Central Oregonian

Lava Bears crush Cowgirls 52-26

Bend outscores CCHS 20-7 in third quarter to pull away for easy win

LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Kimmer Severance drives to the basket during the Cowgirls’ loss to the Bend Lava Bears Tuesday night. Severance, who had her shot blocked on the play, finished with six points in the contest to be the Cowgirls second leading scorer in the game.

January 10, 2013

The Bend Lava Bears took advantage of 26 Crook County turnovers, rolling to a 52-26 victory over the Cowgirls in Tuesday night Intermountain Hybrid basketball action.

“There were things that we did pretty well and things that were not so good,” said Crook County head coach Dave Johnson following the home contest. “Turnovers were definitely the name of the game.”

Although the Cowgirls never led in the contest, they played even with the Lava Bears for much of the first quarter.

When Jessie Maley-Loper hit a driving basket with 1:39 left in the period, the Cowgirls were within a point at 10-9. However, that was as close as Crook County would get. The Lava Bears ran off seven straight points to end the period and the route was on.

Bend led 17-9 at the end of the first period, and held a 25-13 halftime lead.

The Lava Bears continued to take advantage of Crook County turnovers in the third quarter as they outscored the Cowgirls 20-7 to blow the game open.

“I think that we were doing a better job defending the weak side in the first half,” Johnson said. “We were about even in rebounds and we were being a little bit more patient with the basketball. I think we got away from a few of those things in the second half.”

Leading 45-20 entering the fourth quarter, the Lava Bears pulled their starters and coasted to the easy win.

Delaney Crook and Mekayla Isaak scored 10 points apiece to lead the Lava Bears. Jessica McClay and Makeila Lundy added nine and eight points respectively for the Lava Bears.

Crook County was led by Jessie Maley-Loper who finished with nine points. Kimmer Severance added six points and five rebounds, while Jena Ovens contributed five points.

The Lava Bears dominated the game in every statistical category. Bend had nine more rebounds than Crook County, 10 fewer turnovers, and hit 37 percent of their shots from the floor compared to just 25 percent for the Cowgirls.

“I think there were a lot of times when we did things that didn’t help us,” Johnson said. “Whether it was unforced errors or other mistakes against a team like Bend, you need to take care of the ball a little bit better.”

With the win, the Lava Bears are now 6-4 on the season while the Cowgirls fall to 4-6.

Crook County is back in action tonight when they travel to Redmond to take on the Panthers in a 7 p.m. Intermountain Hybrid contest.

Tuesday, Jan. 8

at Crook County

Bend (52) — Delaney Crook 10, Mekayla Isaak 10, McClay 9, Lundy 8, Maloney 5, Sylvester 4, Mattox 2, Howard 2, Burnham 2, Kramer, Hayes. Totals 20 7-15 52.

Crook County (26) — Jessie Maley-Loper 9, Severance 6, Ovens 5, Malott 3, Lindburg 2, Estes 1, Apperson, Benton, Bannon, Smith, Wood. Totals 9 7-12 26.

Bend 17 8 20 7 — 52

Crook County 9 4 7 6 — 26

Three-point goals — Bend: Crook 3, Lundy 2; Crook County: Maley-Loper.