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AHS girls blow away Grants Pass By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings Upsets are a way of life in prep sports. And so are blowouts. The latter held true Friday night, as the Ashland High girls basketball team sent the Grants Pass Cavers home with a 74-33 Southern Oregon Conference shellacking at Mountain Avenue gym. After losing a heart-breaking game to Roseburg Tuesday by a point, Grizzly head coach Steve Humann said his game plan was for his girls to play with emotion and a stingy defense. Ashland did both. Ashland sophomore point guard Alysse Carlson looks for an open teammate Friday night. Ashland Daily Tidings/CHRIS MILLER "I told the girls that if we played strong tonight, then the Roseburg game would only be a memory� a distant memory," Humann said after the win. The Grizz defense clamped down on the perimeter game of the Cavers, creating turnovers that led to easy fastbreak points. In the fourth quarter, with the game basically over and no real reason to play tough "D" anymore, the Grizz made four steals, two by freshman guard Jamie Roupp. "Our defense was intense tonight, that's why we got so many steals," Roupp said following the postgame chat with her coaching staff. "We really came together and fought the whole game." Although the game got off to a slow start, with the home team enjoying an 8-4 lead with 1:33 left to play in the first quarter, by the start of the final frame the Grizz were leading by 28, 52-24. Ashland's sophomore guard Hilary Huyett started an 11-2 run for the Grizz to end the first quarter by hitting her first of five 3-pointers. Huyett scored seven points in the final 1:20 of the quarter, including another 3 and two free throws to put Ashland up 19-6. Huyett didn't let up at the start of the second, burying another 3-pointer after only 58 seconds of play. Roupp got into the long-ball act, hitting on her first of two 3's to put the Grizz up 25-10 with 4:32 left in the half. "I've been told to shoot more by Steve, but I am pretty hesitant," Roupp said. The Cavers tried fouling as a way of trying to slow the Grizzly offensive juggernaut, but the strategy didn't have the effect Grants Pass wanted. Ashland went to the line six times in the first half and made a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe. The only black mark on the Grizz first half was a technical foul called on Humann for coming onto the court to protest a call by the men in stripes. The Cavers only converted one of the two free shots and the Grizz bounced back with Huyett going coast-to-coast, scoring with only a fraction of a second remaining on a nice left-handed layup to give Ashland a 33-18 halftime lead. Ashland did not relent its defensive, or offensive pressure in the third quarter. They scored on their first three possessions and limited the Cavers to only one shot from the floor, taking an enormous 52-24 lead into the final eight minutes. Grants Pass did not throw in the towel and played hard for the final quarter. The Cavers' junior center Erin Glovinsky made the first basket of the quarter, a 3-pointer with 7:15 left in the contest. With the game all but over, the Cavers' other junior center Shanna Claflin drove the Wilson Revolution basketball hard to the basket and was awarded two free throws, which she made. "Grants Pass is a good team, but a very young team," Humann said. The Grizz don't play Tuesday because of academic finals. They return to the hardwood Friday against a tough Crater squad at home. "We are going to take the next two days off and give everybody rest," Humann said. "Then we will start preparing for Crater on Monday." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | 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 -