Headed to the Chiles Center

Note: This is the story that will run in the Saturday GT

Corvallis High girls basketball coach Joe Williamson had a feeling the first quarter of Friday night’s second-round OSAA 5A playoff game was going to be pretty close.

No member of his team had been in a playoff basketball game before, so nerves were sure to be involved.

“We threw a lot of passes away that were three feet over the heads of somebody,” Williamson said. “I kept telling them in timeouts, ‘Wow, we’re going to have to settle down a little bit.’ ”

Fortunately for Williamson and the Spartans, they did.

Behind a pressing, trapping defense that forced Mazama into turnover after turnover after turnover, the Spartans did settle down and scored enough to advance to the state tournament.

Gabe Johnson led the way with 20 points and the Spartans used a big second half to earn a 45-22 victory over the Vikings.

Corvallis will take on Hermiston at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center. The Bulldogs defeated Churchill 56-48 on Friday to advance.

After celebrating with fans, friends and family, the players still weren’t sure what Friday’s win meant.

“No, it still hasn’t sunk in that we’re in the playoffs,” senior Taylor Westly said. “We played a game and I don’t really realize yet what this means.”

Added McKenzie Redberg: “Not yet, but it’s really exciting.”

Corvallis led 10-8 after the first quarter despite turning the ball over four times and missing some easy shots.

However, the Spartans forced Mazama into seven turnovers.

“We played really well, especially with the press,” Redberg said. “They panicked and made a lot of bad decisions.”

The Spartans still struggled in the second quarter, but were able to take an 18-8 lead into the half.

That’s when they calmed down and regrouped.

“Joe said, ‘You know what? This is our gym, our floor. Stop playing like you’re scared. Go out and catch the ball with two hands like you want it,’ ” Westly said. “I think that we all recognized that. We came together and it hit home. We grabbed the ball and took it to them.”

The Spartans forced a five-second count on the inbounds play to open the half, then scored 16 of the first 18 points of the quarter to break the game open.

“The first half was kind of stressful,” Redberg said. “It was the first playoff game and the jitters were flying. We calmed down after the first half. Once we calmed down after the first half, it was good.”

Williamson was most happy with the way his team responded to the adjustments he wanted them to make in the second half.

“What’s best is we went in at halftime, talked about what we needed to fix, and we came out and did those things and they saw the direct result,” Williamson said. “That will pay dividends when we’re at state and we go into the locker room and have to make an adjustment.”

Mazama struggled to hit anything all game and ended with just seven made field goals and were 6 of 12 from the free-throw line.

The Vikings went through a stretch where they managed just four points over nearly two quarters.

They scored on a Darian Grigsby 3-pointer with 1:06 to play in the first quarter to tie the game at 8-8. By the time the Vikings hit their next field goal — at 2:39 remaining in the third quarter — the Spartans led 34-12.

That defense will be needed when the Spartans take on fourth-ranked Hermiston on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs have won 15 in a row and swept through the Intermountain Conference.
None of that mattered late Friday night.

“Wow, I’m so excited,” Williamson said. “I’m excited for (the players). It’s pretty awesome.”

Corvallis will take an official record of 16-9 into the state tournament after forfeiting three games at the Lake Oswego tournament back in December, CHS athletic director Bob Holt said.

The Spartans were forced to forfeit after a player was ejected from a game against Aloha and played the next three games.

The ejection was later over-turned, however, the Spartans had to forfeit the contests for using an ineligible player at the time.

Corvallis 45, Mazama 22
MAZAMA 8 0 8 6 — 22
CORVALLIS 10 8 18 9 — 45
Mazama: Darian Grigsby 8, Jones 6, Saltenberger 6, Garrett 1, Groves 1, Newman, Karther-Miller, Macphee, Hunter, Pinner, Hoskins, Edwards
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 20, Adams 11, M. Redberg 8, Kar. Laney 3, Schrock 2, Westly 2, Kay. Laney 1, Seitz, Hendrickson, McGowan, Gerner, W. Redberg

Friendly competition

Gabe Johnson and McKenzie Redberg have been waging their own personal battle on the basketball court over the course of the second-half of the Mid-Willamette Conference girls basketball season.

The two Corvallis High juniors were close to having the same number of steals and decided they wanted to compete against each other to see who could finish the year with more.

“It was kind of a way for us to have fun and at the same time not be so serious all the time,” Johnson said.

In a game at Woodburn, Johnson was trailing Redberg by a few steals and asked if it would count as a steal if she were to play thief against her own teammate.

“I was in desperate need of some steals,” Johnson said with a smile.

All joking aside, Johnson and Redberg have been defensive stoppers for the Spartans, who won a share of the MWC title and will host Mazama at 7 Friday night with a chance to play in the Chiles Center next week on the line.

The backcourt tandem were each voted to the MWC first team last Sunday, with Johnson earning co-player of the year honors.

In addition to their defense, both have been solid offensive contributors. Johnson leads the Spartans with 13.1 points per game, while Redberg is second at 9.5. In conference play, Redberg is up to 11.1 ppg.

The offensive success for Redberg was a bit of a surprise. She led the Spartans with 23 3-pointers in conference play.

“This is the first year where I have been enjoying basketball,” Redberg said. “It’s something new. I never knew I could go out and hit 3-pointers and score more than five points a game. It’s a whole new thing. I like it.”

So does Johnson, who early on felt the pressure to be the scoring leader. But her success, along with Redberg’s, has helped open opportunities for other players to step up and provide a scoring punch.

And they have.

Syree Gerner, Karly Laney, Alaina Adams, Katie Schrock, Taylor Westly and Eva Oriakhi, before she was lost for the season with a knee injury, have all had games where they have scored in double figures.

Kayla Laney and Leah Seitz have each come close to that feat, scoring nine in a game.
That has taken a lot of the pressure off Johnson and Redberg.

“I am very proud of the team and Z for helping and stepping up,” Johnson said.

The Spartans are in position to reach the Chiles Center for the first time since 2002, when they last were league champions. All that stands in their way is a Mazama team that knocked off Glencoe 61-49 in a first-round game on Tuesday.

The Vikings finished third in the Southern Oregon Conference and have a good transition game and can get hot from the outside.

“They have some streaky shooters so they can be on or off,” CHS coach Joe Williamson said. “So we don’t want to give them the opportunity to get going.”

Williamson said he isn’t concerned that Mazama played on Tuesday while the Spartans have been off since last Thursday.

“It would be if we were going there,” he said. “The fact they are coming here I think neutralizes it.”

The gameplan is the same as it always has been, Williamson said.

“We are going to come out and give the effort we expect out of our team each game,” he said.

Johnson said the Spartans feel confident and are focused on the task at hand.

“I think we need to penetrate a lot and keep moving and set our own tempo and don’t let them control us and I think we’ll be fine,” Johnson said.

Of course, there is still that steals battle, which Redberg leads 88-79.

“I think we should make them count double,” Johnson said of the steals in tonight’s game and for however long the Spartans remain alive in the postseason.

Redberg disagrees.

“No, because then I would shatter you,” she replied with a laugh.

This season is dedicated to ...

Corvallis High girls basketball coach Joe Williamson was walking toward the CHS gym with assistant coach Lindsay Schnell last Thursday when he peered through the gym’s double doors.

Across the court a sign caught his eye.

He could easily make out the name of his late father, Harold Williamson.

Schnell was in mid-sentence, but Williamson just kept walking.

He walked past the gym, down the hall, to the locker rooms and into boys basketball coach Greg Garrison’s office.

He then went into the bathroom, closed the door and took a moment to gather himself.

On the wall was a sign made by two of his players — Kayla and Karly Laney — and read: “This season is dedicated to ... Harold Williamson.”

“I was amazed and touched, a little emotional, actually quite emotional,” Williamson said after the game, which the Spartans won 55-46 over his former team to clinch a share of the Mid-Willamette Conference title.

“I went and hid for a while so nobody saw it.”

Well, the players could tell how much the sign meant to Williamson.

The idea came to Karly Laney one night when she was supposed to be working on her homework.

“I wasn’t paying attention very well and I came up with the idea of getting shirts that said, ‘This season is dedicated to Harold Williamson,’ ” Karly said.

That was just over a week ago and she knew the team wouldn’t have time to get it done for the final game of the regular season.

So she thought about making a poster. She and her sister used their leadership class that Thursday to make the poster and then hung it on the gym wall.

“It took forever, but it was worth it,” Karly said. “When I saw him come out on the court it was worth it. He got teary-eyed and I knew it was sentimental to him.”

It was Harold Williamson who had encouraged his son to apply for the open position last year.

The day Joe was informed the job was his was the same day his father passed away from cancer.

“We figured we were going to win it for him because he’s the reason he’s here in the first place,” junior McKenzie Redberg said. “We needed to show him that we care about him.”

It was a touching moment, one Williamson won’t soon forget.

“Again it shows their character, that they are thinking outside of themselves, and that is really unusual for high school kids,” Williamson said.

That character and family feel is a big reason why the Spartans were able to go from a nine-win team last season, to a squad that has won 18 this season and will play in the postseason.

Just call them champions!!!!

Joe Williamson had only spent about four games coaching members of the Corvallis High girls basketball team when he knew he had something special.

Those games in the summer league season made Williamson, who had just made the move from Lebanon to Corvallis, believe what most people thought was the unthinkable.

He told his players he thought they could win a league title.

Haha.

Or at least that’s what some of the players and most everyone else around the state were probably thinking at the time.

The Spartans had just come off a 9-16 season, including a 4-10 mark in the Mid-Willamette Conference. That included struggles against a winless Woodburn team, and road losses to South Albany and Dallas, teams that also finished 4-10.

But Williamson saw beyond the record. He saw what the players had going for them.

He saw talent and athleticism. And he also saw character.

“I know they thought I was full of it,” Williamson said Thursday night, thinking back to those summer days.

Williamson obviously knew what he was talking about.

Thanks to a 10-for-10 performance from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, Williamson’s players made his statement ring oh so true Thursday night.

The Spartans battled Williamson’s former team, Lebanon, throughout and in the end came away with a hard-fought 55-46 victory that wrapped up a MWC title.

Sure the Spartans shared the crown with West Albany and Silverton, but the Spartans got the all-important first seed, thanks to some good luck wished on by CHS athletic director Bob Holt when the school principals drew for seeding earlier Thursday.

Oh, and maybe just a little prayer.

“I prayed a lot,” Williamson told his team in a jubilant locker room after the win. “I prayed to the good Lord above and I prayed to my dad who’s up there with him.

“I said, ‘I’m going to ask for something selfish.’ Once in a while it’s OK. I know that it’s not like this is a priority in life, but selfishly I thought we deserved it and that we deserved it over everybody else, and wow, the suspense.”

Even after the Spartans held on for the win, they still didn’t know what seed they would receive. Holt had kept it from just about everyone until the closing seconds.

He had CHS principal Suzanne Dalton make the announcement to the team and the fans.

That announcement set off a celebration that had the team cheering at center court and all the way into the locker room.

It had former junior varsity coach Rob Hill, who made the seven-hour trip to watch the game, choke up as he addressed the team.

“I know where you’ve been and I know where you’re going and it’s good stuff,” he said, holding back the tears.

“You are a classy bunch of people. It’s great to see how confident and grown up you have become in one season.

“It was so worth the seven-hour drive to come see you play.”

It was anything but easy on Thursday and down the stretch of the regular season.

The Spartans had suffered two tough road losses to West Albany and Silverton in the last four games, and even with a win they needed a little luck to get the No. 1 seed.

And they ran into a Lebanon team that was still smarting from a 62-21 thumping by the Spartans earlier.

Oh, and the Warriors needed to win to earn a playoff berth.

Throw in a fire alarm that went off with 4:50 left in the third quarter and the Spartans starting to pull away, and you had the makings for a heart-pounding last quarter and a half.

That’s exactly what everyone in the gym got.

But even as Lebanon chipped away, the Spartans executed, hit free throws and earned the right to call themselves conference champions.

It was tough for Williamson to put into words what he was feeling.

“I’m speechless to tell you the truth,” he said. “I’m relieved, excited, proud.

There were many thoughts running through junior McKenzie Redberg’s mind. Redberg is no stranger to conference titles and playoff games as a member of the Spartans soccer team.

But this was different.

“No one believed in us except for ourselves,” she said. “We went out and proved to everybody that we are for real and that we can win a league championship and we did.

“I think we silenced the critics and we are going to state now and we will show everyone we can compete.”

Williamson said it was what he saw early in the summer that helped the Spartans pull through, and that the seeding draw was appropriate.

“You know what I think that’s why I think we deserved the No. 1 seed because of the character and talent that they showed all year,” he said.

Redberg, who led the Spartans with 16 points, and Gabe Johnson, who added 15, combined to hit all 10 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to help the Spartans pull away.

“We just stayed focused and relaxed,” Redberg said. “We knew coming in we could win. If we just do what we know we’re supposed to do, we got it.

“So as long as we don’t freak out, we’ve got it under control. We kept our heads, even with the fire alarm going off, we kept our heads and did it.”

And they got some major minutes out of junior post Karly Laney, who was pressed into extended action with foul trouble plaguing starters Kayla Laney and Alaina Adams.

Both eventually fouled out, but Karly Laney played solid defense and added seven points to aid the cause.

“It was different because usually I’m not in as long,” she said. “I get good minutes but I don’t get as long as Kayla and Alaina who are really good players.

“It was just different but it was a great feeling.”

Katie Schrock added eight points off the bench as the Spartans earned the right to call themselves champions.

When the clock finally wound down, the players began to realize their accomplishment. Then the thoughts turned to which seed they would get.

“When I saw (Dalton) come out I saw she had a big smile and I knew we were the first seed,” Karly Laney said. “We get to be home and hopefully go to state and I’m excited.”

Corvallis 55, Lebanon 46
LEBANON 9 14 12 11 — 46
CORVALLIS 8 18 12 17 — 55
Lebanon: Alexis Nissen 16, Kuhns 9, Ragsdale 6, Kirby 5, Duerr 4, Zehner 4, Adams 2, Ellis, Lutton, Brantner
Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 16, Johnson 15, Schrock 8, Kar, Laney 7, Kay. Laney 4, Adams 2, Westly 2, Gerner 1, Seitz
JV: Corvallis 49, Lebanon 33
Frosh: Lebanon 53, Corvallis 46

Playing for the MWC title and the seniors

For the members of the Corvallis High girls basketball team, Thursday night’s game at home against Lebanon is more than just the final game on the schedule.

It is senior night where Taylor Westly and Eva Oriakhi will be honored prior to tipoff.

It is a matchup of CHS coach Joe Williamson and his former team, although the two team’s have already played once at Lebanon earlier this season so the matchup won’t be as highly anticipated.

Well, wait, maybe it will as playoff seeding and berths are on the line.

Corvallis can claim no worse than a share of the Mid-Willamette Conference title with a win, while Lebanon needs a win to earn the fourth and final playoff berth from the conference.

If the Spartans win, they could end up tied with West Albany and Silverton at 11-3 in conference play.

Each split with the other and split with Crescent Valley so head-to-head tiebreakers are out the window.

That means the conference principles will draw to see who gets the first, second and third seeds. That drawing was supposed to take place Thursday morning, but coaches weren't to find out the results until after their games.

That may be what each team is most concerned about because seeding is somewhat out of their hands.

“I just hope we get a good pick,” junior Kayla Laney said.

Added her twin sister Karly: “I want to have a home game on our home court.”

In order for that to happen, the Spartans need to earn the first or third seed, although with the third seed comes a trip to No. 1 Jefferson after that home game.

A first seed and you get a bye and a home game. The second seed means you only have to win once to reach the Chiles Center, site of the state tournament, but you have to go to No. 2 Ashland to get there.

While all of that is important, the twins said they want to win Thursday's for the seniors.

Sending them out with a conference title is the goal.

Sealing a playoff berth

It's official: The Corvallis High girls basketball team is in the playoffs.

With Tuesday night's 60-30 Mid-Willamette Conference victory over Dallas, the Spartans assured themselves one of the four berths from the conference.

Even more important to the Spartans, they have a chance to finish as conference champions. That's because they received the help they needed from Silverton, which routed West Albany 71-39 on Tuesday to forge a three-way tie atop the standings.

Corvallis (17-6, 10-3), Silverton (13-11, 10-3) and West Albany (19-5, 10-3) each have one more game on Thursday. Silverton faces Dallas, West Albany takes on rival South Albany, and Corvallis is home against Lebanon.

For senior Taylor Westly, Tuesday's win was special.

"It's great," she said. "This is the first time I've been on a varsity basektball team and made it to the playoffs and its great to be here, especially having the chance to be first in league my senior year. I really like it."

For first-year coach Joe Williamson, who should earn coach of the year honors in the conference, Tuesday's win solidified what he already knew about his team: That it is a playoff-caliber group.

"That makes me happy," he said of wrapping up a playoff berth.

It wasn't an easy start for the Spartans, who led just 9-7 after the first quarter. They were still in a dogfight with the Dragons until Katie Schrock and McKenzie Redberg hit back-to-back threes late in the first half to put the Spartans up 21-9 at intermission.

Williamson and the coaching staff wanted the rest of the team to bring the same kind of energy on both ends of the floor that Redberg did in the first half. She had nine points and was all over the court defensively.

"I didn't feel like we played awful, I felt like Dallas played very competitive for a quarter and we didn't lose our heads," Williamson said. "Even though it seemed like a slow start, I thought they played well and we still kept our heads and played consistent. As soon as we got them reeling back a little bit we broke it open."

Break it open they did. Alaina Adams buried a three, hit a layup off a pass from Redberg, Redberg had a steal and layup and Adams scored again on a layup off a pass from Gabe Johnson and just like that it was 30-11.

"I think we're always slow starting off, especially against rough teams," Westly said. But after half the Spartans "took it from there and ran with it."

Schrock connected on five 3-pointers, Redberg two and Adams one as the Spartans used eight 3s to break the game open. It was a far different result than Friday night, when the Spartans were just 3-for-15 in a 42-39 loss to Silverton on the road.

Redberg finished with 24, Schrock 16 and Adams nine to lead the Spartans.

"We had a great shooting night," Williamson said.

The Spartans could use another strong shooting night on Thursday. They used a 20-1 advantage in the first quarter to jump on Lebanon the first meeting. They know it won't be as easy come Thursday as the Warriors need a win to earn a trip to the playoffs for the second straight season.

Corvallis 60, Dallas 30
CORVALLIS 9 12 18 21 -- 60
DALLAS 7 2 9 12 -- 30
Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 24, Schrock 16, Adams 9, Gerner 6, Kar.Laney 3, Johnson 2, Seitz, McGowan, Westly, W. Redberg, Kay. Laney
Dallas: Prince 7, Havig 6, Bridges 5, Kutzer 4, Frederick 2, S. Stewart 2, Pola 2, Angelo 1, Postma 1, M. Stewart, Bitzer
JV: Corvallis 46, Dallas 33
Frosh: Corvallis 52, Dallas 14

Another frustrating loss

For the second time in eight days, the Corvallis High girls basketball team had to head back to the locker room and endure a frustrating loss.

Last Friday it was a 58-54 loss at West Albany that dropped the Spartans into a tie for first in the Mid-Willamette Conference with the Bulldogs.

This Friday, it was another close loss as Silverton moved into a tie with the Spartans for second with a 42-39 win at home. West Albany defeated Dallas to move into first alone. west Albany is at Silvertoon on Tuesday.

Friday night Silverton's senior-laden team made the plays it needed to down the stretch to pull out the win.

While coach Joe Williamson doesn't ever enjoy a loss or even like to stomach one, Friday's wasn't as bad as the loss to West Albany a week earlier. In that game, Williamson wasn't happy with the effort the Spartans put out. Friday was a different story.

"They came to play much better," Williamson said before getting on the bus for the long ride home. "It just came down to some execution at the end, free throws at the end that got us. It's a tough place to play. When you play on the road in a tough environment like this you have to execute and you have to hit free throws."

While the Spartans were told they played better, it doesn't soften the sting of another close loss.

"I think our effort was much better here than it was against West," senior Taylor Westly said. "I think it also makes it harder because we tried harder for that goal and we failed and I think that it hurts a little more."

The Spartans (16-6, 9-3) did take a 36-31 lead a minute into the fourth quarter on a free throw by Westly. The free throw capped a 12-3 run over a seven-minute span of the third and fourth quarters.

But the Foxes were able to get some good looks down low either in the post or on cuts to the basket and regained the lead.

Missed free throws kept the Spartans from cutting into the lead, yet they still kept coming but just couldn't get a break. Gabe Johnson's two free throws with 1:02 to play made it 40-39, and just when it looked like the Spartans defense had forced a five-second call on the inbounds, the Silverton player was awarded a time out at the last second.

Then it was McKenzie Redberg nearly securing a steal but the Spartans were whistled for a foul going after the lose ball. Silverton's Bryanna St. Paul hit two free throws to put Silverton up 42-39.

After the Spartans missed a 3-point attempt, Julianne Bazzi was fouled. She missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 free throw chance to give CHS one last chance.

But the Spartans weren't able to get a shot as the ball went out of bounds with one second left.

While the loss was tough and there were a few miscues down the stretch, the Spartans did hold a team that was predicted to be a front-runner for the MWC title in check most of the night.

"We played an excellent defensive game, our posts definitely stepped up and kept them off the boards," Westly said. "I think we also will realize that free throws are again important and we need to make them."

The Spartans struggled from the outside, hitting just 3 of 15 3-point attempts. They also went just 6 of 12 from the free-throw line.

"That's another thing," Westly said. "Our coaches want us to take less threes and drive the ball more which will get us to the free-throw line which will then open up the threes."

It may not have felt like it after the game or on the ride home, but the Spartans still have a chance to be the No. 1 seed into the playoffs. But they have to take care of business and have Silverton beat West Albany on Tuesday, to make that a possibility. If that happens, a three-way tie is likely and a drawing of cards will be used to determine seeds.

"We get Dallas on Tuesday," Williamson said. "This is not an end all. West Albany has to come here to play Silverton. We have to take care of Dallas and Lebanon and then it's however the ball drops."

Silverton 42, Corvallis 39
CORVALLIS 10 11 14 4 -- 39
SILVERTON 15 9 7 11 -- 42
Corvallis; Gabe Johnson 11, Adams 8, M.Redberg 6, Kar. Laney 4, Schrock 3, Westly 3, Gerner 2, Kay. Laney 2, Seitz
Silverton: Bryanna St. Paul 16, Bazzi 9, Palmer 8, Morgan 3, Stadeli 2, Milliron 2, Mosher 2, Cox
JV: Silverton 66, Corvallis 42
Frosh: Corvallis 50, Silverton 28

Bouncing back with a win

McKenzie Redberg freely admits she is a sore loser. She hates to lose at anything, probably even tiddlywinks.

So when she and her Corvallis High girls basketball teammates lost a 58-54 decision to West Albany last Friday night, Redberg was one of the most frustrated players.

The loss cost the Spartans a chance to take a two-game lead in the Mid-Willamette Conference standings with four games to play, and dropped them into a tie with West Albany at 8-2.

So it wasn't surprising Redberg would not only be ready to play Wednesday night against South Albany, but that she would be ready to dominate the 1-20 Rebels.

And dominate she did.

So did her teammates.

Redberg hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and had more points (19) at the half than the Rebels would score in four quarters (17) as the Spartans rebounded with a 58-17 thumping at Spartan Gym.

"It stuck with me a lot," Redberg said of the West Albany loss. "Everybody was like that's not going to happen ever again."

Redberg finished with a game-high 21 and the starters got to take the fourth quarter off with a big game at third-place Silverton looming on Friday.

"When she gets confident, watch out," CHS coach Joe Williamson said of Redberg.

While the offensive output was solid, Williamson was pleased with the way the Spartans played defensively on Wednesday.

South Albany went scoreless the first 9:33 and scored just six points in the first half.

"I can't complain about it," Williamson said of the scoreless first quarter.

Williamson said he no concerns about a sluggish performance against the Rebels, especially after the tough loss last Friday.

"It was good to get a bad taste out of our mouth," he said."Now we are really looking to Friday. The team is pretty motivated and I think we'll have a good game on Friday night."

Added Redberg: "It was a huge win, coming out showing that we were just off Friday, coming out and showing we're not done yet, we're not finished yet, we're not going to go out without a fight. We're going to come back and take the league back."

Redberg said the Spartans are confident, especially after going through a tough week last week.

"Against CV we showed what we can do as a team," she said of the 55-39 win to end an 11-game losing streak against their crosstown rivals. "Against West we showed what we shouldn't do as a team. We know how we have to play in order to win."

Another performance like Wednesday night and the Spartans could take a leg up in the race for first place, and put the pressure on West Albany, which travels to Silverton next Tuesday.

Corvallis 58, South Albany 17
SOUTH ALBANY 0 6 9 2 -- 17
CORVALLIS 18 16 18 6 -- 58
South Albany: Sharayah Lehman 6, Halie Bethards 6, A. Trower 2, Sherman 2, Edmiston 1, Swartzendruber, Weber, Bartlett, Mitchell, Brown, Dixon, Prince, Schneider, C. Trower
Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 21, Adams 11, Johnson 7, Westly 6, Seitz 5, Kay. Laney 4, Schrock 2, Hendrickson 2, Gerner, Kar. Laney
JV: Corvallis 41, South Albany 30

Staying positive

Eva Oriakhi was coming into her own on the basketball court for the Corvallis High girls basketball team early this season.

Oriakhi, a senior, had just stepped into a starting position a few games before and was becoming a solid offensive threat as well as a strong defender in the post.

Then it happened.

Oriakhi was going after a lose ball when she got tangled up on the baseline. She remained on the floor and had to helped off the court at South Albany High.

Little did Oriakhi know at the time, it would be final time she would be able to play in her CHS career.

"I remember as it was happening I remember thinking it probably wasn't going to be good," Oriakhi said. "But then I was sort of able to walk off the court and it didn't really hurt that much and I remember thinking, 'Oh well, maybe it's not really that bad.' I'll be back soon."

But she didn't return and the Spartans had to adjust to her absence. Oriakhi continued to come to practice and worked on rehabbing the knee. She went in for an MRI and received the bad news on the same day the Spartans were set to play crosstown rival Crescent Valley,

Oriakhi was disappointed she still wasn't able to play in the big game, her final chance to play the Raiders. But not as disappointed as she was after receiving a phone call from her mom that day.

The news wasn't good. It was far worse than a meniscus tear as she had hoped it would be. No, it was a complete tear of her anterior cruciate ligament.

At first Oriakhi didn't realize the magnitude. Then it hot her.

"Are you sure? My ACL?," She asked.

"Yes I wrote everything down," he mom responded.

Oriakhi got off the phone and people in the office were wondering what was wrong.

"I just lost it and called (coach Joe Williamson) and he came and tried to encourage me and my dad came and tried to encourage me," Oriakhi said. "But it's my ACL. I cant play the rest of the season, I can't do track. It's my senior year and not like I can come back next year."

What made the news more difficult is Oriakhi wasn't expecting something so serious and had visions of getting back on the floor to help her teammates in their quest for a Mid-Willamette Conference title and a trip to the Chiles Center.

"I think just the fact that I had already had it in my mind that OK its a meniscus tear made the shock of learning it was an ACL tear more painful," she said.

Oriakhi has continued to rehab each day after school and attends all of the practices, encouraging her teammates whenever she can. It's been difficult not playing, but she wasn't about to abandon her teammates.

"Just the fact that it's my team," Oriakhi said of why she has stuck around. "The fact I'm not able to play anymore doesn't change that they're still my team and that I'm part of a team. I just feel like it's the right thing to do.

"I've noticed that they have really stepped up and sort of filled in maybe where I would've been. I just want to be a part of that."

Suffering a tough setback

Joe Williamson made the long walk across the court and into the locker room at West Albany High School on Friday night.

Williamson walked to the front of the room as his Corvallis High girls basketball players sat in desks.

He grabbed a chair, pulled it in front of his players and looked for the words to say to them.

Not many came to mind.

Williamson knew his players had just wasted a golden opportunity to all but seal up the Mid-Willamette Conference title.

All they had needed to do was get past West Albany.

“It would have been a shame for West if they didn’t win the game tonight because they played much better basketball,” he told the players.

“The scoreboard is what it should be.”

The scoreboard read 58-54 for the Bulldogs, sending the rowdy crowd into a bit of a frenzy.

A win and the Spartans would have held a two-game lead over the Bulldogs and a couple other teams in the conference with four games to play.

Instead, the Spartans are in for a battle over the final four games.

Williamson knows one loss isn’t the end of the world, but it sure does make life tougher now.

“We put ourselves in a spot where we have to respond now and I think we will,” he said. “We have no choice now. The choice is we need to win out.”

And there’s no reason to believe the Spartans can’t. They played poorly during large chunks of the game, yet still had a chance to win late.

West Albany used a 10-2 run at the start of the second quarter to take a 23-14 lead.

After a time out, the Spartans responded with a 9-0 run of their own, capped by McKenzie Redberg’s 3-pointer.

A basket inside gave the Bulldogs the lead back but Alaina Adams drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put CHS up 26-25 at the half.

The momentum from that shot was short lived.

West Albany scored the first 16 points of the third quarter to take a 41-26 lead.

The Spartans responded with a 12-6 run to close the quarter. Katie Schrock hit two 3-pointers and Karly Laney scored three buckets in the run.

Laney’s fourth bucket, a three by Adams and a layup by Redberg made it 47-45 and just like that the Spartans were back in it.

Gabe Johnson’s three-point play got the Spartans even, but they failed to execute over the last 2:34 and only got a banked three by Adams with 36 seconds left as the Bulldogs did just enough to win.

Turnovers and poor offensive sets doomed the Spartans late.

“For some reason we just didn’t execute what I said in time outs,” Williamson said. “It didn’t happen. That’s frustrating because we did work pretty hard to get back to the point where we were in the game and then they didn’t do what I asked them to.”

Adams finished with a game-high 20, including four threes. She also took another charge in the first half.

Laney had a solid game off the bench with eight, as did Schrock with nine, all on threes.

But in the end it wasn’t enough, and was frustrating for everyone involved.

“West Albany came to play,” Williamson said. “We came thinking it was going to be easy. They brought the fight to us and I thought we did a good job of bringing the fight back a couple of times, but if you want to win these big games you can’t let teams have those kinds of runs on you.

“We let them happen and we did our best to come back but you can’t let teams have big runs on you.”

The Spartans are off for two days and don’t return to the court for a game until they host South Albany on Wednesday. They then hit the road for a crucial game at Silverton next Friday.

West Albany is at Lebanon on Wednesday.

West Albany 58, Corvallis 54
CORVALLIS 12 14 12 16 — 54
WEST ALBANY 13 12 22 11 — 58
Corvallis: Alaina Adams 20, Schrock 9, Kar. Laney 8, Johnson 5, M. Redberg 5, Kay. Laney 5, Westly 2, Seitz, Gerner
West Albany: Deijonae Slade 19, Grady 12, Hortsch 10, Kastrava 6, Lepman 6, Jamison 3, Johnston 2, Hartman 2, Silsby
JV: West Albany 57, Corvallis 48

Refocusing for the next game

Coming off a big win over a rival team could have some coaches concerned about how his players will respond the next time out.

Consider that the victory ended an 11-game losing streak against said rival and the concern could grow even larger.

But Corvallis High girls basketball coach Joe Williamson says he isn't all that concerned heading into Friday night's crucial Mid-Willamette Conference showdown at West Albany.

Williamson's Spartans are coming off a 55-39 win on the road over crosstown rival Crescent Valley on Tuesday, a victory that kept the Spartans (15-4, 8-1) a game ahead of the West Albany (16-4, 7-2) in the MWC standings.

"I think they are levelheaded and I think they understand they need to go into West Albany ready to play," Williamson said after Tuesday's win. "We’re not getting ahead of ourselves."

A win and the Spartans are that much closer to winning the conference title and earning the right to play one game at home to reach the state tournament at University of Portland's Chiles Center in March.

The players have been able to stay focused on the cliche one-game-at-a-time attitude that Williamson has stressed in his first season at CHS.

"We know that every game is closer to going to state and we just need to play smart and act like every game is a game we need to win and not worry about the opponent, but worry about the game itself," junior Karly Laney said. "We’re ready to play."

Playing smart is what the Spartans have done since losing a heartbreaker at home against Crescent Valley on Jan. 11. CHS blew a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds and lost in overtime. Two long outlet passes led to layups for the Raiders.

Against CV on Tuesday, the Spartans committed just six turnovers, they took four charges, all by Alaina Adams, and converted 19 of 27 free throws to seal the victory.

Not bad for a team that was very athletic but didn't fully understand the game of basketball at the start of the season.

The Spartans were also more a group of players who played as individuals rather than a group of players who played as a team. There wasn't always trust and belief in their teammates.

That has all changed, as has been evidenced by the balanced scoring the Spartans have received lately.

"I think that’s one thing when Joe came in that he pushed home with us," senior Taylor Westly said. "These are your teammates, we play team defense. We play hard, aggressive team defense and because we’re athletes we can go out there and everybody can press as hard as they can and know that whoever will have (our) back."

Nothing showed that point more and the growth the team has had than in the win over CV on Tuesday. Just listen to the players talk.

"Like the first CV game when we played them we didn't get back on helpside and this time we were there and we were on helpside," Laney said. "Last year we played as individuals and this year we play as a team."

"The first time we played (CV), all the mistakes we watched them on film," point guard Gabe Johnson said. "We took our mistakes and fixed them and it worked."

"Joe came out (at practice) and we played (assistant coach Lindsay Schnell) like she was (CV's Janelle) Batista and we came out and he told us exactly what we were going to do, exactly how to do it and what our job was to do to stop that," Westly said.

