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Hernandez accepts full ride to NAU
Vikings too much for NHS in OT
Newberg wraps up Pac-9 title,
crushes Tualatin
Bucks rack up big win over Watchmen
Sports Calendar
| Pe'a's
last second bucket lifts Tigers |
Inge Pe'a gets a rebound and scores as time expires Thursday to give NHS a
74-72 win |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic Sports Editor
Email Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
 Newberg High School senior Inge Pe’a scored four of her six points in
overtime Thursday — the final bucket coming off a rebound as time expired — as
the NHS girls basketball team stole a 74-72 overtime win at Tualatin.
The victory was a huge one for the Tigers (9-3 Pac-9 Conference), who knocked
off the No. 2 team in the Pac-9.
“The bottom line is that these are 15, 16, 17- and 18-year-old kids that
had a great amount of composure, pride and belief and just got the job done on the road
against the No. 2 team in the league,” said Newberg coach Marianne Funderhide.
“I don’t think anybody believed we could beat them, outside of our group.”
Newberg’s contingent of fans stormed the floor to congratulate the team
After Pe’a’s shot.
“It’s a pretty big deal for Newberg girls basketball and I think it
was evident when everybody came down on the floor,” Funderhide said. “I
don’t remember the last time that happened.”
In overtime, Tualatin (9-3 Pac-9) held a 67-64 lead until junior point guard
Alli Jensen found Pe’a close to the hoop. Pe’a did the rest and scored with 1:40
remaining. After a defensive stand by the Tigers, Jensen put the Tigers up 68-67 with 1:22
left. Tualatin’s Lindsay Mengis hit a pair of free throws for Tualatin, then Jensen
answered back with another pair of free throws with 1:10 remaining to put the Tigers up
70-69.
After a miss by Tualatin’s Mandy Mellinger, Newberg called a timeout
with 52 seconds left before freshman Anna Barram canned two free throws at 28 seconds. The
free throws put the Tigers in command with a 72-69 lead but Tualatin wasn’t finished.
Lovena Chaput drove to the hoop and completed a three-point play with 21 seconds to go to
tie the game before Pe’a’s shot.
Pe’a was inserted into the lineup after junior post Holly Winter fouled
out of the game after picking up three fouls in 75 seconds. Funderhide said she
didn’t think twice about putting Pe’a into the lineup.
“Inge’s strength is her hands and rebounding,” she said.
“She’s got glue or Velcro on her hands and she’s just going to get it. She
can jump and elevate over people too and if she’s getting offensive rebounds or if
we’re lobbing it up to her, I have as much confidence in her as I do with any other
post because she’s so athletic.”
Newberg held a 46-40 advantage to start the fourth quarter but it was quickly
erased when Tualatin’s Colleen Godfrey hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game.
With a bucket with 6:24 remaining, Godfrey gave Tualatin the lead at 48-46.
The game seemed virtually completed when Tualatin’s Kim Johnson hit a
pair of free throws to give the Timberwolves a 63-55 lead with 19 seconds to play. But
junior Vanessa Schmitz scored with 14 seconds left before Jensen got a steal in the
backcourt and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with six seconds to play. Down
63-60, Newberg’s Joede Leavitt came up with another steal and got it to Hafner as
time was winding down. Out on the wing behind the 3-point line, Hafner forced up a shot
and was fouled with 0.6 seconds to go.
Hafner stepped to the line and hit the first free throw after it bounced off
the front of the rim and hit the backboard. After Tualatin called a timeout, Hafner
swished the two remaining free throws to send the game into overtime.
“We knew this was going to be a minimum of 32 minutes of just constant
back and forth,” Funderhide said. “Nobody, in my opinion, between these two
teams is going to get up by 20. It’s going to be tight all the
way.”
Funderhide said the Tigers never thought they couldn’t win.
“One thing that the kids have really learned is that this is a group
that will never give up,” she said. “They believe they can win if their down by
10 with 10 seconds left. That makes a big difference because who would have thought we
would have gotten that steal and a layin and then Alli gets another steal and hits that
three to pull us back in it.”
The Tigers came into the win off a devastating 69-50 road loss at Forest
Grove Tuesday; Newberg beat the Vikings earlier in the season.
“(The Tigers) just did the little things really, really well and they
kept their composure,” Funderhide said. “I knew they could keep their composure
to come back after Tuesday’s loss at Forest Grove, which was a very rough, ugly,
sloppy game, but the kids kept their composure.”
Hafner was huge in the fourth quarter against Tualatin. She hit 8-of-9 from
the line and finished with a 12-of-15 overall mark from the line to finish with 18 points.
Schmitz, who scored the first six points of the game for Newberg, added 18 points for the
Tigers as well. Jensen chipped in 15 for Newberg.
The win a not only a momentous one for the Tigers. Forest Grove, the team the
Tigers were tied with in the Pac-9 Conference standings going into the game at 8-4, fell
at Silverton, 68-62. The Newberg win and the Forest Grove loss put the Tigers one full
game above the Vikings and could prove significant as things wind down with three games
remaining in Pac-9 play for Newberg.
Funderhide said she’s been impressed with the way the team has stuck
together this season.
“I’m just really proud of the kids,” Funderhide said. “I
feel like the parents and community has supported us all year long and we’ve had some
ups and downs, but I think everybody that is part of this program has stuck together. I
think the kids feel that and sense that and so there’s nothing hanging over you and
you can just go play. Sometimes that support is underrated or not appreciated, but I know
it’s made a difference for us this year.”
The Tigers showed resilience in the win.
“I think we’ve just learned and grown so much this year,”
Funderhide said. “The overtime (loss) against McMinnville helped us; the beating we
took in Forest Grove helped us and with each game, they’re learning and getting
better. And really, there’s nothing more exciting than continuing to getting better,
better, and better this late in the season. This is exactly when you want to peak and I
don’t think we’ve peaked. I think the kids are still improving.”
The Tigers return to action Tuesday with a 7:15 p.m. home game against Canby. |
|
From Feb. 8,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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