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Just a twisted ending to a pretty good season Commentary By Joe Zavala Not even Hollywood could have produced an ending with more twisted twists than the one the Ashland High girls basketball team suffered through last week. There they were, down by seven with three minutes left in the first round of the Oregon City state tournament � er, Class 4A girls state tournament � to a Redmond team playing keep-away, when out of nowhere came a last-gasp, Hail Mary final scene that M. Night Shyamalan would have been proud of. The Grizzlies scored seven straight over the next minute to tie the game with two minutes to go, but that was nothing. It was Ashland's second comeback, the one that gave the Grizzlies the lead with 18 ticks left, that brought down the house. But � hold the credits. In case you weren't there, or are still waiting in line for a pretzel, the Grizzlies were throttled 11 seconds later on a rebound put-back. Talk about your bad breaks. Of course, this team knows all about those. Many of the Grizzlies also played on the AHS volleyball team in the fall - the same volleyball team that went undefeated in league play, only to be thrown into the same state tourney pool as No. 1 Gresham and No. 3 Jesuit. After the latest state playoff disappointment the players somehow were able to put it all into perspective, led by senior post Marla Morin, who's so full of perspective her head could explode at any given moment. "They got a lucky shot off," said the Grizzlies' emotional and statistical leader, "and I guess that's kind of how life goes sometimes." Now that's composure. I interviewed her right after the team exited the locker room - about the time when most players would have been so stricken with grief or frustration or both after such a loss, talking with parents, let alone reporters, coherently (between sobs, that is) would have been a lost cause. In fact, that was the personality of the entire team. After Ashland's sub-tournament playoff win at Tualatin, senior forward Chloe Hansen delivered the quote of the year when she said, "It feels excellent; I'm so excited. I didn't have any of my homework done. I'm so glad we're not going home." So they do have lives outside of basketball. Credit first-year head coach Steve Humann and his staff with instilling that perspective. So much has been made of Humann's disability that it's easy to forget how good of a coach he really is. But wheelchair or not, his inaugural season can only be considered a rousing success (not counting those horrific powder blue uniforms, of course - ugh!). Humann had the Grizzlies thinking state championship from Day 1, and that positive attitude - along with mostly solid execution - carried the team through two sub-tournament victories and into the state tourney, where AHS rolled out the smallest roster in the 16-team field. Still, you can't help but cringe at the way it ended. Humann was excited to be a part of the last 16-team 4A tournament, but he got a sneak preview of what it will be like next year, when a much-quicker eight-team format will be unveiled. That's because the Grizzlies were in and out in less than 24 hours, about half the time it takes to digest that stale popcorn from the hospitality room. The bad news for the Grizzlies is they'll lose to graduation their best player in years, Morin, plus two more starters, Hansen and senior post Julia Sobolik. The good news: Their starting backcourt consisted of two sophomores - Hilary Huyett and Alysse Carlson - and sophomore post Abeni Hill played her best ball of the season at state. Maybe next season the Grizzlies will have a little more luck and a little more time. Putting up with that Portland traffic - "Road rage, 3 o'clock" - and getting only two games in return doesn't seem like a fair shake to me. Then again, I didn't have homework. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -