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Ashland girls win state opener Mail Tribune/Andrew Mariman Hanna Seltzer of Ashland drives to the basket while being fouled by Tualatin�s Kristin Thornburg. Defense keeps Grizzlies alive, then shots fall By Greg Stiles ASHLAND � Forget that first half, it was worse than ugly. Fast forward to the final two seconds before intermission as Lindsay Huyett drains a 3-pointer from 20 feet that gives the Ashland Grizzlies their only basket of the second quarter. Roll it to the start off the third quarter as the Grizzlies regain their shooting touch, score eight quick points and go on to a 53-42 victory over the visiting Tualatin Timberwolves Tuesday night in the first round of the girls Class 4A sub-tournament playoffs. "I�ve never seen it that bad," said Ashland coach Heather Roberts with a cringe. "But we worked awfully hard to hold them to 19 points. We�ve had those nights before where we couldn�t shoot. But I told the girls just to keep focused on what we can control, defense, boxing out and a lot of the other things." The Grizzlies (14-9) move on to Thursday�s second round, where they will travel to South Salem (13-10), which has lost two of its past three and four of its past seven games. Tualatin, the No. 4 team from the Pac-9, bowed out with a 13-12 record. After making just 7 of 31 (.226) shots from the field in the first half, Ashland improved to 6 of 14 in the third quarter as Marla Morin, Jessica Bullen and Jackie Woods all scored inside the paint in a 36-second span. "That was the whole turning point," said Woods, who led a balanced attack with 13 points. "We beat them defensively. If we would�ve been hitting our shots early it would�ve been a runaway." The Grizzlies gunned up 55 shots � 27 more than the Timberwolves. However, the Pac-9 club dominated the backboards, 45-31. Tualatin also sank 18 of 30 free throws. But the deciding factor might have been the 28 turnovers produced by Ashland�s pressing, aggressive defense. "We didn�t take care of the ball very well," Tualatin coach Todd Jukkala said. "They press hard and we made a few too many mistakes. "We had them in a position where we wanted them. Woods and Seltzer were in foul trouble. But some of the their other kids stepped up." Seltzer drew her third foul in the second quarter and committed her fourth personal with 3:39 left in the third quarter. Woods picked up her third foul early in the third period and No. 4 came with 39 second left in the quarter. The 37-26 advantage, thanks to Bullen�s trey, that the Grizzlies enjoyed moments earlier shriveled to 37-29 heading into the fourth quarter. And with Woods riding the bench the Wolves kept coming as Kelli Highland made it 38-33 with a free throw with 5:56 remaining. Woods then pushed it back to nine with a spin move, followed by a steal and length-of-the-court dash with 4:16 to play. Tualatin mounted one more run when Birdie Wermy buried back-to-back 3-pointers � from the right wing and left corner � to pull the Timberwolves to within 42-39 with 2:58 to play. But the Grizzlies responded with an 11-1 run � seven by Seltzer to clinch it. "When they made a run it was important not to get down," Huyett said. "We just had to keep going." Roberts was pleased how her team responded in the stretch run. "I was a little concerned when they closed to within three, that�s happened to us before," Roberts said. "I took a timeout and told them �We have the lead. Don�t panic, we don�t want to lose here.� That would�ve been a bad way to end it." Seltzer added 11 points and a fistful of steals for the Grizzlies. Wermy led the Timberwolves with eight points. TUALATIN (42) � Beck 2, Dolbeer 0, Thornburg 6, Bailey 6, Duman 3, Wermy 8, Nyangoro 6, Highland 4, Co. Roby-Sage 7. Totals � 11-38 18-30 42. ASHLAND (53) � Bullen 9, Fascilla 2, Hargis 0, Huyett 9, Kalemkeris 0, Morin 9, Seltzer 11, Woods 13, Sobolik 0. Totals: 19-55 11-15 53. Tualatin....................................................8 11 10 13 � 42 Ashland....................................................13 5 19 16 � 53 3-point goals � Tualatin 2-9 (Wermy 2). Ashland 4-19 (Huyett 3, Bullen 1) Technical foul � Wermy. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.