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Click Here 48 °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 February 9, 2004 Tornado, Comets subtle about showdown Crater and North Medford approach their clash for first place Tuesday night as just another game in SOC play By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune Neither Crater nor North Medford wants to make too much of Tuesday’s girls basketball showdown. Won’t make or break the season, they say. Three Southern Oregon Conference games — including meetings with third-place Ashland and fourth-place Roseburg — still to go after Tuesday, they note. Just another step in the grand scheme of things, they muse. Neither the Comets nor the Black Tornado may be adding hype, but when two talented squads that are both 9-1 in the SOC battle for first place, the hype’s pretty much inherent. Advertisement Tip-off time is 7 p.m. at Crater’s gym. "I understand it’s a big game," says Scott Dippel, the Comets’ second-year head coach. "But the season doesn’t end there. So you’ve gotta treat it like it’s another step. But it’s gonna be fun." Judging by the first encounter, it should be dramatic. Junior point guard Kailey Bostwick drained two free throws with 8.3 seconds left, then junior post Michelle Westermann blocked senior point guard Whitney Black’s potentially game-tying jump shot at the buzzer, handing North a 44-42 home win on Jan. 13. "Toward the end there, both teams had chances to execute and finish things off," says Tim Karrick, the Tornado’s second-year head coach. "We were just lucky enough to have things go our way." Defense ruled that clash, with the teams combining to shoot 36 percent from the field and committing 43 total turnovers. Part of it was that the offenses were plain abysmal too, as the squads made just 17 of the 38 total free throws taken that night. Still, North (16-4 overall) and Crater (14-6) both rely on their defenses to dictate, and that shouldn’t change Tuesday. The Tornado relentlessly pressures the ball the length of the court, which both frustrates and tires out the opposition. "They’ve got a lot of depth, they throw a lot of people at you and they’re real physical at the guard positions, which wears you out," Dippel says. The Comets coughed up 27 turnovers — including 12 total five-second and inbounds violations — and shot just 15-for-40 (37.5 percent) on field goals in the first go-round. Crater dished just three assists. At the other end, the Comets are capable of mixing an array of defenses, from full- and half-court traps to straight man-to-man. But their most effective look may be a 1-3-1 zone that shifts smoothly to all corners. North struggled to a 17-for-49 (34.7 percent) effort from the floor and lost 16 turnovers in the initial meeting. "I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a nip-and-tuck game again," Karrick says. "We would like to create a pace and get up and down the floor and open it up a little bit. But I don’t know if they’ll try to slow it down or want to run with us." Karrick does know that he doesn’t expect Crater’s "Big Three" of seniors Black, Dani Montgomery and Katie Robertson to be limited to 26 combined points again. For one, Montgomery sat out the entire second quarter then in foul trouble, watching her team struggle to just two points — a pair of free throws — in the period. Secondly, that trio averages a total of 38.7 points per game for the Comets this season, with wing Montgomery producing 14.6, Black compiling 13.5 and wing Robertson scoring 10.7. The Tornado generally spreads the wealth more than Crater, but Bostwick, Westermann and junior post Mellisa Eastwold usually lead the way. They teamed for 37 points in the first meeting, with Westermann finding 13 and Eastwold and Bostwick each getting 12. For the winter, Bostwick averages 12.7 points per game, Eastwold 11.2 and Westermann 10.3. "I think there’ll probably be more offense this time around," says Dippel, whose team has won seven straight since that defeat. "The first time around everyone was so nervous. I remember walking out onto the court with Kailey Bostwick and asking her if she was nervous, and she said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m nervous.’ I said, ‘Me too.’ And she said, ‘You guys get nervous?’" The memory of last year’s trip to the Comet gym should calm North, because the Tornado claimed a 61-44 victory to snap Crater’s streak of 42 straight SOC victories. The Comets later earned revenge with a 48-34 win at North. However it’s figured, it should be fun Tuesday night. "I think it’s pretty evenly matched," says Karrick, whose team’s lone SOC loss was 57-51 at Ashland on Jan. 27. "I think they’ve probably got a little edge in terms of experience with those three seniors, although our juniors have been playing together a long time. We might have the edge in quickness, them in strength. It’s just hard to tell what will happen." 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