That has been the biggest difference, listening to and following through on the information they have been given.

The next step in the growth process comes Friday night. And while the Spartans won the first meeting by 22 points at home to start this seven-game winning streak, they will face a West Albany team that has won six straight and should have two players back who didn't play in the first meeting.

No worries, really.

"Actually it helps give us a little edge knowing it’s not quite the same team, but in reality they are two girls we will defend like we would anybody else," Williamson said. "It doesn’t change anything we will do, but it helps them know this is a team we need to be ready to play.

"At this point they know. They have so much to play for they’re not going come in ... If we lose, it will be because West Albany played a great game. We’ll be ready to play."

The sweetest of wins

All the Corvallis High girls basketball team wants is a chance.

A chance to show they are a different basketball team than last year.

A chance to show each opponent how hard they work.

A chance to play for a Mid-Willamette Conference championship.

And a chance to show that Crescent Valley isn’t the only strong girls basketball team in the city.

On Tuesday night, in front of a raucous crowd at Raider Gym, the Spartans got one of the chances they had been looking for.

And they made sure they took care of business.

Behind 20 points and 13 rebounds from point guard from Gabe Johnson, and 10 points and four charges taken by Alaina Adams, the Spartans avenged an early loss to the crosstown Raiders with a 55-39 win that ended an 11-game losing streak against the Raiders.

“It is amazing,” Johnson said in a downstairs hallway of the gym minutes after the final buzzer sounded.

“We have been wanting this for I don’t even know how long, probably Future Spartans, so this is whoo, awesome.”

While the victory was sweet for each member of the Spartans, it may have been sweetest for Johnson, who scored 13 of her points in the final quarter to help the Spartans pull away.

Five of those points game from the free-throw line, where Johnson missed a chance to close out the earlier meeting, but missed.

“After the last CV game where I had those, I was like, you know what I’m making these,” Johnson said.

While Johnson was key down the stretch, Adams came up big throughout, hitting several key shots and taking four charges.


It was a feat that gets the entire team lunch on the coaches.

“Oh my gosh, it amazes me,” senior Taylor Westly said of Adams, who also had two charges taken against Dallas on Saturday night.

“Here’s this big girl standing in the key and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll just run you over.’ What are you doing?”

Westly had a big 3-pointer in her final meeting against the Raiders. That shot put the Spartans (15-4, 8-1) up 34-27 midway through the third quarter and CV (10-8, 5-3) was never closer than eight the rest of the way.

Johnson took over and played like a possible conference MVP in the fourth quarter.

After CV cut the CHS lead to 39-31 early in the quarter, Johnson drove to the basket and hit a turnaround shot.

She then followed with a reverse layup that pushed the lead back to 12. Karly Laney added two free throws for a 45-31 lead and after CV’s Janelle Batista scored, Johnson hit two free throws and drove to the hoop for a 49-33 lead with 2:14 left.

With 1:20 left, Johnson scored her final point on a free throw.

Just before she stepped to the line, the CHS crowd began chanting “It’s all over.”

“When they started chanting ‘Its all over’ I kind of looked up and I was like, this is all over. We have it in the bag,” Laney said. “But then I had to keep my cool because last time I thought six points up and a couple seconds to go, I thought we had it in the bag but we didn’t.”

But there would be no miraculous comeback on this night. And when the buzzer sounded and the Spartans had held CV to under 40 points, a team goal, Laney was able to celebrate with her twin sister.

“When I saw that we kept them under 40 points, I gave Kayla a big hug,” Karly said. “It was such a good feeling.”

Kayla Laney stepped up big on the defensive end, as she and Adams limited Batista to just 12 points.

The Spartans had another tough shooting night in the first half, but managed to take a 24-20 lead into the intermission.

That’s where first-year coach Joe Williamson earned his paycheck.

“Basically what I think Joe said, and it struck home with us, is he said we need to act like this is our game and we need to win this game,” Westly said. “We need to forget this is CV and play like this is business. This is our job to take care of it. We know our roles and we need to do it.

“I think that really hit home with us in the second half. We came out with confidence.”

Williamson said he thought the Spartans needed to get over the hump of winning at CV.

While most teams have struggled at Raider Gym, the Spartans have really struggled there the last few years. Many games have been close at CHS, but the games at CV have been blowouts.

And while it wasn’t exactly a blowout on Tuesday, this time it was the Spartans on the positive end.

“That was the other monkey off our back,” Williamson said.

Corvallis 55, Crescent Valley 39
CORVALLIS 12 12 13 18 — 55
CRESCENT VALLEY 13 7 7 12 — 39
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 20, Adams 10, M. Redberg 8, Westly 5, Seitz 2, Schrock 4, Kar. Laney 3, Gerner 2, Kay. Laney 1
Crescent Valley: Janelle Batista 12, Kaufman 11, M. Doran 8, Dong 6, H. Doran 2, Coyier, Waite, Walsh, Barnes, Rausch

Revenge not the main thought for Spartans

It’s 30 seconds the Corvallis High girls basketball team would like to have back.

There’s no doubt they haven’t forgotten those final moments of regulation on Jan. 11 when Crescent Valley stormed back for six unanswered points to force a tie and send the game into overtime.

The Spartans led 48-42 before CV junior Janelle Batista scored to cut the lead to four.
Missed free throws hurt the Spartans as they failed to convert the front end of two one-and-ones.

That allowed the Raiders to make long passes after the rebound for layups by Christine Dong and Molly Doran, with Doran’s just beating the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

In the extra four minutes, the Raiders held the Spartans to a single free throw as they escaped Spartan Gym with a 52-49 victory.

The two teams meet again Tuesday night at 5:30 at CV.

And while revenge could be on the minds of the Corvallis players, something much bigger is at stake — keeping a hold on first place in the Mid-Willamette Conference.

The Spartans haven’t loss since the first meeting with the Raiders, reeling off six straight wins to improve to 7-1 in MWC play with only one game closer than 22 points.

They have won 10 of 11 to bring a 14-4 overall mark and No. 7 ranking into Tuesday’s game.

The Spartans have been winning with defense. In three games last week, the Spartans gave up 21, 22 and 30 points while scoring 62, 88 and 65 in wins over Lebanon, Woodburn and Dallas, respectively.

The Raiders, meanwhile, have struggled, losing two of their last three to fall into third place in the conference standings, a half-game behind West Albany (15-4, 6-2).

What makes the skid more difficult for the Raiders (10-7, 5-2) is that both losses have come on their home court, where they are usually pretty dominant.

The Raiders were stunned by Lebanon when the Warriors hit eight 3-pointers and opened an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter before CV stormed back and had a chance to tie the game with a three with a minute left.

After a win over Woodburn, the Raiders held a big second-half lead against West Albany only to see the Bulldogs storm back and win on a free throw in the closing seconds.

The Raiders had a 15-point lead in the first meeting against the Spartans before watching CHS respond with a 23-2 run to take the 48-42 lead.

While tonight’s game is big for both teams, they each have equally big games on Friday.
CV is at Silverton while the Spartans head to West Albany. All four teams could be in the postseason, and are battling for seeding and the conference title.

No trap game here

Playing three games in four days is tough for any basketball team.

With that thought in mind, Corvallis High girls basketball coach Joe Williamson had every right to be a little bit concerned with how his team would play on Saturday night.

The Spartans had already disposed of Lebanon on Wednesday night in Williamson’s return to his former school so emotions were high for everyone.

Then they had an easy time at Woodburn on Friday night.

And with rival Crescent Valley, the only team to beat them in first half of Mid-Willamette Conference play, up next on Tuesday, the Spartans appeared ripe for an upset.

Oh, and the girls were having a team sleepover after the game so maybe thoughts could be on painting their shirts and whatever else happens at a sleepover.

Williamson never should have been concerned, although he probably wasn’t all that happy with just a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.

But the Spartans cranked up the defense, got some easy transition layups and pulled away to hand the Dragons a 65-30 defeat that probably ended any thoughts the young team had of competing for a playoff berth this season.

“They got the first two and played really hard but I thought you know what the third game and with the week coming up, this could be one of those games that they fall into a trap, but they came out and played hard,” Williamson said. “They didn’t shoot particularly well or rebound but they played well together.”

That is true. Not many shots fell from the outside, even though the Spartans did hit five 3-pointers. But fastbreak layups, including a couple by Katie Schrock off feeds from Gabe Johnson, pushed the Spartans to a big lead at the half.

“I think our team is really understanding when to be unselfish,” Schrock said. “Gabe gave it up to me a lot tonight and she also took a lot of good shots as did a lot of other girls.”

Added Williamson: “We just kept the pressure on, kept pushing the ball forward and we got some easy buckets in the second quarter to blow it open.”

Schrock and Alaina Adams, who hit two threes, each finished with 11 points while Johnson, who had three 3s, and Karly Laney each added 10 points. It was the second straight night that four players scored in double figures.

Johnson, Adams and Laney made it back-to-back nights in double figures. And against Lebanon, six players had eight points or more.

“I think everyone is pretty confident and they believe in everyone that they’re going to make all the shots that they put up,” Schrock said.

While the offense has been there, so has the defense. The Spartans gave up just 73 points in three games this week.

“We work pretty hard on it at practice and it’s just one of the things we really focus on,” Schrock said. “Defense is what wins the game.”

What also helps win is an unselfishness that puts the team first, and Schrock and Laney showed that this week. Both were willing to play a quarter of JV to allow some JV players an extra quarter to play on varsity if they were needed.

Their time at JV was needed because the JV team doesn’t have big numbers and two members of the varsity were out with injuries.

“I think our team worked really well between JV and varsity that we had enough people swingwise that we could have everyone playing a good amount of minutes that no one really was tired,” Schrock said. “We got to give our starters a break in the Woodburn game so they could come out hard in the Dallas game.”

It seems to working. So will that be the plan from now on?

“I don’t know, I guess maybe,” Williamson said with a laugh. “I’ll probably talk to them and find out. If they like it, we’ll keep doing it.”

Corvallis 65, Dallas 30
DALLAS 7 9 6 8 – 30
CORVALLIS 13 22 16 14 – 65
Dallas: Marissa Angulo 8, M. Stewart 6, Postma 4, Frederick 3, S. Stewart 3, Prince 2, Havig 2, Pola 2, Kutzer
Corvallis: Katie Schrock 11, Alaina Adams 11, Johnson 10, Kar. Laney 10, Gerner 7, Kay. Laney 7, M. Redberg 4, Westly 2, McGowan 1, Hendrickson, Seitz
JV: Corvallis 55, Dallas 46
Frosh: Corvallis 56, Dallas 5

Getting defensive

Forget about the offensive numbers, which the Corvallis High girls basketball team put up plenty of on Friday night in an easy 88-22 Mid-Willamette Conference win over overmatched Woodburn.

Four players scored in double figures, with Gabe Johnson leading the way with 22, but the Spartans were able to keep up the defensive intensity and pressure that they need to be successful down the stretch.

Johnson and McKenzie Redberg were having their own personal battle to see who could finish the game with more steals. At one point Johnson was behind and wanted to know if it would count if she stole the ball from a teammate.

That’s the kind of night it was for the Spartans. Redberg added 17 points and Karly Laney had her best scoring performance of the season with 12 points off the bench. Alaina Adams also finished in double figures with 11.

Games like Friday night’s against Woodburn can’t be much fun for coaches. It’s hard to work on too much because you don’t want to run up the score more than is necessary.

But it was a good game coming off an emotional win against Lebanon on Wednesday night. And it was good to have before facing Dallas on Saturday at home in a makeup from a snowed-out game.

Defense has been a staple for this team. The Spartans have allowed just 43 points in their past eight quarters. Pretty good when you consider the goal is to give up just 40 each game.

The Spartans need to bring another strong effort and the intensity they showed Friday night if they want to remain in first place.

And after their win on Friday and Crescent Valley’s 52-51 loss at home to West Albany, the Spartans are all alone in first place with a 6-1 mark, 13-4 overall. CV falls to 5-2 in MWC play while West Albany jumped back into the chase for the conference title at 6-2.

CHS plays at CV on Tuesday and at West Albany next Friday. But first comes Dallas, a game that could be considered a trap game.

But with the way the Spartans played on Friday, they shouldn’t have a letdown. They know how much is at stake.

Corvallis 88, Woodburn 22
CORVALLIS 28 22 20 18 – 88
WOODBURN 4 6 4 8 – 22
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 22, M.Redberg 17, Kar. Laney 12, Adams 11, Gerner 8, Kay. Laney 7, Schrock 6, McGowan 2, W. Redberg 2, Hendrickson 1, Westly
Woodburn: Katie Kalugin 14, Doman 4, Robles 2, Kaufman 2, Ruiz, Marquez, Armstrong, Biggs, Ivanov, Maldonado, Kraxberger, Guevara
JV: Corvallis 73, Woodburn 15
Frosh: Corvallis 64, Woodburn 10

Knocking off the former team

After finally getting home and getting some food in his system, the knots in Joe Williamson’s stomach began to fade away late Wednesday night.

Those knots had been churning all afternoon as Williamson, the first-year coach for the Corvallis High girls basketball program, prepared to lead his new team into his old home.

Williamson spent five season coaching at Lebanon before taking over at Corvallis this past summer.

Wednesday night was the first time the two programs had met since Williamson’s departure.

“It feels good that it is over,” Williamson said late Wednesday night. “It’s been one of those games that you see on the calendar and you know it’s there and you look forward to playing it.”

He wanted the Lebanon crowd to see how hard his new team worked, how intense they play, that they rebound and that they liked each other.

“I want this game bad,” he told the players minutes before they took the court for warmups.

The players wanted the game as bad, if not more.

“We really wanted this win,” junior post Kayla Laney said. “We wanted it for coach and we wanted it for ourselves.”

They got a win and much more.

Using an impressive 10-0 start and another 14-0 run, the Spartans bolted to a 24-1 lead and never looked back in demolishing the Warriors 62-21 to remain tied for first in the Mid-Willamette Conference standings heading into Friday night’s game at Woodburn.

The seventh-ranked Spartans improved to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the MWC.

What had Williamson so pleased with the start was that on the first three possessions, the Spartans had an offensive rebound basket by Laney, and girls were diving on the floor for loose balls.

“I knew Lebanon was really jacked up and excited to play,” Williamson said. “I wasn’t sure if our girls would be as ready as they needed to be. In the first three possessions of the game we had girls on the floor diving and getting after it.”

They never let up and frustrated the Warriors, especially star post Alexis Nissen. With Laney, Alaina Adams and Karly Laney playing defense against her most of the night, Nissen found no room to be an offensive threat. She attempted just four free throws and the only really good look at the basket she got resulted in a layup in the third quarter. She finished with four points.

“I think the fact she only got one open shot and the only points she got were off free throws (and a layup), I think that’s huge,” Kayla Laney said. “I know in the CV game, they left her open and she got a lot of points.”

Unlike in its upset win at CV last week, Lebanon struggled shooting on Wednesday. But the Spartans didn’t allow many offensive rebounds.

“I told them after the game I was most impressed with how they boxed out,” Williamson said. “They boxed out almost every time a shot went up. It was almost a blocking out clinic.”

The Spartans never let up on defense and harassed the Warriors into numerous turnovers.

“I think it’s a big win because we just went out there and hustled and played as a team,” Kayla Laney said. “We all hustled so hard and we blocked out the posts. I’ve never seen us rebound better.”

Williamson also liked the offensive balance as six players had at least eight points.

Williamson wasn’t sure what to expect when he got off the bus so he spent his time helping coach the freshman and JV teams before getting ready for the varsity game.

Walking into the locker room after the game, Williamson saw what he had been waiting for all season — a little bit of emotion from his players as they were vocal and celebrating.

“They are first in league and got a big win,” he said. “It was good to see that.”

Kayla Laney said the players were happy to let out the excitement.

“It was nice,” she said. “We were proud, he was proud. He was proud of us, we were proud of him and he coached extremely well. It was just a good win overall.”

Corvallis is at Woodburn on Friday, then will face Dallas on Saturday at home in a makeup game.

Corvallis 62, Lebanon 21
CORVALLIS 20 16 14 12 — 62
LEBANON 1 12 2 6 — 21
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 10, Syree Gerner 10, Schrock 8, Westly 8, M. Redberg 8, Kay. Laney 8, Adams 4, Kar. Laney 4, Hendrickson 2, W. Redberg
Lebanon: Kim Duerr 4, Katy Ellis 4, Alexis Nissen 4, Kuhns 3, Adams 2, Ragsdale 2, Parks 2, Brown, Kirby, Gerson, Benedict, Steward
JV: Corvallis 39, Lebanon 23
Frosh: Lebanon 50, Corvallis 39

Returning to Lebanon

Joe Williamson says he isn’t nervous about Wednesday night’s game.

That’s when the first-year coach of the Corvallis High girls basketball team returns to his old stomping grounds.

