Central Oregonian

A season filled with highs and lows

Cowgirls finish season with losing record despite key wins

LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Ali Apperson was one of just two seniors on the CCHS girls basketball roster. Head coach Dave Johnson credits Apperson and fellow senior Jessie Maley-Loper for providing the young Cowgirls with needed leadership.

Lon Austin

March 07, 2013

All season long, Crook County High School head girls basketball coach Dave Johnson cautioned that there would be growing pains.

With just two seniors on the roster, the Cowgirls were in the midst of a rebuilding year.

“I think we gained a lot of really good experience over the season,” Johnson recently said. “We had a lot of quality wins for the program.”

Although the Cowgirls finished with just a 10-15 record, the team did have some big wins. The Cowgirls finished with a 6-5 record against Class 4A opponents and were able to win Special District I with a pair of victories over Ridgeview.

After a six-game skid, the Cowgirls also surprised everyone with a huge win over the Summit Storm in the last game of the regular season. The game knocked Summit out of an automatic berth into the playoffs, and gave the Cowgirls some much-needed momentum going into a play-in game at Seaside.

After leading the 10th-ranked Seagulls for much of the game, the Cowgirls were unable to hold on, finally losing a close battle.

On the other hand, the Crook County season was also filled with some low water marks.

Although they were all to quality opponents, the Cowgirls suffered three losses by 40 points or more. In addition, during their six-game skid, they lost to both Ridgeview and Redmond, teams that they had defeated twice previously.

Still, an up-and-down season was not unexpected given the Cowgirls’ youth.

Injuries to Kelsee Martin, Jena Ovens, and Jessie Maley-Loper hurt the team, forcing Johnson to constantly juggle his starting lineup.

Still, Johnson was pleased with the progress the team made.

“I think that a lot of our underclassmen gained a lot of valuable experience to prepare them for next year,” he said.

Johnson also credited his two seniors, Maley-Loper and Ali Apperson, for providing the team with much needed stability.

“I think our two seniors did a great job this year,” he said. “Maley-Loper and Apperson both worked hard throughout the season and they provided good leadership both with their work ethics and their attitudes.”

Even though Maley-Loper and Apperson will be missed, the Cowgirls return several veteran players next season.

Freshman, Kimmer Severance, led the team in scoring and was named to the Intermountain Hybrid All-league second team.

Sophomore, Michaeline Malott moved into the starting lineup midway through the year, adding some much-needed scoring punch. The team will also return starting guards Ovens and Maddy Lindburg, as well as post players Kelsie Smith and Emily Benton. Plus, Martin is expected to return from her injury, giving the team another experienced post player.

With most of the team returning, and another year of experience, the future does looks bright for the Cowgirls.