Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 18, 2005 Ashland wins ugly, captures SOC title By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings GRANTS PASS - Winning ugly never looked so beautiful. The Grizzlies are champions again, following a tense, hard-fought victory over Grants Pass, 37-33 Thursday. The Ashland High girls basketball team again struggled to put the ball in the basket, but did almost everything else right at Heater-Newman Memorial Gym. The wire-to-wire victory clinched for the Grizzlies their first league title since 1999 and second in the program's 30-year history. Just like the '99 title, Ashland will have to share it with North Medford, which trounced Crater on Thursday to also finish 12-2 in league play. The two teams will play at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mountain Avenue Gym to decide the top two seeds to the state playoffs. "It's been so rewarding to me as a coach to have this bunch of girls that are just such outstanding people who work so well together," said Ashland first-year coach Ken Lathen, who won his first game against Grants Pass since stepping down as the Lady Cavers' coach two years ago. "They became believers in the system and they've just worked really hard to get what they've got and they deserve everything they got. In fact, it brings tears to my eyes to even think about. This is the kind of thing you make movies about, teams like this." Winning ugly Ashland led 11-8 after one and - after a horrific second-quarter in which both teams combined to score four points - 13-10 at the break. The Grizzlies (14-9) extended that lead to seven with 2:25 left, but the Cavers (12-9, 6-8 SOC) quickly bounced back to make a game of it. Grants Pass sophomore guard Brianne Hurst swished a 3-pointer to ignite a 10-5 Cavers' rally, and junior wing Amanda Potts capped it by scoring inside. That cut Ashland's lead to 35-33 with 15.1 seconds left. Two timeouts and one quick foul later, Ashland junior guard Jamie Roupp missed the back end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for Grants Pass to tie with a 3. That shot, like most on the night, was all rim, however. Junior guard Courtney Cameron missed her open trey attempt from the left baseline and Roupp, who scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the fourth, grabbed the rebound with two seconds left. She was immediately fouled and hit 1 of 2 from the line to clinch it. The Grizzlies exchanged hugs after the game, then scooted off to the locker room. They learned of North Medford's win only after Lathen's postgame talk. The news didn't seem to dampen the celebration, which quickly moved out to the bus, then on to a local Dairy Queen for a round of Blizzards. "After everything that we've been through - finding a coach about three weeks before actual tryouts - who would have known that a team losing three of its hyped-up players and then coming out here and using what we've got (could be) co-champions," said Ashland guard Alysse Carlson, who was second on the team with 12 points. "There's nothing else you can ask for. It's kind of a little storybook ending for my senior year, at least in conference." Ashland also got six points and a team-high eight rebounds out of Abeni Hill. Junior forward Tess Golling added six boards. Only Roupp, Carlson and Hill scored for the Grizzlies. Roupp also pulled down six rebounds, snared six steals and dished out a pair of assists in another dynamic all-around performance. Senior post Katelyn Van Brunt led a balanced Cavers' scoring attack with nine points, while junior post Ashley Franko and senior guard Kori Seymour added six apiece. Playing for No. 1 Lathen said the Grizzlies will go full throttle against North on Saturday in hopes of gaining the SOC's No. 1 seed to state. The difference between the top seed's draw and the No. 2 seed's draw basically comes down to travel time: the second seed will have it; the top seed won't. The SOC's No. 1 representative will host either the Valley No. 4 or the Metro No. 4 on Feb. 23, then (if victorious) host a second-round game Feb. 26. The SOC's No. 2 seed will travel to face the PIL's No. 2 seed in the first round, then (again, if victorious), barring a major upset, will also hit the road in the second round. In the new 4A state championships format, teams that win two playoff games (three, for teams in pig-tail brackets) advance to the final eight-team state tournament, March 3-5 at the Chiles Center in Portland. Ashland (37) - Carlson 12, Roupp 19, Hill 6, Thompson, McDermott, Golling, Sohl, Hasty. Totals: 12 12-16 37. Grants Pass (33) - Franko 6, Seymour 6, Siemens 2, Hurst 3, Straw 2, Potts 3, Klingel 2, Van Brunt 9. Totals: 13 6-9 33. Ashland 11 2 10 14 - 37 Grants Pass 8 2 9 14 - 33 3-point goals - Ashland 1 (Carlson), Grants Pass 1 (Hurst). DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams