 |
Tigers start slowly, fall to Aloha
Panthers rebound, knock off Gaston
St. Paul overmatched in loss to Corbett
| Middle
quarters lift Bucks to win |
The girls basketball team outscores Corbett 32-13 in the second and third
quarters to post a win |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The St. Paul High School girls
basketball team shook off a slow start and outscored Class 2A Corbett 18-8 in the second
quarter and 14-5 in the third quarter to post a 52-31 win Wednesday at a tournament at
Amity.
St. Paul (7-2 overall) fell behind early but managed to take a slim 10-8 lead after
the first quarter. From then on, it was all St. Paul. Jordan Murphy connected on
consecutive three-pointers — one from each corner — to put the Bucks up 20-14
with 4:04 remaining in the first half. Later, a steal and layin by Kimmie Ernst gave the
Bucks a 26-16 lead with 1:30 remaining in the half.
In the third, St. Paul went on a 9-0 run to open the quarter and held Corbett
scoreless for the first 4:29 while it grabbed a 37-16 lead.
St. Paul coach Michael Murphy said the Bucks started “a little sloppy”
but the team’s defense proved to be the game’s deciding factor.
“In the second and third quarter, I thought we played really well
defensively,” he said. “Offensively, we were getting better looks because we
were a little more patient. A lot of our offense is going to come out of our defense and
that’s what happened in the second and third quarters. We shot a number of layins
because of their turnovers. We still have some work to do yet but I was happy with the way
the kids played.”
Murphy said the first quarter jitters of the Buckaroos isn’t new.
“We’ve had a tendency so far this season to start a little slow offensively but
once the kids start to get more physical defensively and more aggressive defensively, in
the middle quarters we seem to get a little bit stronger,” he said. “I think the
pressure we put on eventually effects the opposition.”
Corbett never seemed to be able to get a solid shot in the second and third
quarters and trailed 42-21 at the end of the third.
“Our mission is to try to keep them from getting good looks and to keep the
ball out on the perimeter with ball pressure,” Murphy said.
St. Paul’s main defensive focus was on Corbett post Stephenie Blakeley, who
carried the Cardinals’ offense in the first half by scoring eight points. Blakeley
ended the game with 14 points but had just a pair of field goals in the second half.
“(Blakeley) is a pretty good player,” Murphy said. “When she got the
ball, she knew what to do with it. In the middle quarters, I thought we did a better job
of defending her and that was a big part of their offense. I thought if we could slow her
down, then their offense would bog down.”
Assigned to guard Blakeley, a senior, for the majority of the game was freshman
Michelle Wilson. A freshman guarding such a daunting senior could be intimidating, Murphy
said.
“Michelle was a little nervous to start the game guarding her but once she
settled in I thought she did pretty well,” he said. “(Blakeley) was strong and I
thought Michelle held her own.”
Jordan Murphy led the Bucks with 20 points, including eight points in the second quarter.
Wilson added 10 points, followed by the eight points of Jenna Schneider and Ernst.
“The scoring was pretty balanced. We were able to get a lot of people
involved,” Michael Murphy said.
St. Paul reserves Brittani Brown, Alex Barrera, Dani Davidson and Janelle Drescher
all played key roles in the victory, Michael Murphy said.
“I thought that when Alex Barrera came in, she gave us some good
minutes,” he said. “I thought she played one of her more solid games off the
bench for us. Janelle Drescher came in during the third and fourth quarter and played
well. She needs to get a little more experience and this was a good game for her to get
that because they were physical and she needs to get used to that.” |
|
From Dec. 25,
2004, Newberg Graphic
Click Here to Subscribe |
|
|
