The Lady Dawgs wrapped their season with an appearance at the 3A girls’ basketball state tournament last weekend. GINI DAVIS – THE CRESWELL CHRONICLE
After upsetting sixth-ranked Lakeview to punch their ticket to the big dance, the 11th-ranked Lady Bulldogs went two-and-out at the OSAA 3A Girls’ Basketball State Tournament, held March 1-3 in Coos Bay.
Creswell met third-ranked Rainier in the state quarterfinals on March 1, narrowly falling, 30-36.
In the evenly matched, low-scoring contest, Creswell trailed 4-5 after one, 9-12 at halftime and 18-19 after three, but the Columbians outscored the Lady Dawgs 17-12 in the final period.
Rainier’s 6-foot senior post, Desirae Hansen scored a game-high 23 points, but had just seven in the first half and shot 5-of-20 from the field, though she hit six free throws down the stretch. Only three other Columbians scored – none more than six points – but Creswell’s offensive production wasn’t what it needed to be to win.
The Lady Dawgs shot just 20.5 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from beyond the arc.
”To be ‘in’ the game only shooting 21 percent is pretty impressive; if we’d shot even 25 percent we would’ve won,” said Head Coach Tyler Hollingsworth. ”We did a really good job on defense. We were flying around, being active; we outrebounded them, we had more second-chance points; and we tied the game with two minutes to go. But we just didn’t shoot well.”
Karley Bellew paced Creswell with a double-double: 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus four steals, one block and an assist.
Lexi McCrory added eight points – including two threes – and five rebounds; Bailey Howell had seven points, seven rebounds and two assists.
In the consolation semifinals on March 2, the Lady Dawgs met their league nemesis, seventh-ranked Coquille – against whom Creswell was already 0-3 on the season. This game proved no exception; the Lady Dawgs fell 39-47 to exit the tournament.
Things looked to be going Creswell’s way initially; the Lady Dawgs led 14-6 after one and 17-14 at halftime. But a dismal third period in which the Red Devils outscored the Lady Dawgs 20-8 had Creswell down 25-34 after three – and though the Bulldogs closed to within two with under two remaining that deficit proved too much to overcome.
”We were pretty fatigued; if we were just a bit deeper on the bench it would’ve helped. And we shot 19 percent to their 50 percent in the second half, and missed nine free throws in the game,” Hollingsworth said. ”But the girls really scrapped; they saw the end of their season on the line and they were fighting really hard.”
Bellew recorded another double-double, with 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus four steals and two assists. Howell added nine points, nine boards, two blocks and a steal.
McKenna Wilson paced Coquille with 15 points; Morgan Baird added seven points, 12 boards and three blocks.
”Our effort was phenomenal in both games,” Hollingsworth said. ”We played probably our three best defensive energy games all year against Lakeview and in the state tournament. I’m proud of our season and I’m excited for next year.”