Williamson’s Spartans (11-4, 4-1) are tied for first in the Mid-Willamette Conference but will face a Lebanon (9-7, 4-2) team that showed why it was a playoff team a year ago with a 56-51 win at Crescent Valley (9-6, 4-1) last week.

And Lebanon is where Williamson spent the past five seasons as co-coach with Mardy Benedict.

“Oh I’m sure it will be a fun situation,” Williamson said Tuesday night, the grin on his face widening with each word. “I’ve already talked to some of the (Lebanon) guys, the varsity players out sitting here waiting for the varsity game. They’re already ready.”

With Benedict, Williamson helped turn the Warriors into a playoff team. Most of the girls off last year’s team that reached the postseason, will be in the lineup tonight when Lebanon hopes to muddle the standings even more with a win.

Williamson has already had a chance to see and talk with some of his former players and their parents this season.

While having dinner at Red Robin in Albany after the South Albany game a couple weeks again, Williamson was met by some of the Lebanon players, who had just played West Albany.

“Oh yeah, it was like a hugfest with the parents and players so it was pretty, I have a pretty good relationship with most of the parents that are still there,” he said. “And it did help a little bit probably.”

While he will be familiar with the school, that comfort level may evaporate when he takes his new team into the locker room before the game.

“I’ve never been in the visitor’s locker room at Lebanon so there is a first time for everything,” he said.

So will he head to the wrong bench?

“I’ll know where our fans are and that’s where I’ll go,” he said.

The Spartans will have had eight full days off since playing last. And Wednesday night’s game is the first of five in nine days after last Friday’s game against Dallas was snowed out and rescheduled for this Saturday.

The layoff and the upcoming schedule doesn’t concern Williamson.

“Games are fun,” he said. “I think the girls think games are fun. We’ve had a stretch where all we’ve done is practice for a week-and-a-half and five games in nine or 10 days is great.

“I think we’re ready.”

And despite not playing for eight days, and that it is a game against their new coach’s former team, shouldn’t change the approach the Spartans have had all season.

They know a win is big in their quest to become conference champions.

And with some of the players having watched Lebanon’s upset of CV in person, it should have them focused even more.

“I think they realize if you leave them open, they’ll hit a shot,” Williamson said. “We have to defend them. We have to defend Alexis (Nissen) and make it hard for her.

“They understand the effort that it will take to win. That helps a lot. We have to take teams seriously.”

Williamson is doing just that. He told the players before the CV game not to make the event bigger than their own play.

Now it’s time for the coach to practice what he has been preaching.

“I’ll probably have a hard time if they’re not playing well because I want us to play well,” Williamson said. “I have to keep my emotions in check and coach the team. That’s the thing — to keep a level head.

“I think it will be a good time. If our girls come to play, we match up pretty well.”

And if they do, they are one step closer to reaching their goal.

Learning a valuable lesson

Karly Laney’s text message may have said it best Tuesday night.

The Corvallis High junior wasn’t able to attend the Crescent Valley-Lebanon game that her coaches and a few of her teammates were.

But as she received a text message with the final score, a surprising 56-51 Lebanon victory that gave CV its first Mid-Willamette Conference loss, she knew just what it meant.

“Yesssss we are tied for first in league!!!!” it said. “But now we have to worry about Lebanon even more.”

Such a true statement. Lebanon’s win means CV and CHS are tied at 4-1 in conference, with Spartans’ lone loss coming against CV. Should both win out and CHS knock off CV, the title would be theirs.

But that is a long way off. And the upset by Lebanon was a great learning experience for the upstart Spartans, who already have two more wins than all of last season at 11-4.

Lebanon’s win showed that on any given night in this conference, the top teams can be beaten. Not only was it the first MWC loss this season for CV, but the first by the Raiders since the conference was formed before the start of last season. CV went 14-0 last year.

Couple that with Dallas’ near comeback against West Albany, and Corvallis knows it has a tough road ahead.

You see, the Spartans are scheduled to face Dallas at home on Friday night, then travel to Lebanon next Wednesday in first-year coach Joe Williamson’s return to his former stomping grounds. Williamson was the co-coach with Mardy Benedict for five seasons at Lebanon.

That’s why Williamson refocused his team at the end of practice on Thursday. He again stressed the importance of playing with the energy and determination needed each night.

He had the full attention of the players.

A loss and the Spartans fall into a jumbled mess in the conference standings as CV and CHS enter Friday with 4-1 records while Lebanon, West Albany and Silverton are 3-2. Dallas (2-3) can jump back into the playoff chase with the win.

Hopefully snow doesn’t cancel any of Friday’s action.

Free throws seal win

Alaina Adams calmly stepped to the free-throw line and hit four of her six free throw attempts in the final 1:17 of Monday night’s Mid-Willamette Conference showdown with Silverton.

Gabe Johnson then followed with two swishes from the charity stripe with 12.9 seconds left to seal the Spartans’ 48-45 win.

It was a much different ending than three games earlier when the Spartans failed to convert from the line and it cost them a win against crosstown rival Crescent Valley.

That loss still stings, but Monday’s win takes some of it away.

The Spartans (11-4, 4-1) are now all alone in second place, a half game behind the Raiders (9-5, 4-0), who should dispatch of Lebanon on Tuesday.

Monday’s game was eerily similar to the CV game, as the Spartans led 43-40 with 31 seconds left. They led 48-42 with 30 seconds left against CV, only to see the Raiders storm back to score six points and force overtime, where they eventually won 52-49.

But this time, the Spartans made free throws to make sure there would be no miraculous comeback. Even a buzzer-beating three by Silverton was meaningless — because they hit free throws.

“I know after that last shot when (Silverton) made that 3-pointer and it counted, I realized that if we hadn’t made our free throws, that could have definitely hurt us,” Johnson said.

There was definitely a different feeling in the closing moments than against CV.

“I just think that we believed in ourselves and were determined to win,” Johnson said. “I know after that loss against CV we didn’t like it so as a team we all stepped up.”

The Spartans were able to overcome a great deal of adversity on Monday.

They had to play without Eva Oriakhi, who is out this week with a knee injury. Oriakhi has started the last three games and has been a bright spot both offensively and defensively this season for the Spartans.

Karly Laney was sick and did her best to give the Spartans some minutes with the absence of Oriakhi, but she wasn’t able to play in the second half.

McKenzie Redberg was still a little under the weather after leaving Friday night’s game before halftime and heading home.

They failed to score in the closing 7:20 of the first half, allowing Silverton to turn a 20-14 deficit into a 23-20 lead at intermission.

None of that seemed to matter as the Spartans did what was needed.

“It’s a big step for us,” Adams said. “As a team last year, we never really believed in ourselves. We were more individuals out there and we have been uniting more as a team. Tonight we really pulled together to win and not give up.”

That shows how much this team has come together.

“As a team, we can trust each other and we depend on each other,” Johnson said.

The Spartans won a game in which they shot poorly, and had players missing or not at full strength.

“Actually winning and not playing as well as we can makes it a big win,” Adams said.

First-year coach Joe Williamson doesn’t like to put too much stock in a single win or a single loss. He said as much before and after the CV game, and reiterated that point on Monday.

But inside he had to be pleased with the win and where the Spartans are at five games into the MWC schedule.

“I want to keep it in perspective, but it is a really big win for these girls and their confidence and to see where they’re at,” Williamson said. “I am happy that I saw obvious growth from the CV game and I’ll take that and we’ll work toward Dallas on Friday.”

Corvallis 48, Silverton 45
SILVERTON 12 11 6 16 — 45
CORVALLIS 15 5 11 17 — 48
Silverton: Brynna St. Paul 14, Palmer 10, Bazzi 9, Cox 7, Stadeli 4, King 4, Kuenzi, Milliron, Mosher
Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 16, Johnson 15, Adams 10, Gerner 4, Westly 2, Seitz 1, Schrock, Kar. Laney, Kay. Laney
JV: Silverton 73, Corvallis 42
Frosh: Corvallis 47, Silverton 17

Playing is more fun than watching

Leah Seitz wasn’t feeling all that great about her performance following Tuesday’s big win over West Albany.

She should have.

After her performance Friday night, she felt much better.

Seitz came off the bench to give the Corvallis High girls basketball team a spark as the Spartans pulled away for a 69-35 win over South Albany in their first road game of the Mid-Willamette Conference season.

Seitz had two rebound baskets in the first quarter and added a 3-pointer later in the half as the Spartans built a 35-18 lead.

She ended with nine points and had six steals in the most action she has seen in a game this season.

“It was a lot more fun,” Seitz said. “No offense, I love cheering people on on the bench but it was a lot more fun getting in there because that is what you practice for.”

