Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Willamette goes deep against North Bend
By Joe Hansen, Sports Writer
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | No comments posted.
North Bend girls basketball coach Mike Forrester’s plan for sticking with Class 5A, No. 1 Willamette was to crowd the key and force the Wolverines to make outside shots.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that’s exactly what Willamette did. Led by Aly Bruns’ 28-points — including an 8-for-8 shooting clinic from behind the arc — the Wolverines rolled to a 76-40 win over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the Les Schwab South Coast Holiday Tournament at Marshfield High School Monday morning.
“We wanted to stop their big girls,” said Forrester of a Willamette team that featured 6 foot, 4 inch German exchange phenom Sunny Greinacher. “Our philosophy’s always, ‘If you’re going to beat us, beat us from the outside.’ Today they certainly did.”
North Bend held Greinacher to seven points, but it didn’t matter. The Wolverines shot 55 percent from the field against the Bulldogs’ mostly zone defense, including 54 percent from 3-point range.
“This was the best we’ve shot from out there,” said Willamette coach Paul Brothers of the 3-point percentage. “I think it’s going to help our shooters a lot. This should give them some confidence.”
Meanwhile North Bend struggled to score against an active Willamette defense, shooting just 42 percent from the field.
Guard Brooke Davison was a bright spot for the Bulldogs, though, as the junior racked up 25 points in the game.
“It was fun,” said Davison after the game. “It was a good experience to play a team that’s that good.”
Bruns hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes, the Wolverines took advantage of a strong transition game and Willamette jumped out to a 17-6 lead after one quarter. Davison had all six of the Bulldogs’ points in the first period.
In the second quarter, Bruns had three 3-pointers, Jessica Harper added two more and the Wolverines built a 31-10 lead with 3:15 remaining. North Bend kept the Willamette lead from growing too far beyond 20 points with 11 points from Davison in the quarter, including three treys. Asha Mitchell also had a steal that led to a fastbreak layup and Blair Davis made a free throw to set the half-time score at 43-21.
Bruns had 17 points in the first half to 13 from Davison.
In the third, the Wolverines stepped up their defense. In the opening minutes of the second half, Willamette converted three steals into easy buckets and Bruns nailed another 3-pointer and the lead was suddenly 54-23.
Taylor Weidman hit a 3 of her own to stop the run, but turnovers hurt the Bulldogs down the stretch, and after Wolverine Molly Munson came off a double screen to make a wide-open 3-pointer Willamette led 57-26 at the end of the third.
North Bend trailed by 30-plus points the rest of the way, as Bruns continued her hot shooting in the fourth and 10 fourth-quarter points from Davison weren’t enough to shrink the lead.
North Bend didn’t quit competing even as the points gap grew, though, and in the latter half of the period Mitchell had another steal and layup and Kira Jany drove down the lane for a bucket.
“I’m proud of our girls for not quitting,” said Forrester. “We’ll be a better basketball team because of it.”
With the loss, North Bend was scheduled to face off against North Salem in the consolation bracket this morning at 8:30 a.m.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that’s exactly what Willamette did. Led by Aly Bruns’ 28-points — including an 8-for-8 shooting clinic from behind the arc — the Wolverines rolled to a 76-40 win over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the Les Schwab South Coast Holiday Tournament at Marshfield High School Monday morning.
“We wanted to stop their big girls,” said Forrester of a Willamette team that featured 6 foot, 4 inch German exchange phenom Sunny Greinacher. “Our philosophy’s always, ‘If you’re going to beat us, beat us from the outside.’ Today they certainly did.”
North Bend held Greinacher to seven points, but it didn’t matter. The Wolverines shot 55 percent from the field against the Bulldogs’ mostly zone defense, including 54 percent from 3-point range.
“This was the best we’ve shot from out there,” said Willamette coach Paul Brothers of the 3-point percentage. “I think it’s going to help our shooters a lot. This should give them some confidence.”
Meanwhile North Bend struggled to score against an active Willamette defense, shooting just 42 percent from the field.
Guard Brooke Davison was a bright spot for the Bulldogs, though, as the junior racked up 25 points in the game.
“It was fun,” said Davison after the game. “It was a good experience to play a team that’s that good.”
Bruns hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes, the Wolverines took advantage of a strong transition game and Willamette jumped out to a 17-6 lead after one quarter. Davison had all six of the Bulldogs’ points in the first period.
In the second quarter, Bruns had three 3-pointers, Jessica Harper added two more and the Wolverines built a 31-10 lead with 3:15 remaining. North Bend kept the Willamette lead from growing too far beyond 20 points with 11 points from Davison in the quarter, including three treys. Asha Mitchell also had a steal that led to a fastbreak layup and Blair Davis made a free throw to set the half-time score at 43-21.
Bruns had 17 points in the first half to 13 from Davison.
In the third, the Wolverines stepped up their defense. In the opening minutes of the second half, Willamette converted three steals into easy buckets and Bruns nailed another 3-pointer and the lead was suddenly 54-23.
Taylor Weidman hit a 3 of her own to stop the run, but turnovers hurt the Bulldogs down the stretch, and after Wolverine Molly Munson came off a double screen to make a wide-open 3-pointer Willamette led 57-26 at the end of the third.
North Bend trailed by 30-plus points the rest of the way, as Bruns continued her hot shooting in the fourth and 10 fourth-quarter points from Davison weren’t enough to shrink the lead.
North Bend didn’t quit competing even as the points gap grew, though, and in the latter half of the period Mitchell had another steal and layup and Kira Jany drove down the lane for a bucket.
“I’m proud of our girls for not quitting,” said Forrester. “We’ll be a better basketball team because of it.”
With the loss, North Bend was scheduled to face off against North Salem in the consolation bracket this morning at 8:30 a.m.
The comments below are from users of theworldlink.com and do not necessarily represent the views of The World or Lee Enterprises. Participation Guidelines
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Not already registered?
The World welcomes your comments about stories, and we encourage a robust dialogue on this site. All comments must meet reasonable standards of decency and civility.
Please follow these basic rules:
- No defamatory comments about individuals or businesses.
- No deliberately false information.
- No obscenity or racially offensive language.
- No harassment, verbal abuse, threats or personal attacks.
- No information that invades another person's privacy.
- No business solicitations or charitable solicitations.
Comments that violate these standards will not be posted. Users with repeated violations may be banned from future posting.Comments will be approved throughout the day during business hours. After hours and weekend comments may not appear until the following business day. It may take a couple of hours before comments are approved.
The World generally does not edit comments, but we reserve the right to edit any comment that does not meet our standards.
Close Guidelines