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Crater clinches tie for SOC girls crown By Greg Stiles ASHLAND � The Crater Comets don�t know how good they�ve got it and that�s probably for the best. The No. 2-ranked Comets clinched a tie for their fifth Southern Oregon Conference girls basketball championship in six years Friday night with a 64-42 road triumph over the Ashland Grizzlies. Crater improved to 11-0 in conference, with three games to play, and 19-1 overall. Ashland (11-8, 6-5 SOC) dropped into a third-place tie with Klamath Union, two games behind second-place South Medford. Crater coach Dave Heard wondered if his players realized how good they�ve had it. "These girls don�t understand what kind of a milestone it is winning an SOC championship," said the seventh-year coach. "When you play a whole season, you don�t want to get caught up in judging everything by what you do on March 3 (when the state championship is played). "I told them when they get to college to ask their teammates how many league championships they won. They got a little excited afterward and are looking forward to putting up 2001 on the (SOC championship) banner in the gym. But I still don�t think they understand like my coaching staff does how few and far between championships can be." The Grizzlies are the only team to have denied the Comets a conference crown � in the 1998-1999 season � during their current reign and never back down from a challenge. Even with sophomore post Marla Morin sidelined with pneumonia and junior wing Abigail Gooch idled with mononucleosis, Ashland�s intensity level didn�t drop. "That was our goal for tonight," Ashland coach Heather Roberts said. "Whether we were up by 40 or down by 40, we wanted to walk off the floor knowing we left everything out there. "I don�t think that happened the last two games; not that the other teams didn�t deserve to win, but we didn�t play as hard as we could. And that was our goal � that we wouldn�t get outhustled." But with fewer available weapons, the Grizzlies were no match for Crater�s defensive mix that both smothered SOC scoring leader Jackie Woods and rattled Ashland�s 3-point shooters. Woods entered the contest with an 18.2 scoring average. But Denson, with plenty of help from her teammates, shut out Woods until the fourth quarter and didn�t surrender a field goal until 2:25 remained in the game. "Whether we were in a zone or man-to-man, Amy was going to guard Jackie," Heard said. "It�s hard to play defense, rebound and still have such a good offensive game. Denson tossed in 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out four assists and had four steals. Jody McLeod led Crater with 21 points and collected 10 rebounds. Janell Sapienza chipped in with 13 points and four steals. Hanna Seltzer scored 20 points and snared seven rebounds for the Grizzlies, but nobody else had more than seven points. Crater wound up hitting 25 of 51 (.490) field goal attempts, while Ashland wound up 13 of 46 (.283), including 4 of 15 from behind the 3-point arc. "Our plan was to work the ball around the outside and make them get tired on defense," said Ashland wing Jessica Bullen. "It so happened our outside shots weren�t falling." Crater scored the games first seven points, then seized control with a 12-1 run � capped by Denson�s 25-footer at the buzzer that gave the Comets a 19-4 advantage after one quarter. Ashland hit five free throws in the first two minutes of the second quarter as it whittled the deficit to 19-11. But Katie Robertson, Sapienza and McLeod spurred a 14-8 run that boosted Crater to a 33-19 halftime spread. McLeod started heating up late in the second quarter and scored three baskets in the first four minutes of third period as Crater extended its lead to 43-21. "It was a very physical and both teams were battling for the rebounds," McLeod said. "It�s just hard winning at Ashland. Despite trailing by 24 points going into the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies had plenty of fight. Ashland outscored Crater 7-2 to start the final eight minutes, but ran out of steam. "Obviously you have to credit them for their intensity," said Denson. "But that will make us better in the long run." Roberts said it was the first time since the 1996-97 season that Ashland has lost three SOC games in a row. "A week ago, I thought we were in great shape," Roberts said. "We beat Klamath, Roseburg and Grants Pass on the road, and now were not doing very well." CRATER (64) � Black 3, Kinney 0, Anhorn 0, Pool 3, Sapienza 13, LeBel 0, McLeod 21, Huntley 0, Robertson 6, Nafie 0, Denson 17, Johnson 1. Totals: 25-51 11-15 64. ASHLAND (42) � Bulle 7, Fascilla 0, Hargis 7, Huyett 0, Kalemkeris 4, Seltzer 20, Woods 4, Sobolik 0, Hansen 0. Totals: 13-46 12-16 42. Crater......................................................16 17 17 14 � 64 Ashland......................................................4 15 7 16 � 42 3-Point goals � Crater 3-6 (Black 1, Pool 1, Denson 1). Ashland 4-15 (Bullen 1, Hargis 1, Seltzer 2). Technical fouls � Crater coach Heard. JV score � Crater 48, Ashland 45. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.