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Zahler leads
NHS honorees list
George Fox
men close out record season with triumph
Bruins rock
Pioneers for NWC title
After 2-2
tourney finish, Bruins prepare for Linfield
Bucks persevere,
41-31; head to state tourney |
After Mapleton cuts St. Paul's lead to two the Bucks
score 19 in the final quarter for a playoff victory |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
ST. PAUL – In a contest that resembled a
slugfest rather than a basketball game, the St. Paul High School
girls basketball team got past Mapleton 41-31 Saturday in the first
round of the Class 1A state playoffs.
The Bucks, who were plagued with foul trouble all game long,
persevered with gritty play from the starters and players coming off
the bench.
Jordan Murphy and Jessi Smith each picked up two fouls in the first
quarter and Smith picked up her third foul early in the second
quarter.
To make matters more difficult for St. Paul, senior post Kimmie
Ernst, who was assigned to Mapleton’s 6-foot-1 post Shauna Allen,
picked up her second and third fouls midway through the quarter.
At that point in the game, the Bucks had been whistled for 10 fouls
to four for the Sailors.
St. Paul coach Mike Murphy said the game was one of survival and
stellar defense that propelled his team to Baker City and the Class
1A state tournament for the second straight year.
“I feel like we survived that game,” he said. “We played well
defensively and I thought we did a great job there. We played
through some things we couldn’t control and we made a run in the
fourth quarter that was huge and it all started with our defense.”
The fourth quarter was the difference. After leading 11-4 after one
period and 20-14 at halftime, St. Paul only scored two points in the
third quarter, but still led 22-20.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Ernst, Smith and Murphy all had
four fouls. Jenna Schneider was the only starter to start the fourth
quarter, but Dani Davidson, Alex Barrera, Brittani Brown and Janelle
Drescher provided the Bucks with stability despite the fact that
Davidson, a junior, was the only upperclassmen of the group.
While neither team mustered much offense through the first three
quarters, regardless of who was on the floor for St. Paul, the
defense never lacked.
“Our bench has played like that all year,” coach Murphy said. “I
can’t say enough for Alex Barrera – a great job; Brittani Brown did
a great job on the big kid, a phenomenal job on her when she was out
there. (Davidson) did a fantastic job and Janelle Drescher came in
and gave us a huge two or three minutes (she injured her shoulder in
the fourth quarter) and that big body makes a big difference.”
Smith hit a bucket with 6:12 remaining to put St. Paul ahead 25-20,
but Allen came up with three straight points for Mapleton to get to
25-23 with 4:57 remaining.
That would be as close as Mapleton would get as the Bucks finally
found their offensive rhythm. Murphy hit a bucket and after passing
on one the previous possession, Schneider nailed a three-pointer
that all but broke the Sailors’ backs. Ernst capped a 7-0 run with a
bucket with just over two minutes remaining and St. Paul took a
32-23 lead.
Schneider said after passing on the first three, she wasn’t going
to let another open shot go by.
“I came down and I heard the crowd yelling to shoot it, but I knew
there wasn’t a lot of time left and it was still a close game,” she
said. “But the next time down I was open and I knew I had to shoot
it. When I looked up (at scoreboard) I knew that was big.”
Schneider’s influence on the younger players was a factor, coach
Murphy said.
“She has a calming effect on our team and she’s been rock solid all
year,” he said. “She didn’t shoot the ball great for the whole game,
but down the stretch she made her free throws and she wanted the
ball. She’s huge and has been huge and that (three-pointer) was a
dagger.”
The Sailors would cut St. Paul’s lead to six, but the Bucks nailed
their free throws down the stretch. Schneider hit two with 1:11 left
right after Mercedes Leclair cut the lead to 32-26. Schneider would
hit all four of her free throws in the final 1:30 of the game.
The Bucks got hot from the line, too. Schneider hit 5 of 7 over the
same span, helping clinch the game and the return trip to Baker
City.
After scoring two points in the third quarter, the Bucks answered
with 19 in the fourth for the win.
“I think our defense finally wore them down and they went to a man
(defense), which was a plus for us because we really did a good job
in our man offense down that stretch,” coach Murphy said.
Jordan Murphy said once the team got going in the fourth quarter
things started to fall in place.
“We all wanted this real bad and once we start getting on a roll
like that we don’t stop,” she said. “I know when we get a run like
that, (Mapleton) starts thinking about it and then you get another
and they lose it.”
For Ernst, Murphy, Schneider and Smith, this was their last chance
at bringing home hardware from the state tournament. A year ago they
were happy to qualify. This year is different.
“I think last year we were so happy to be there and this year it’s
not good enough to just be there,” Schneider said. “I want to go
further and I know we’re good enough to go farther.”
Jordan Murphy agreed.
“This year — from freshman all the way up — all (of us want) it,”
she said. “Nobody is happy that we’re just going to state.”
The coach said it’s a big deal to the four seniors.
“It’s huge for them. I think they now are going to go into it
without the position of ‘Hey, we made it,’” he said. “They’re going
to go in there and they’re gonna win some games. This group is
tough.”
Schneider led all scorers with 16 points and Murphy added 10.
Michelle Wilson scored eight. Allen paced the Sailors with 10
points.
St. Paul opens the state tournament against Ione at 8:30 p.m.
Thursday. |
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From
March 2, 2005, Newberg Graphic
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