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CLOUDY Temp: 45 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend January 25, 2003 Big fourth quarter lifts Ashland girls over Crater By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune ASHLAND — For three quarters, Crater controlled the tempo, the scoreboard and the game in Southern Oregon Conference girls basketball action Friday night. Ashland made all that moot with an explosive finish. The Grizzlies mounted an 11-0 charge early in the fourth quarter to take command, then drilled 12 consecutive free throws to close out a 46-41 home victory. At stake was second place in the conference, which Ashland (12-4, 5-1 SOC) now holds outright, thanks to first-place Roseburg’s 61-44 win over North Medford (4-2 SOC). The Comets (8-8, 3-3) fell to fifth place, a game back of both North and South Medford. Sophomore point guard Alysse Carlson was the Grizzlies’ hero, accounting for the first eight points in Ashland’s 11-0, game-changing run. After senior guard Erin Kinney’s layup gave Crater a 27-21 edge 21 seconds into the final period, Carlson sank back-to-back 3-pointers and added a transition layin to earn the Grizz a 29-27 advantage with 6:08 remaining. The lead was Ashland’s first since 4-2. "It was definitely what we needed to get our offense going," Grizz senior post Marla Morin said of Carlson’s eruption. Morin’s bucket and sophomore guard Hilary Huyett’s free throw — off a technical foul whistled on Comets first-year head coach Scott Dippel — finished the streak and made it 32-27 with 5:18 to go. Crater never led again. "I was excited," said Carlson, who also bombed a 3 at the end of the third quarter and was perfect on four free throws down the stretch in scoring a game-high 20 points. "This is a big win. Marla, one of our senior captains, gave us a (halftime) speech on how we gotta pull through as a team, and we just did it." For most of the night, it didn’t appear that Ashland would do it. The Comets missed just one shot in the first quarter — 5-of-6 from the field and 2-for-2 at the line — to take a 12-9 lead and didn’t relinquish control until the fourth. They surprised the Grizzlies with a delay offense and added solid defense and rebounding to keep Ashland, the SOC’s highest-scoring team entering the game at 61.2 points per outing, stuck in neutral. "It wasn’t so much a delay as it was we wanted to force them to come out a little bit," said Dippel, whose squad is now saddled with a three-game losing streak after the program’s string of 42 straight SOC wins was ended by North Medford on Jan. 14. "We’ve been attacking the basket pretty well ... and we limited the number of times we had to defend, which helped. I thought our kids did a great job." Junior Dani Montgomery was the contest’s most effective player through three quarters, using dribbling skills rare for a 5-foot-11 post to attack the Grizz defense and flashing grit in winning battles on the boards. She totaled 13 points and eight rebounds in all. Her consecutive hoops to open the second half gave Crater its largest lead at 23-13. Ashland counter-punched by turning to a 1-3-1 trapping defense that made the Comets less comfortable on offense. Although Crater committed just eight turnovers on the night — and the Grizz only four — the defensive switch was effective in speeding up the pace to a level closer to Ashland’s liking. "The thing that changed the momentum was when we went into the 1-3-1 trap," said Grizz first-year head coach Steve Humann. "That was (assistant Ross Coldwell’s) call." Ashland ended the third on an 8-2 streak to pull within 25-21 entering the fourth. After the Grizz’s 11-0 surge, the Comets did creep within 32-31 on a pair of free throws each from Kinney and Montgomery. But Morin wrested momentum back to Ashland’s side with a putback off Huyett’s miss on the front end of a one-and-one with 3:13 remaining. Carlson, reserve freshman guard Jamie Roupp (also 4-for-4), Morin (2-of-2) and Huyett (2-of-2) all swished free throws in the final minutes to seal the victory. The Grizzlies’ 19-of-26 performance overall at the line was a vast improvement on the 11-of-23 showing that cost them in their lone SOC defeat, 46- 45 to Roseburg on Jan. 14. Ashland shot 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from the field to Crater’s 15-for-33 (45.5) and was outrebounded 21-15. Morin scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Grizz, while Kinney kept the Comets alive with eight of her 12 points in the final period. "In some ways, this was a good game for us, even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted," said Dippel, who singled out reserve senior post Shannon Kell for a fine defensive effort. "It was a good game for us to realize where we should be." The game was best, however, for Ashland — which last beat Crater on Jan. 22, 1999. CRATER (41) — Robertson 6, Montgomery 13, Huntley 4, Kinney 12, Black 2, Kell 2, Wasniewski 0, Stoner 2, Bettencourt 0, Green 0, Adams 0. Totals: 15-33 11-13 41. ASHLAND (46) — Hansen 2, Sobolik 0, Morin 15, Huyett 5, Carlson 20, Roupp 4. Totals: 12-27 19-26 46. Crater...........................................12 7 6 16 — 41 Ashland.........................................9 4 8 25 — 46 3-point goals — Ashland 3 (Carlson 3). Technical foul — Crater coach S. Dippel. JV score — Ashland 36, Crater 29. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S