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Crater rallies past Ashland Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Crater's Andrew Norum (21) looks to pass around the defense of Ashland's Titus Weston. A big second half helps the Comets dribble past the Grizzlies and remain atop the SOC standings By KRIS HENRY CENTRAL POINT - Trailing 25-12 - yes, 12 - after one of the more pathetic first halves of high school boys basketball, Crater had every reason to let go of its last nerve in the recesses of its own gymnasium. By all rights, the Comets should have been submitting their order today for a new locker room paint job to take care of the kind of heated talk only a four-point second quarter can bring to the surface. But a funny thing happened during intermission of Friday's Crater-Ashland matchup. Instead of succumbing to the negative, the Comets leaned on the positive to turn around the Southern Oregon Conference game. "One good thing is at halftime, we were still confident and all the kids were still talking confident, knowing that things were going to start working out for us if they trusted in our system," said Crater coach Matt Meunier. "We had every reason to lose our composure after that first half, but we stuck together and maintained our discipline." Amazingly, it was Ashland which lost its composure in the second half and lost its chance to steal a road victory when the Comets took advantage of four technical fouls and myriad missed shots and forced turnovers by Ashland. Crater (9-3, 2-0 SOC) pinned 48 points on the Grizzlies (4-6, 0-2) in the second half, gradually pulling away for a 60-50 victory. "The third quarter has been our nemesis all year," said Ashland coach John Skinner. "The only reason we've won some games in spite of the third quarter is we've been far enough ahead that it didn't matter. We just can't get through the third quarter." Needing to quickly close the window of opportunity before the Grizzlies climbed through, Crater scored the first nine points of the third quarter to pull within four points of Ashland. Crater senior Derek Petersen had five of his team-high 19 points in that 21/2-minute span. "We knew if we kept getting him the ball, he'd be able to light it up and get us closer and get our momentum going," Crater post Andrew Norum said of Petersen. "And once that happened, we knew that would open up the inside and other guys would get a little more open." Norum also pitched in with 14 points and 15 rebounds. What the Comets couldn't have known was how the Grizzlies would respond to Crater's surge on the scoreboard and in intensity. "When we made our run, they lost their cool, and it was a tough momentum swing," said Meunier. "You could see that they hit the panic button. It didn't take much for that to happen when we started making our run." What ensued was off the wall even by wild standards already set in the first half when a replacement referee had to be summoned when one of the two working officials suffered a first-quarter injury. Ashland senior Lance Streng, who was seemingly picking himself off the court all night, picked up a technical foul for snapping at an official, then picked up another when he kicked at a clapping Petersen. "We don't have that great of a relationship," Petersen said later of the altercation. "I've played against him since sixth grade. It's not really something I want to get into." Ashland junior Christopher Presicci was slapped with the Grizzlies' third technical foul with one minute to play in the third quarter. And after the dust settled, Crater had turned a 13-point deficit into a 39-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter. "That kind of attitude is not acceptable," Skinner said of the third-quarter outbursts. "I don't care how rough the game gets, you've got to still play under control. "They lost all their composure. There was no focus at all in that third quarter." To their credit, the Grizzlies kept close to Crater in the final stanza until a parade to the free-throw line in the final two minutes broke the game open. Part of that parade included Ashland's fourth technical foul of the night, the last coming when Nick Palmesano was called for his fifth personal foul and jumped up and hanged on the Crater basket out of frustration. In the fourth quarter alone, Crater converted 12 of 19 free throws. Crater seniors David Sills and Brian Goode each drained four charity shots to help seal the victory. Ashland senior Titus Weston paced his team with 20 points, while senior teammate Isaac Wright added 13 in a game where neither coach left the court completely happy. "Every time we had the ball, something bad happened in that first half," said Meunier. "One time a guy slips, a couple times we just throw the ball out of reach. It was just a horrible half. But if you can play poorly and win, that's nice." Almost as nice as not having to re-paint the locker room. ASHLAND (50) - Bryan 3, Weston 20, Clevenger 0, Palmesano 0, Rowe 2, Presicci 2, Wright 13, Compton 0, Brown 6, Streng 4. Totals: 19 10-11 50. CRATER (60) - Petersen 19, Sills 4, Norum 14, Goode 6, Gugliotta 0, Ryan 10, Davis 2, Pettegrew 5. Totals: 19 19-32 60. Ashland.................................................10 15 12 13 - 50 Crater........................................................8 4 27 21 - 60 3-point goals - Ashland 2 (Brown 2), Crater 3 (Petersen 3). Fouled out - Weston, Palmesano, Streng. Technical fouls - Streng 2, Presicci, Palmesano. JV score - Crater 67, Ashland 50. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.