Document text
Click Here 46 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, February 26, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend January 17, 2004 Quick-strike Comets too hot to handle Crater comes out of the blocks to the tune of a combined 33-0 over four periods to keep South at bay By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Making like Marion Jones, Crater sped out of the blocks to begin each quarter. South Medford, meanwhile, resembled a toddler struggling to put steps together at the inception of every period. Working from well behind all night, the Panthers never came close to catching the Comets in a 67-44 girls basketball rout Friday night at the Crater gym. Advertisement The Comets scored nine straight points to tip off the game, 11 consecutive points in starting the second period, six straight to begin the third and seven in a row in welcoming the fourth. That’s a 33-0 discrepancy, and it was way too much for South to overcome in the Southern Oregon Conference tilt. Crater (8-6, 3-1 SOC) stepped into second place all by itself in the league standings, while the Panthers (4-10, 2-3 SOC) slipped to sixth. "We just were totally out of sync at the start of every quarter," said Andrea Jaime, South’s seventh-year head coach. "We couldn’t execute basic fundamentals and were all-around just out of it." The Comets carried out the game plan in making the start of each quarter theirs. "We really focused on — because against North Medford (a 44-42 loss Tuesday) we didn’t do a very good job of this — executing out of timeouts, into quarters, out of halftime," said Scott Dippel, Crater’s second-year head coach. "I really felt like we did that and made adjustments to what they were doing." The Comets set the tone immediately, implementing a half-court trap to spark streaks of 9-0 to start and 8-0 to end the first quarter, after which they held a 22-7 cushion. They forced nine turnovers in the period and got seven points from Whitney Black, six from Katie Robertson and five from Jessica Wasniewski. "We worked on that all week," senior point guard Black said of the trap. "We thought if we could stop them at halfcourt, it would fluster them." It did just that and more, as Jaime attested. "The first few possessions of the game just killed us, confidence-wise," she said. "Getting down big early kind of deflated us. ... Against the trap, we didn’t shift to create passing lines. That’s a little bit of inexperience." Crater didn’t stay in the trap all game, but the Comets continued to cause problems defensively, forcing the Panthers into 17 turnovers in the first half and 25 total. South shot just 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) from the field in the opening half, falling into a 38-13 abyss. "We really communicated a lot on defense, and we’ve been trying to play with our hands up a lot and deflect a whole bunch of passes," said junior post Wasniewski, who swiped a team-high three of Crater’s 11 steals. The "Big Three" of Black and senior wings Robertson and Dani Montgomery accounted for the bulk of the Comets’ scoring, combining for 44 points. Black collected 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting to join eight assists and five rebounds; Robertson struck for 14 points along with three rebounds and two steals; and Montgomery found 13 points and nine rebounds, five at the offensive end. But Wasniewski and junior post Nicki Tyska provided Crater with important doses of defense, rebounding and hustle for the second straight game. Wasniewski had nine points, four rebounds and three assists along with her steals. Tyska grabbed four of her eight rebounds on offense and blocked two shots. "(Wasniewski) and Nicki Tyska played really well," said Dippel, who has started the duo alongside Black, Robertson and Montgomery the last two games. "What that allows us to do is take some risks, because we know that if we hurry a shot, we’ve got two kids in there that’ll battle for boards." Rushed shots, often a coach’s headache, were part of the Comets’ plan Friday — as a way to neutralize the Panthers’ inside strength. "They are a very, very good rebounding team," Dippel said. "And so a goal was to rush a shot to try to catch those post players off-guard a little bit." Crater collected 16 offensive rebounds among its 40 total. South gobbled 19 offensive boards and 45 overall, topped by junior post Brittany Farrer’s 15, including eight offensive. Farrer scored 12 points and blocked three shots, while sophomore post Marissa Towry compiled 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Junior point guard Kelsey Corbin didn’t shoot well but augmented five points with six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Jaime was encouraged by the Panthers’ unyielding effort but not so pleased with their execution. Now, they need to move forward, she said. "If we can be 4-3 coming out of the first half of conference play, that’s right where we want to be," said Jaime, whose squad finishes the first half of the slate at Eagle Point and home versus Grants Pass. Black said the Comets can’t get content after what may have been their best display of the year. "The SOC is so crazy right now that this game doesn’t mean anything," said Black, whose team trails only North Medford (5-0 SOC) in the standings. "You have to take every game one at a time. I don’t think there’s really predicting anything right now." SOUTH MEDFORD (44) — Singler 4, Towry 10, Farrer 12, Banuelos 0, Corbin 5, Keck 7, Watson 0, Martin 0, Grant 6, Stewart 0. Totals: 17-60 9-13 44. CRATER (67) — Montgomery 13, Wasniewski 9, N. Tyska 2, Robertson 14, Black 17, Brookins 4, Je. Stoner 6, Ratty 0, Reiter 2, Wiersma 0, K. Tyska 0, Ja. Stoner 0. Totals: 27-65 9-17 67. South Medford ............................ 7 6 16 15 — 44 Crater ...................................... 22 16 17 12 — 67 3-point goals — South Medford 1 (Corbin 1), Crater 4 (Black 3, Robertson 1). JV score — Crater 51, South Medford 29. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times