. That "D" was exposed at Eagle Point, where the Grizzlies allowed the Eagles to score 19 points in the third quarter. Humann is quick to point out, however, that Ashland was playing its fourth game in five nights, which is why he gave his team a break over the weekend. "We normally would practice Saturday, but we're going to take both days (this weekend) off - the bodies need the rest," he said. Also, the Grizzlies are dealing with a few minor injuries: sophomore guard Jamie Roupp has a sore back and Hasty has a badly sprained wrist. Both are day-to-day. "We need to bump the cutters and we just have to play alert defense," Humann said. "But again, we played so many games - that was not the team (against Eagle Point) that I know." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams