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Phoenix girls log huge win over Vikes By GREG STILES PHOENIX -- Mazama's Dena Young has made a habit of killing Skyline Conference girls basketball teams with second-half scoring outbursts. The Phoenix Pirates turned the tables Tuesday night, limiting the conference's leading scorer to five points after intermission en route to a 48-43 victory. The setback was the first in six Skyline games for the visiting Vikings as Phoenix pulled into a first-place tie at 5-1. Young has scored better than 20 points a game -- most of them in the second halves -- this season. But after scoring 10 points in the first half, the 5-foot-5 senior guard scored only one field goal before hitting a meaningless 3-pointer at the final buzzer to finish with 15. Phoenix coach Kyle Walker figured it would take more than throwing a box-and-one at Young to slow her down and waited until the third quarter to spring it on the Vikings (8-7). "The idea was to keep it close in the first half and then frustrate (Young) in the second half," Walker said. "If you come out with a box-and-one in the first half (Mazama coach) Kelly Reynolds is going to make some adjustments at halftime, and it's really not going to help you much in the second half." The Pirates (8-6) got the bounces, calls and rebounds -- not to mention some timely scoring -- to go with their effort against Young. Despite all that, they trailed 40-39 after Sara Todd sank the first of two free throws with 4:24 to play. It took two defensive stops and then a forced shot in the lane by sophomore point guard Maria Gonzalez that dropped in for Phoenix to regain the lead, 41-40, with 2:39 to play. Junior post Sutton Jackson extended the lead to 43-40 and Young's 3-point attempt to tie rimmed off with 1:15 remaining. From there, the Pirates connected on 5 of 8 free throws to seal the win. "The idea was to keep our composure," said junior guard Chelsi Clark, "and we did." The victory was the most important for the Pirates since winning the 1997 Skyline title. "This is as big as any game these girls have played on a basketball court," Walker said. "We were 3-9 in league last year and I think we were a little nervous at first." Nervous enough to fall behind 6-0 without taking a shot in the first 90 seconds. "Coach took a timeout and told us not to worry," said Jessica Prisbrey, who paced the Pirates with 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Pirates responded with a 9-0 run en route to taking a 16-11 lead on Jackson's three-point play with 49 seconds to play in the quarter. But Young fed Megan Britton and Sara Todd for layins to make it 16-15 at the break. Phoenix got a quick basket from Clark to start the second quarter, but went without another field goal until two seconds before halftime. Young nailed two 3-pointers to give Mazama a 23-22 lead with 1:37 left in the period. It looked as if the Vikings would take the lead into the locker room. But then the Pirates caught a break when two Mazama players collided trying to intercept Jennifer Bones' pass to Clark. When both defenders fell to the floor, Clark scooped up the ball and laid it in to regain the lead. "That was a matter of having too many defensive players there," Reynolds said. "Basketball is 60 percent skill and 40 percent luck. We knew the pass was coming and when they ran into each other, it just bounced loose." Mazama committed 13 of its 19 turnovers in the second half and had a tough time when Phoenix went back into a 1-2-2 zone in the fourth quarter. "Had we protected the ball a little better when we got up by one, we might have been able to pull them out of their zone," Reynolds said. "Dena was out of our flow long enough that we were just rattling around for a while. Then she missed three layins. If she makes one we're up by one, instead of down by three." MAZAMA (43) -- Britton 5, Bishop 5, Hunt 0, Eubanks 4, Burk 4, Hart 5, L. Young 0, D. Young 15, Blank 0, Todd 5. Totals: 18-43 4-14 43. PHOENIX (48) -- Gonzalez 2, Prisbrey 10, Curtis 8, Clark 7, Nikodym 2, Jackson 7, Meredith 4, Bones 8. Totals: 16-41 15-26 48. Mazama ...................15 8 9 11 -- 43 Phoenix .................16 8 11 13 -- 48 3-point goals -- Mazama 3-10 (D. Young 3), Phoenix 1-6 (Bones 1). JV score -- Phoenix 37, Mazama 24. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA