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Challengers down St. Mary�s photo by Andrew Mariman By Don Hunt Not much happens according to form when the Cascade Christian and St. Mary�s High girls basketball teams run up and down the court. In the rivalry between Class 2A schools in the Rogue Valley, you can throw out the records and discard the reputations. But one constant keeps emerging whenever the Challengers take the floor these days: Kelly Clarke comes up big. The 5-foot-10 senior forward erupted for 27 points Tuesday night at Superior Gym to lead the Challengers to a 63-50 Southern Cascade League victory over the Crusaders. "She�s a tough player to guard because she can shoot the ball from inside or outside," Cascade Christian coach Loren King said. "She�s a handful for anyone to defend." St. Mary�s used a 2-3 zone in an attempt to keep Clarke from getting open shots. But she knifed inside for short jumpers, scored on four put-backs and journeyed downtown for three 3-point baskets. Clarke also converted her only two attempts from the free-throw line. "My outside shot has improved a lot since last season," Clarke said. "I didn�t shoot hardly any 3-pointers last year, but now I know I can make them." St. Mary�s trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half but trimmed its deficit to 34-30 at halftime. The Crusaders then inched within 38-36 early in the third period on a layup by Lani Brophy. But Clarke followed with a pair of rebound baskets and then drilled a 3-pointer from the baseline that extended Cascade Christian�s lead to 45-36. St. Mary�s again fought back in the fourth period, pulling within 50-45 on another Brophy layup. And again the Challengers had a retaliatory basket � this one a trey from the left wing by Christine McCandless. "They�ve had their struggles but they always find a way to play us tough," King said of the Crusaders. "We had them on the ropes a couple of times and they bounced right up and came at us. "The game was up in the air until the last two minutes." The victory extended Cascade Christian�s record to 15-2 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Cascade League. King is pleasantly surprised to be 15-2, especially after starting guard Janelle Conley was injured in a car wreck two weeks ago. Clarke and Conley are the Challengers� only returning starters from last season�s state tournament team. "Kelly (Clarke) has been our mainstay but we�ve got nine or 10 kids who contribute every game," King said. Sharp-shooting junior wing Whitney Brookins added 11 points and sophomore point guard Hannah Gettman had eight points and six steals for the Challengers during Tuesday�s contest. Brophy finished with 18 points and 6-2 sophomore post Christina Vaninetti had 14 for the Crusaders, who fell to 1-3 in league play and 5-9 overall. The Crusaders lost one of their best players in December for disciplinary reasons and Tuesday marked the final game at St. Mary�s for starting sophomore post Sasha Drosdick, who is transferring to South Medford. "We�re having to find a new identity," St. Mary�s coach Tim Pflug said, "but our girls are hanging in there very well. "Last night was the best practice we�ve had all year and tonight was one of our better games. "There�s no reason we can�t finish the season strong." CASCADE CHRISTIAN (63) � Clarke 27, Brookins 11, H. Gettman 8, McCandless 5, Roos 4, Kelley 4, Salamone 4. Totals: 27 5-13 63. ST. MARY�S (50) � Brophy 18, Vaninetti 14, Zielony 10, Maurer 5, Smith 2, Drosdick 1. Totals: 21 8-18 50. St. Mary�s.......................................16 14 13 7 � 50 Cascade Christian ......................22 12 12 17 � 63 3-point goals � St. Mary�s 2 (Brophy 2), Cascade Christian 4 (Clarke 3, McCandless 1). Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.