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CLOUDY Temp: 38 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, April 2, 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 March 13, 2003 Poor shooting dooms Phoenix girls By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune CORVALLIS — The team from the south had its shooting go south in a hurry Wednesday night. In the opening 2 minutes, 34 seconds of its first-round appearance at the Class 3A girls state tournament, Phoenix made three field goals. The Pirates added another with 1:28 to play in the first quarter. The next made field goal nearly never came. Or at least it felt that way for Phoenix, which didn’t convert a fifth shot from the floor until 3:32 remained in the third quarter. By that time, Philomath was well on its way to a 53-33 victory at Gill Coliseum on the Oregon State University campus. "We just couldn’t hit a shot," said sophomore point guard Ashley McCarty, whose squad meets Valley Catholic, a 39-24 first-round loser to Tillamook, in consolation action at 12:30 p.m. today at Corvallis High School. "It was horrible." For the record, 13:56 of game time elapsed without a Pirate bucket. The lonely Phoenix point scored total during that span was senior post Kelly Meredith’s free throw with 1:16 left in the first half. A 6-2 Pirates edge at 5:26 of the first period became a 33-13 hole with 3:32 to go in the third — and that was only after McCarty’s 3-pointer broke the field goal-less drought. "We had open shots," said Phoenix head coach Kyle Walker. "We had good looks. We just didn’t make ‘em. Just one of those nights." While the Pirates (16-9) were stumbling to a 4-for-21 (19 percent) first half and 14-for-49 (28.6 percent) shooting night overall, the Warriors (20-5) were riding star Joanna Chadd’s hot hand, the Valco League’s player of the year. The 5-foot-8 senior point guard has led Philomath to the state tournament all four years of her prep career, and she treated the Gill spotlight like an old friend. At the end of the third quarter, with her minutes played done at 23, Chadd had 19 points. Phoenix? The same. "She’s a good player, big-time," said Walker, his team the second seed out of the Skyline Conference. "We talked about doing some special things against her, and we tried to man her with a zone, matchup wherever she was on the floor. "It didn’t make much difference. She can penetrate and stop and elevate and shoot or penetrate and dish. Definitely one of the best players we’ve seen in the tournament." Chadd also wasn’t lacking in sympathy for the Pirates’ shooting woes. "I think they kind of got a tough break on some of their shots, definitely," said Chadd, who combined five steals, four rebounds and two assists with her point total to power the Valco champions, who face off with Tillamook today at 6:30 p.m. in championship bracket play. "We played really great defense and were only holding them to one shot. ... But they had a tough time making even shorter shots, so it was definitely tough for them." The Warriors — who won the state title in 2000, when Chadd was a freshman, and are making their 16th tourney appearance to Phoenix’s six — held leads of 15-9 after one period and 25-10 at the half. They put the game away with an 8-0 spurt during the first four minutes of the third quarter. "I think we just came out and were intimidated from the start, and that made a big difference," McCarty said. Junior post Kat Cox paced the Pirates with eight points and nine rebounds, and Meredith added seven points and seven boards. Sophomore guard Shonda George bolted off the bench to drain two 3s and score six points in the final four minutes of the game. Senior wing Chelsea Gellatly had eight points and six rebounds for Philomath, which posted a 41-32 edge in rebounding and forced 20 turnovers to 12 of its own. For Phoenix, making its first tourney trip since 2000, things can only get better today. "We’ll bounce back," Walker said. "We’ll recover." PHOENIX (33) — Duffell 0-6 0-4 0, Cox 4-11 0-0 8, Meredith 3-9 1-2 7, Reed 1-3 0-0 3, McCarty 1-9 0-0 3, Unruh 2-5 0-0 4, George 2-4 0-0 6, Kieffer 0-0 0-0 0, Fry 1-2 0-0 2, Woodman 0-0 0-0 0, Hanscom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-49 1-6 33. PHILOMATH (53) — Gellatly 4-13 0-0 8, Post 1-3 2-2 4, Pearson 2-7 0-0 4, Hermes 1-1 0-0 2, J. Chadd 7-18 4-4 19, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Ma. Eng 1-4 2-4 4, Crocker 3-7 0-0 6, R. Chadd 2-3 0-0 4, Currans 0-0 0-0 0, Me. Eng 1-1 0-0 2, Post 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-57 8-10 53. Phoenix........................................9 1 9 14 — 33 Philomath..................................15 10 16 12 — 53 3-point goals — Phoenix 4-17 (George 2-4, Reed 1-1, McCarty 1-9, Duffell 0-2, Unruh 0-1), Philomath 1-12 (J. Chadd 1-5, Gellatly 0-4, Crocker 0-3). Rebounds — Phoenix 32 (Cox 9), Philomath 41 (Gellatly 6, Crocker 6). Assists — Phoenix 9 (Kieffer 3), Philomath 9 (J. Chadd 2). Totals fouls — Phoenix 13, Philomath 9. 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 © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S