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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 8, 2005 Grizzlies come out shooting By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Two teams headed in opposite directions stayed right on course Friday. That worked out just fine for the Ashland High boys basketball team, which unloaded on Crater, 64-40, in both teams Southern Oregon Conference opener. Ashland High senior guard Josh Mcdermott runs over Crater sophomore guard Ben Louie during Friday night's Southern Oregon Conference game at Mountain Avenue Gym. McDermott scored 14 points in the win. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings "A victory is a victory," Grizzly head coach Rick Cornelius said. "This is a good win for us, it's a good way to get off in conference on the right foot. We slipped a little bit there in the second quarter � but by the end of the third quarter and well into that fourth quarter we were kind of back on all cylinders again." The Grizzlies (9-2) scored the first nine points of the game, led 26-9 midway through the second quarter and had the crowd at Mountain Avenue Gym rocking with a 12-0 game-ending run. When the beating was over, Ashland had earned its fifth 20-plus point win of the season. Ashland senior forward Jeff Skinner had 15 points, including two 3-pointers, to lead four Grizzlies in double figures. Senior forward Josh McDermott added 14 points, while post Josh Cornelius and forward Corey Costantino scored 12 apiece. Crater senior guard Jon Robertson scored a team-high 13 to lead the Comets (2-8). He hit two 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to narrow the gap to 11 with 2:46 to go, but a scrambling Ashland defense forced a series of turnovers and held Crater scoreless the rest of the way. The Grizzlies' offense was explosive, if not consistent. They hit 21 of 29 shots, including six from beyond the arc, as the Comets struggled to keep Ashland's big men away from the basket. "They're extremely athletic and they're all that (6-foot-2) to 6-4 size," Crater coach Matt Meunier said, "and when you have that kind of size at all five spots and as good of athletes as they are, it's tough to guard them, it's tough to keep them off the glass and when you dig yourself a whole you're not going to get back out of it. "I've seen just about every team in our league play and they're as good as almost all of them if not all of them," Meunier added. Playing before one of the largest Ashland crowds in years, the Grizzlies ignited their fan base with a dominating opening quarter that had Crater reeling. After the Comets used a mini-rally to get within 12-4, the Grizzlies countered with their second major flurry. McDermott started it with a rebound putback and added to it with a three-point play off a pretty dish from Skinner. A block by the Grizzly defense was sandwiched in between. Then, with the quarter winding down, Josh Cornelius drained a 3 from the right corner to give Ashland a 20-4 lead. Crater outscored Ashland 11-6 in the second quarter to cut the halftime deficit to 26-15. Ben Louie and Callan Hartzer each hit a 3 in the quarter to keep the Comets within striking distance. Skinner scored six in the third to help Ashland snap out of its funk and increase its lead by six. Senior forward Brian Kitchell also had a hand in that. After Robertson hit a 3 to cut Ashland's lead to eight - the smallest margin since the opening quarter - Kitchell answered with a 3 of his own while being fouled. His free throw made it 30-18 and Ashland's lead never dipped below 10 again. The Grizzlies weren't completely satisfied with their performance. Skinner, who also led the Grizzlies with five rebounds, said Ashland has plenty of room for improvement. "The way we won I thought was pretty ugly," he said. "We showed our potential and we played well at times, but we weren't consistent at that and we need to be consistent the whole game to be able to beat the higher teams in the SOC." CRATER (40) - Robertson 13, Hartzer 8, Louie 5, Pierce 5, Wilkerson 4, Moser 3, Oshel 2, Hunt 0, Hogenson 0, Wasniewski 0, Shultz 0. Totals: 16 2-7 40. ASHLAND (64) - Skinner 15, McDermott 14, Costantino 12, Cornelius 12, Reinstedt 5, Kitchell 4, Eriksen 2, Pittman 0, Lee 0, Littleton 0. Totals: 27 4-8 64. Crater 4 11 11 14 - 40 Ashland 20 6 17 21 - 64 3-point goals - Crater 6 (Louie 1, Robertson 3, Moser 1, Hartzer 1), Ashland 6 (Skinner 2, Cornelius 2, McDermott 1, Kitchell 1). JV score - Crater 56, Ashland 55. 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