Central Oregonian

Cowgirls win two at Junction City invite

Crook County falls to Junction City in tournament opener, then wins consolation games over Stayton and Douglas

Lon Austin

December 17, 2012

The Crook County Cowgirls were plagued by poor shooting and turnovers on Thursday as they fell 52-38 to Junction City in the opening round of the Junction City Cottage Grove Holiday Basketball Tournament.

However, the Cowgirls rebounded to win a pair of consolation games to finish the tournament with a 2-1 record.

“It was a great experience to be able to go over to the valley and play some teams that we don’t normally see,” said Crook County head coach Dave Johnson. “We made a lot of progress. The team is working hard and although we still have a lot of work to do, the girls are doing some good things now.”

Crook County trailed just 11-9 at the end of the first quarter of their contest with the Junction City Tigers. The Tigers went to a full-court press in the second quarter, and the?Cowgirls were unable to respond. Junction City outscored Crook County 12-6 in the period as they extended their lead to 23-15 at the half. The Tigers continued to pressure the Cowgirls in the third quarter as they built a 34-20 lead.

“The middle two quarters were kind of rough,” Johnson said.

Crook County finally got their offense into high gear in the fourth quarter, but were unable to close the gap as both teams scored 18 points in the period.

Crook County’s Kimmer Severance led all scorers with 19 points. Jena Ovens added six points and Emily Benton finished with five. No other Cowgirls scored more than two points in the contest.

Jamilla Gambee led three Tigers in double-figures with 14 points. Elise Nord added 13 points while Alycia Devorak chipped in with 11.

Junction City advanced to the tournament championship where they lost 42-34 to Cottage Grove.

Meanwhile, the Cowgirls dropped to the consolation bracket where they easily won their next two contests.

In Friday’s contest, the Cowgirls exploded for 49 first-half points as they rolled to an easy 87-45 victory over the Stayton Eagles.

“We had a really good game against Stayton,” Johnson said. “We scored 29 in the first and 20 in the second quarter. Then, at halftime, we challenged the girls to lock it down and play better defense.”

The challenge worked as the Cowgirls extended their lead from 49-23 at the half to 74-38 by the end of the third quarter.

The Cowgirls limited the Eagles to just 12 second-half points as Crook County cruised to the easy win.

Kimmer Severance and Michaeline Malott each scored 23 points for Crook County while Jessie Maley-Loper was also in double figures with 14.

Severance led the Cowgirls in rebounding with nine in the contest, while Maley-Loper led the Cowgirl defensive effort with 10 steals.

“We are really working hard on the press, and Maley-Loper is a really active kid who just gets a lot of steals,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that Maddie Lindburg did a great job of running the Cowgirls’ offense in the contest as she finished with six assists.

“She did a great job of distributing the basketball,” Johnson said.

The Cowgirls continued their solid play in Saturday’s consolation finals. Crook County rolled to a 16-5 first-quarter lead, and never looked back as they took a 54-37 victory over the Douglas Trojans.

Once again, Severance led the team’s offensive attack with 22 points. Maley-Loper and Benton each added six points while Ovens and Malott pitched in with five points apiece.

Severance also had a game-high 16 rebounds in the contest while Maley-Loper finished with seven steals and Lindburg added seven assists.

Kelsey Warren and Tori Bond led the Trojans with 10 points each.

Johnson was pleased with the progress that the Cowgirls made during the tournament.

“We had a lot of kids step up,” he said. “It was a good team effort.”

After starting the season 0-3, the Cowgirls have now won three of their last four contests to run their record to 3-4.

The team is back in action today when they travel to Clackamas to take on the always-strong La Salle Prep Eagles.

“It’s definitely a challenge to go over and play at La Salle,” Johnson said.

After playing seven consecutive road games, the Cowgirls finally return home on Friday when they take on the Mountain View Cougars in a 7 p.m. contest. The game will be the team’s final contest before Christmas Break.

December 13

Junction City Tournament

Crook County 38, Junction City 52

Crook County (38) — Kimmer Severance 19, Martin 2, Apperson, Lindburg 2, Maley-Loper, Benton 5, Bannon, Malott, Ovens 6, Estes, Smith 2, Wood 2. Totals 15 7-15 38.

Junction City (52) — Jamilla Gambee 14, Nord 13, Devorak 11, Bolton, Straube 2, Lemhouse, Puderbaugh 8, Slaeker, Norris, Woolley, Day 2, Graton. Totals 19 14-27 52.

Crook County 9 6 5 18 — 38

Junction City 11 12 11 18 — 52

Three-point goals — Crook County: Ovens; Junction City: None.

December 14

Crook County 87, Stayton 45

Crook County (87) — Kimmer Severance 23, Michaeline Malott 23, Maley-Loper 14, Benton 8, Smith 7, Ovens 5, Bannon 4, Apperson 2, Wood 1, Lindburg, Estes. Totals 40 6-12 87.

Stayton (45) — Summers 13, Gesher 10, Shyrock 6, Bradley 5, Anderson 3, Hemphil 2, Pietrock 2, Gross. Totals 18 5-13 45.

Crook County 29 20 25 13 — 87

Stayton 20 13 5 7 — 45

Three-point goals — Crook County: Ovens; Stayton: Gesher 2, Bradley, Summers.

December 15

Crook County 54, Douglas 37

Crook County (54) — Kimmer Severance 22, Benton 6, Maley-Loper 6, Malott 5, Ovens 5, Smith 4, Lindburg 4, Wood 2, Estes, Apperson. Totals 22 7-15 54.

Douglas (37) — Kelsey Warren 10, Tori Bond 10, A. Reitmann 8, Johnson 3, Schofield 3, Miller 2, Birch 1, Roncon, Harris, J. Reitman, Erickson. Totals 13 8-20 37.

Crook County 16 12 8 18 — 54

Douglas 5 13 11 8 — 37

Three-point goals — Crook County: Severance 2, Ovens; Douglas: Bond 2, Warren.