Central Oregonian
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Total meltdown
After dominating game, Cowgirls falter in fourth quarter and fall to Panthers
Makayla Lindburg goes up for two of her 11 points in the Cowgirls loss to the Redmond Panthers on Tuesday. Crook County was outscored 18-2 in the fourth quarter as they fell 49-44 to Redmond.
Anyone who saw Crook?County’s loss to Redmond Tuesday night knows that the better team doesn’t always win.
The Cowgirls dominated the game for three quarters, before collapsing in the fourth quarter of a 49-44 loss to the Redmond Panthers in Intermountain Hybrid girls basketball action.
“Not much fun — that one,” said Crook?County head coach Dave Johnson. “There’s no way we should have lost that one.”
Using full-court pressure, the Cowgirls forced the Panthers into eight first-quarter turnovers as Crook County jumped out to a big lead. The Cowgirls led 11-2 just five minutes into the game when Johnson began substituting. Crook County led 16-5 at the end of the first period and continued to hold a double-digit lead throughout the first half.
The Cowgirls continued to press the
Jessie Loper goes up for a reverse layup in the first half of the Cowgirls loss to Redmond on Tuesday. Loper finished the game with five points.
With just over a minute remaining in the period, Redmond point guard Cassidy Simmons suffered an injury and play was stopped for more than 20 minutes before she was removed from the floor.
Although Crook County continued to lead, from that point on, they no longer put significant defensive pressure on Redmond.
The Cowgirls took a 28-15 lead into the locker room at the break. However, with Crook County no longer full-court pressing, the Panthers started to make a run in the third quarter. For the first time since the opening moments of the game, they closed to within 10 points late in the period. Crook County’s Kayla Morgan hit a three-point shot at the end of the period to put the Cowgirls back on top, 42-31, going into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers switched from man-to-man to zone defense to start the fourth quarter. Crook County could have held the ball and forced Redmond to go back to man-to-man. Instead, they chose to fire away from behind the three point arc.
The Panthers capitalized on missed Cowgirl shots and took advantage of fast break opportunities to score 12 unanswered points, finally taking the lead 43-42 with 3:19 remaining in the game.
On their next possession, Crook County’s Makayla Lindburg hustled to get an offensive rebound and score to give the Cowgirls a 44-43 lead. It would turn out to be the Cowgirls’ only points of the period. Redmond wing Mandy Dollarhide hit a three-point shot to put the Panthers ahead 46-44, and they never trailed again.
Mysteriously, the Cowgirls never returned to the full-court press that helped them jump out to the early lead. In addition, once they had the lead, Redmond slowed the game down and ran time off the clock. The Cowgirls did not begin to foul until 17 seconds remaining in the game, and didn’t put the Panthers into a 1-and-1 situation until there were just 11 seconds left in the game.
The Panthers outscored the Cowgirls 18-2 in the fourth period as they came from behind for the improbable win.
Redmond’s Jesslyn Albrecht led all scorers with 16 points, 12 in the second half, while Dollarhide was also in double figures with 11 points. Margo Capps added five points, eight rebounds, and six assists for the Panthers as they improved to 7-10 on the year.
Morgan led the Cowgirls offensive efforts with 13 points, including hitting four three-pointers. Lindburg was the only other Cowgirl in double figures with 11 points.
With the loss, the Cowgirls fall to 11-7 on the season. Crook County is back in action on Tuesday, when they go on the road to take on the Summit Storm in a 7 p.m. contest.
Tuesday, January 24
at Crook County
Redmond (49) — Jesslyn Albrecht 16, Dollarhide 11, Benson 8, Baker 7, Capps 5, Williams 2, C. Simmons, Edwards, Burgum. Totals 15 14-21 49.
Crook County (44) — Kayla Morgan 13, Lindburg 11, Buswell 6, Loper 5, Johnston 4, Solomon 2, McKenzie 3, Ovens, Walker, Apperson, Saenz, Martin. Totals 16 7-13 44.
Redmond 5 10 16 18 — 49
Crook County 16 12 14 2 — 44
Three-point goals — Redmond: Dollarhide 2, Benson; Crook County: Morgan 4, Loper.
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