BULLDOGS JADA GALLEGOS RUSHES PAST LOGGERS KAITLYN SHUMACHER DURING THE FOURTH QUARTER OF THE CRESWELL VS. SCIO MATCHUP ON DEC. 6. THE CRESWELL BULLDOGS WON AGAINST THE SCIO LOGGERS 37-23 AND HAVE A CURRENT SEASON RECORD OF 5-2. Christopher Palanuk / The Creswell Chronicle
Preseason girls’ basketball play continued last week, with the Creswell Lady Bulldogs winning two of three games. Creswell fell to host Toledo 26-51 on Dec. 4 before besting visiting Scio 37-23 on Dec. 6 and visiting Jefferson 44-33 on Dec. 7.
Turnovers plagued the Lady Dawgs at Toledo: ”We turned the ball over 22 times in 52 possessions – mostly in the first half – and those turnovers led to a lot of easy buckets for them,” said Creswell Head Coach Tyler Hollingsworth.
Creswell trailed 3-19 after the first quarter and 8-31 at halftime, but matched Toledo’s scoring in the second half; an 8-9 third quarter led to a 16-41 score and a 10-10 final period brought the game to its final margin.
”We came out kind of sluggish; effort-wise it was just not a good first half,” Hollingsworth said. ”We went a lot harder and played better in the second half, but it was too late.”
Bailey Howell had seven points, three steals and three blocks for the Lady Dawgs. Aubrie Hatch had five points and three steals.
In a close contest against Scio, Creswell led 12-8 after one, 14-13 at halftime and 26-20 after three.
”This was our first game against a man-to-man defense; all the other teams have zoned us,” Hollingsworth noted. ”We started off okay, then got tentative about attacking the rim and started passing up shots, turning the ball over or taking bad shots.”
The Lady Dawgs settled into their offense in the second half, creating some scoring distance. ”We were less tentative and more willing to take what they gave us,” Hollingsworth said.
Freshman guard Emme Whitson started the game and paced Creswell with 17 points, including 6-of-8 free-throw shooting. ”She did a really good job of attacking the rim; it was good to see,” Hollingsworth said.
Howell had five points and five rebounds, Hatch had five points and six steals and Freya DeMasters had three points and four steals.
”We had a lot of good fourth-quarter steals that led to transition buckets or fouls,” Hollingsworth said.
Creswell jumped out early against Jefferson, leading 11-2 after one, 18-6 at halftime and 28-18 after three.
”We had a really good defensive effort, especially in the first half,” Hollingsworth said.
Jefferson focused their zone defense on denying scoring opportunities for Howell: ”They kept two people on her, and if she got the ball there were three on her, so we put Bailey at the high post and dropped Freya down to the low post,” Hollingsworth said.
That strategy worked for the Lady Dawgs, as DeMasters scored 11 of her 16 points in the first half.
The Lions managed to pull within six points by hitting six three-pointers in the second half, but Creswell responded with a pair of good offensive possessions to stave off the late run.
DeMasters added 11 rebounds to her 16 points for her first double-double of the season. Howell also had 16 points, along with five rebounds and three blocks. Hatch added seven points, six assists and six steals.
This week, the Lady Dawgs travel to Salem Academy before hosting Oakland.
”Salem Academy’s always good,” Hollingsworth said. ”They lost in the state championship last year; they’ve lost some people, but they’re still going to be really competitive.”