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Photo by Bob Pennell Crater's Addie Wiersma, left, and Amanda Johnson, right, put the squeeze on Kaley Wecks. Crater's press stymies Indians Comets even SOC record with 48-35 win By GREG STILES CENTRAL POINT -- The Crater Comets are slowly gaining confidence. The Roseburg Indians have apparently lost their way. Crater stumbled out of the Southern Oregon Conference gate back in December and wound up the first half of conference play 3-4. The Comets jumped ahead of Roseburg in the first quarter Tuesday night and methodically pulled away for a 48-35 girls basketball triumph. "This is the first game where we haven't had a bad spurt, in which we allowed 20 points or four minutes without scoring," Crater coach David Heard said. "We didn't dig a hole or get a lead and lose it." Crater's (10-8, 4-4 SOC) zone defenses and full-court pressure were too much for the Indians. "Last time we were afraid they'd be too quick for us," said Crater point guard Sarah Yager. "This time we played them really tough." Roseburg (5-3, 8-7 SOC) was the SOC's surprise team, winning five of its first six conference games. Since then, the Indians have struggled. The loss was Roseburg's second straight by double-digits. "To be obvious, we're suffering from a sever image problem," said Roseburg coach John Thomas. "When we went 5-1 we had a hard time believing we were that good. "Tonight, we had unforced errors and got beaten up pretty good under the boards. We're not playing with emotion." The Comets took the lead for good with an 8-0 run the last 4:21 of the first quarter. Megan Robbins scored on a steal and a drive in the final 30 second to make it 9-4 at the break. Yager's second 3-pointer from way behind the arc on the left wing gave Crater its biggest lead of the first half, 16-7. I think we did a good job in the first half of shutting them down," Heard said. "I think they were confused in the first quarter. "We only pressed on three possessions the first time we played. They turned it over twice and when they broke it the third time, they didn't score. Looking at film and then seeing them Saturday (against Klamath Union) I had a good feel for their press breaks. When we stole the ball we had some pretty easy baskets and we haven't done that too much." Heard was particularly pleased with the defensive help center Emily Wiley got inside and how she kept the Indians from working inside. The Comets took control in the third quarter. After connecting on just 9-of-28 (.321) shots in the first half, Crater nailed 7-of-11 (.636) in the third period. A pair of 6-0 runs enabled the Comets to stretch their advantage to 38-25 with 1:22 left in the quarter. "Tonight's win is big for our confidence," said Robbins, a junior forward. "That first game at Roseburg was a total shock. Some of the players had never played at this level. We're still learning to play with each other. After the Eagle Point game we talked about how we could put ourselves in position for the playoffs. We want to show ourselves how good we can be and show the other teams how good we can be." The Indians found out how good the Comets could be at the foul line, although they never reached the bonus until the final 1:13 of the game. Crater drained 12-of-14 (.857) shots from the charity stripe, including 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter. Roseburg committed eight of its 23 turnovers in the final eight minutes as Janell Sapienza came up with three steals for the Comets. Crater pushed its lead to 44-30 on Becky Arreola's free throw with 3:30 to play. Yager finished with 16 points. ROSEBURG (35) -- Makinson 2, Goodell 0, Wecks 6, Loomis 0, Johnson 6, Crossfield 5, Stephens 4, Bradburn 3, Randall 7, Souder 2, Gilding 0. Totals: 15-37 4-9 35. CRATER (48) -- Yager 16, Chase 0, Robbins 10, Sapienza 2, Durbin 0, McLeod 5, Wiersma 2, Wiley 2, Johnson 0, Arreola 11 -- Totals: 17-42 12-14 48. Roseburg ...........4 13 10 8 -- 35 Crater ..............9 15 14 10 -- 48 3-point goals -- Roseburg 1-6 (Bradburn 1). Crater 2-8 (Yager 2). Technical foul -- McLeod. JV score -- Crater 30, Roseburg 21. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford,