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Cascade Christian bumps off St. Mary's By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN CENTRAL POINT -- Cascade Christian High boys basketball coach Brian Morse wanted the ball in his ace free-thrower's hands at crunch time. Senior wing Andy Baker got the message loud and clear. "I want the ball and I want to be at the (free-throw) line late in a game," said Baker, who converted eight of 10 free throws during the final five minutes to pace the Challengers to a 47-42 Southern Cascade League win over rival St. Mary's High Tuesday night at Scenic Middle School. "When we got a rebound late, I told Andy to come and get it (the ball)," said Morse. "Earlier, he hadn't come to get it as quick as he did at the end when he knew he was going to get fouled." The Challengers improved their Southern Cascade League record to 2-2 and their overall record to 14-4. Meanwhile, St. Mary's, a young team with size and good potential, according to head coach Tim Pflug, fell to 2-2 in league play and 13-4 for the season. Baker, a transfer from South Medford High who is in his second year with Cascade, scored eight of his game-high 17 points on the free-throw line during the final 4:57. "He's an 87 percent free-throw shooter, so he's the guy we go to when we know the other team has to foul at the end," said Morse. "We get the ball to Andy and we run (point guard) Andy Kimmelshue toward him for a pass if Andy has to give it up. "Andy is a 79 percent free-throw shooter," said Morse. "If we keep the ball in the hands of those two guys, our odds are pretty good." Kimmelshue netted two free throws with 17 seconds left in the game to give Cascade Christian a 45-39 lead. He made one of two with 1:08 left to give the Challengers a 42-39 edge. Brian Stout, a 6-foot-4 forward for St. Mary's, banked in an eight-foot jump shot with 7:38 left in the game to tie the score at 38. He added one of two free throws with 5:30 to play to cut Cascade Christian's lead to 35-34. Offensive rebound baskets by Geoff Haas and and Thatcher Jones helped St. Mary's take a 39-38 lead with 3:53 to play. But Baker made three of four free throws on Cascade Christian's next two possessions to give the Challengers a 41-39 lead with 2:11 to play. Kimmelshue and Will Vanderstoel both converted one of two free throws to increase the lead to 43-39 with 50 seconds to play. Two turnovers by St. Mary's set up the free-throw situations. Kimmelshue and Baker were both perfect at the free-throw line in the final 17 seconds to seal the win for the challengers. "I'm not real happy with how we played but it's still a big win," said Morse. "This is a rivalry game and anything can happen and usually does. It's like North against South." Haas led St. Mary's with nine points and Murphy added seven. Michael Fiddler, a 6-foot-3 freshman for St. Mary's, scored 5 points and had 5 rebounds. "Michael got some big rebounds for us and played well," said Pflug. "I was also happy with Brian Stout and how he played inside. "He played big for a freshman. "I thought the difference in the game was that Cascade moved better and shot better in the second half," said Pflug. "But I'm happy with how we battled." Jason Caplan, a 5-10 junior transfer guard from Phoenix High, scored six points and played a solid floor game, Pflug said. The teams battled to a 21-21 standoff at halftime. Neither team led by more than three points during the opening 16 minutes. Baker scored nine points in the first half, including one 3-point field goal, to lead the Challengers. Haas scored seven points in the first half for St. Mary's. ST. MARY'S (42) -- Schultz 0, Jones 8, Stout 7, Caplan 6, Staver 0, Fiddler 5, Murphy 7, Haas 9, Philips 0. Totals: 15 15-24 47. CASCADE CHRISTIAN (47) -- Sha 3, Kimmenshue 7, Jenkins 10, Prins 3, Baker 17, Kelly 0, Payn 0, Vanderstoel 3, Rawding 0, Ferrell 2, Edwards 2. Totals: 15 15-24 47. St. Mary's .........................9 12 8 13 -- 42 Cascade Christian ..........10 11 8 18 -- 47 3-point goals -- SM 2 (Jones 1, Murphy 1). CC 2 (Baker 1, Sha 1). Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA