Document text
Photo by Andy Atkinson North coach Mike Kay comforts Lu Crenshaw in the waning seconds. Clackmas ends North's season By GREG STILES Drip, drip, drip. Those relentless free throws kept dropping like pellets of rain on North Medford's parade to Portland. The No. 10 Clackamas Cavaliers drained 26-of-39 free throws, including 21 of the first 27, Saturday night en route to a 60-56 victory in the third round of the Class 4A girls basketball playoffs. The victory propelled Clackamas (21-6) into the state tournament at the Chiles Center in Portland and a date with No. 4 Westview. North Medford (18-7) coveted the opportunity to play Westview after sharing the Southern Oregon Conference championship and then losing a home playoff game to Ashland. But it took the Black Tornado way too long to get untracked against the playoff- and tournament-seasoned Cavs. "We dug a hole in the first half and weren't playing good defense," said North senior point guard Lu Crenshaw. "We had to come way back. If we played like we did at the end from the beginning, we would've beat 'em." North trailed 29-20 at the half 37-25 with 5:22 left in the third quarter before storming back to take a 49-47 lead with 5:30 to play. But missed offensive opportunities and defensive breakdowns prior to the about-face was North's undoing. The Tornado connected on just 8-of-34 field goal attempts in the first half as Clackamas isolated Ashlee Giles with a box-and-one defense. "We wanted to shut her down," said Clackamas junior Corrine Wong. "She's what holds the team together. Giles, nonetheless, grabbed 10 rebounds and had six steals, four assists and blocked three shots. "We also wanted to keep the crowd and refs out of the game. Making the drive down here, the odds were against us." North Medford coach Mike Kay figured the early lag stretched back to North's playoff against Ashland. "I think it carried over until the third quarter, when we started playing the way we were capable of." Crenshaw spearheaded the comeback, scoring 16 of her 21 points in the second half. She knocked down 5-of-8 3-point attempts, grabbed five rebounds and passed out three assists before fouling out. North Medford's Tressa Manwaring (33) battles Clackamas' Tiffany Condon (32). Junior Jenny Ross started North's rally with a three-point play on a putback with 5:11 left in the third quarter. Crenshaw hit a trey, Ross hit two free throws and Ashley Nelson dropped in a free throw. But the momentum was stemmed when North missed a pair of free throws and three close shots after Nelson stole a pass. But by the end of the third quarter, the Tornado had whittled its deficit to 42-38 and Clackamas center Alisa Galego was on the bench in foul trouble. Crenshaw drove the hoop to trim it to 42-40. Korey Beeler and Wong answered with four free throws. Crenshaw nailed another trey and Jenny Close converted on a Clackamas turnover to make it 46-45. Galego countered with a free throw. Then Ross, taking a pass from Giles on a fastbreak, scored to tie with 5:48 and Crenshaw hit both ends of a one-and-one to give North its first lead, 49-47, since the 1:41 mark of the first quarter. But the Cavaliers weren't going to fold. "Everything was under control," Wong said. "There's a lot of seniority on this team and we were never worried. We just kept going after it." Clackamas held North scoreless for the next two minutes while it reeled off eight straight points -- five by Nicole Barber -- to retake the lead, 55-49. North crept close on two free throws by Katie Ledford and a 12-footer by Giles, making it 55-53 with 2:24. Then Clackamas spread the floor and North sent the Cavs to the line 10 times in the final 1:32. Clackamas cooled off at the line, but cashed in just enough to keep the Tornado at bay. "Actually, we've been struggling a lot with our foul shots," Wong said. "We work a lot at it, but sometimes they don't fall." Crenshaw nailed another 3-pointer with 43 ticks remaining and then Barber missed two free throws with 19 seconds left, allowing one more chance. The Tornado inbounded to Giles, who whipped the ball to Crenshaw, who passed to junior Cari Jones -- inserted for the final attempt -- for the tying shot. Jones' shot was straight, but short. "We knew they would over-rotate to where Ashlee was," Kay said. "Cari is without a doubt the best 3-point shooter in our program. She made eight in a row in practice (Friday) and six in a row (Saturday). I would do the same thing again. "We missed a lot of easy shots in the second quarter. We went for three or four minutes without scoring and that's what hurt us.'' CLACKAMAS (60) -- Beeler 21, Barber 8, Wong 9, Galego 11, Condon 9, Anderson 2. Totals: 17-41 26-39 60. NORTH MEDFORD (56) -- Close 6, Crenshaw 21, Ross 7, MacLauchlan 0, Bennett 3, Giles 6, Manwaring 8, Jones 0, Ledford 4, Nelson 1. Totals: 20-63 10-17 56. Clackamas .........15 14 13 18 -- 60 North Medford ......13 7 18 16 -- 56 3-point goals -- Clackamas 0-3. North Medford 6-22 (Crenshaw 5, Bennett 1). Fouled out -- Crenshaw. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.