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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 5, 2005 It’s back to basics for victorious Comets By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Displeased by the way his team committed some fundamental flaws at a holiday tournament in Coos Bay last week, Crater High girls basketball coach Scott Dippel put on a couple of clinics in lieu of practice last week. Dribbling drills. Passing drills. Rebounding drills. Defensive drills. "It was a lot like summer camp," Dippel said. The back-to-the-basics approach paid big dividends on Tuesday night as the Comets cruised to a 66-48 victory over South Medford in the Southern Oregon Conference opener for both teams. "We’ve got a lot of young kids that are still learning the game," Dippel said. "We were probably working too much on our schemes and not enough on the basics of the game. But we got back to that stuff last week, and I think it had a positive effect on how we played tonight." Advertisement Junior guard Emily Brookins sank two jump shots, a layup and a free throw in the game’s first 78 seconds in sparking Crater to a 7-2 lead. Junior post Kelsey Holderness came off the bench to contribute six quick points, and by the end of the first period the Comets, who used a full-court press to good advantage by forcing a slew of early turnovers, held a commanding 24-14 lead. "We knew we had to play at a high tempo to beat them," said Dippel, whose team improved their overall record to 7-3. "We weren’t going to beat them in the half court." The aggressive Comets forced 30 turnovers and, surprisingly, won the rebound battle by a decisive, 50-37 margin even though they were the smaller team. "We made minimal contact on our box-outs and sometimes never boxed out at all," South Medford coach Andrea Jaime said. "We played hard, but they came out with extra intensity and just plain took it to us." Crater extended its lead to 37-20 at the half. South Medford scored the first seven points of the third period on baskets by Marissa Towry and Elora Grant along with a 3-pointer by Casey Martin to pull within 37-30. But the Comets’ pressing defense continued to take a toll, and they pushed their lead to 50-38 heading into the fourth. The Panthers again staged a mild rally behind the strong play of senior post Brittany Farrer, who led all scorers with 19 points and added seven rebounds. Farrer’s two free throws with 4:39 to play got South Medford within 54-45, but Crater then went into a delay game and the slower Panthers were unable to create turnovers. The Comets drained 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch and also received layups from Kristen Tyska and Holderness to put the game away. Holderness backed up Brookins with 11 points, sophomore guard Kenna Reiter added nine and senior post Jessica Wasniewski and sophomore guard Haley Hevern chipped in eight apiece. All 12 Comets who suited up got into the game and nine reached the scoring column. "We’ve got a whole bunch of good players and a deep bench," Brookins said. "We’re able to keep fresh players on the court at all times." Towry had eight points and five rebounds for South Medford before fouling out in the fourth quarter. The loss dropped the Panthers to 6-4 overall heading into Friday’s matchup against cross-town rival North Medford. CRATER (66) — Brookins 12, Holderness 11, Reiter 9, Wasniewski 8, Hevern 8, K. Tyska 6, N. Tyska 4, Salyer 3, Ratty 3, Stoner 2, Bagdan 0, Haas 0, Albright 0. Totals: 25-71 15-24 66. SOUTH MEDFORD (48) — Farrer 19, Towry 8, Grant 7, Banuelos 6, Singler 5, Martin 3, Mytinger 0, Glover 0, Watson 0. Totals: 14-41 18-31 48. Crater........................................ 24 13 13 16 — 66 South Medford........................... 4 10 14 20 — 48 3-point goals — Crater 1 (Salyer 1), South Medford 2 (Martin 1, Grant 1). Fouled out — Towry. JV score — Crater 50, South Medford 41. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? 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