Seitz saw more action after starter McKenzie Redberg left the game early in the second quarter with an illness and went home at the half.

“I felt like I kind of had to make up for Z because I know that she’s a stealer, she’s a 3-pointer shooter, so I tried to do that.”

She did and it was a big lift for the Spartans (10-4, 3-1), who got past South Albany (0-15, 0-4) and can now focus on their showdown with Silverton (3-1 MWC) on Monday.

“She was one girl who put out a lot of energy tonight,” CHS coach Joe Williamson said of Seitz.

Gabe Johnson had another strong night, leading the way with 24 points and 10 steals.

Katie Schrock, Eva Oriakhi and Karly Laney each added six points as 11 of 12 players who played scored.

There was a scary moment in the third quarter when Oriakhi went down with an apparent right knee injury.

She was on the floor in pain but was smiling after the game.

The injury seemed to fire up the Spartans, who put together a nice run and began to pull away.

“I think when she got hurt we were like, ‘Why are they pushing us around?’ ” Seitz said. “This is stupid. We’re stronger than them. This is annoying. We need to make up for what just happened. I think it was kind of like a little fire under our butt.”

That kind of effort is what the Spartans are learning they need to play with.

“I feel like we are still learning and we don’t always give our 100 percent, but I know that we are trying our hardest and I know that it’s going to happen soon that we have a perfect game,” Seitz said.

Corvallis 69, South Albany 35
CORVALLIS 19 16 14 20 — 69
SOUTH ALBANY 7 11 10 7 — 35
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 24, Seitz 9, Schrock 6, Kar. Laney 6, Oriakhi 6, Gerner 5, M. Redberg 4, Kay. Laney 4, Adams 2, Westly 2, Hendrickson 1, McGowan
South Albany: Halie Bethards 6, Mitchell 5, A. Trower 5, Lehman 5, Bartlett 4, Edmiston 4, Brown 3, Swartzendrubber 2, Weber, Sherman, Prince, Schneider, C. Trower
JV: Corvallis 43, South Albany 29
Frosh: No game

A bounce-back win

Lindsay Schnell is still a little embarrassed about sleeping through practice on Monday.

Schnell, an assistant coach for the Corvallis High girls basketball team, couldn’t believe she missed a practice the day before a game.

But you can’t really fault her for the slip up. She had spent the previous night working on school work, then showed up at the high school at 7 a.m. to help the players work on their shooting, something they all needed after such a dismal performance in Friday night’s 51-49 overtime loss against Crescent Valley.

So maybe she missed practice, but the extra shooting seemed to come in handy as the Spartans hit 9 of 12 3-pointers and totally dominated West Albany on Tuesday night, 65-43, to improve to 2-1 in the Mid-Willamette Conference.

It was a much needed win for the Spartans, who were still feeling the effects of the blown lead and painful loss on Friday night to their crosstown rivals.

McKenzie Redberg and Gabe Johnson, who each took Friday’s loss hard, rebounded with standout games.

Redberg hit four 3s and finished with a game-high 18 points. The smile on her face after the game was a stark contrast to the anger she exhibited four days earlier.

Johnson shook off the most frustrating shooting game of her career with 15 points, but she also had several nice passes that led to easy baskets by Eva Oriakhi down low and others.

“Everyone knows about Gabe so when she’s doubleteamed its so much easier to pop out and get open,” Redberg said. “And now she trusts us to knock shots down and the pressure isn’t all on her.”

The Spartans didn’t let the loss to CV affect them early as they came out and bolted to a 20-10 lead after the first quarter.

“I thought right off the bat we brought intensity and really pressured them in the fullcourt,” coach Joe Williamson said. “And, to me, really got them out of their tempo. They were shooting shots in a hurry.”

The Spartans doubled the Bulldogs at 32-16 before West Albany closed the half on a 10-3 run to cut it to 35-26 at the half.

Williamson had a few words for his team at the break.

“I told them that we had to stop fouling and move our feet on defense and take care of the basketball and stop throwing bad passes,” he said.

Mission accomplished in the third quarter.

Like they did late in the third quarter and through the first 7:30 of the fourth quarter against CV, the Spartans looked unstoppable both on offense and defense. CHS used a 22-4 run in the third quarter that broke the game open.

“I feel like we had a rough first half but we came out really strong in the second half and we really blew them out so there wasn’t a chance of them coming back,” Oriakhi said.

It was a much-needed win and one the Spartans can build off of as they hit the road to face winless South Albany on Friday. Then comes the showdown at home on Monday against Silverton, which is also 2-1 after falling to Crescent Valley on Tuesday.

“We should have beat CV and this just shows that we can,” Redberg said. “It’s good to have this going into Friday and especially Monday against Silverton. That confidence with a winning record definitely helps.”

Williamson is happy with the way the Spartans are playing and with how they responded from Friday’s tough loss.

“I think we are playing good basketball,” he said. “Against Crescent Valley we just didn’t hit shots and tonight we did hit shots.”

Corvallis 65, West Albany 43
WEST ALBANY 10 16 4 13 — 43
CORVALLIS 20 15 22 8 — 65
West Albany: Jaclyn Silsby 12, Grady 10, Sitton 9, Kastrava 7, Hortsch 4, Martin 1, Lepman, Johnston, Jamison, Lukins, Riley
Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 18, Johnson 15, Oriakhi 10, Schrock 9, Kar. Laney 5, Seitz 3, Adams 3, Gerner 2, Hendrickson, Westly, W. Redberg, Kay. Laney
JV: West Albany 48, Corvallis 39
Frosh: West Albany 42, Corvallis 40

A frustrating night leads to tough loss

Gabe Johnson slowly walked toward the back of the weight room that serves as a meeting place before and after games for the Corvallis High girls basketball team on Friday night.

The junior point guard had just suffered through one of the worst shooting nights of her basketball career.

And it couldn’t have come at a worst time for Johnson and her teammates.

The Spartans were on the verge of knocking off rival Crescent Valley for the first time in 11 games. All Johnson needed was to knock down a couple of free throws to seal the win.

But on a night where she had to persevere throughout, it wasn’t meant to be.

After the miss, CV was able to rebound, get the ball up the court and Molly Doran was able to lay the ball in off the glass with less than a second to play as the Raiders capped a 6-0 run over the final 30 seconds to force overtime.

The Raiders then went on to complete the comeback and walk away with a 52-49 win that even their head coach said they probably didn’t deserve.

Johnson by no means cost the Spartans the game, although it had to feel that way immediately afterwards.

Teammates, coaches and fans tried to console her, but nothing they said was going to change the feeling that was buried in the pit of her stomach.

Despite the awful shooting night, and Johnson wasn’t alone as the Spartans combined to shoot just 14 of 43 from the field and a dismal 8 of 18 from the free-throw line, Johnson still led the Spartans in scoring with 15.

It’s too bad the game ended the way it did for Corvallis.

The final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter overshadowed the first 7:30 that saw the Spartans turn a 40-29 deficit into a 48-42 lead.

That after CV led by as many as 15 in the third quarter after the two teams went into the half deadlocked at 20.

“We just got fire in our eyes,” Johnson said after the game, alluding to the fourth quarter. “We weren’t going to lose.”

But the comeback fell short.

The Spartans’ run late in the third and through the fourth quarter was sparked by Johnson’s willingness to continue shooting despite the rough night.

That allowed teammates to get open and Johnson found them. Five different players — Johnson, Alaina Adams, McKenzie Redberg, Eva Oriakhi and Katie Schrock — all contributed points in what turned out to be a 23-2 run over eight minutes.

That was a positive Johnson and her teammates must take from the game.

They played well enough to win, and feel like they lost the game, rather than having CV win it.

But a loss is tough to swallow, regardless of how it happens.

By the time Saturday morning rolled around, many of the players felt the same as the night before. Practice was focused and the team worked on those areas that hurt them the night before, especially free throws.

There is no time to sulk or remain focused on Friday’s loss. West Albany comes to town on Tuesday, and a win gives the Spartans a boost they so dearly need.

The players may still have some doubt as to how good of a team they can be.

A win Friday could have proved not only to the community, but to themselves, how far they have come in a short period of time.

A win Tuesday might just be the step they need to beginning to realize their potential.

Good teams are able to overcome adversity, and the Spartans have been able to do that a lot so far this young season.

Tuesday they get see if they can do it again.

Corvallis 52, Crescent Valley 49
CRESCENT VALLEY 10 10 20 8 4 — 52
CORVALLIS 12 8 9 19 1 — 49
Crescent Valley: Batista 17, Kaufman 10, M. Doran 12, Coyier 8, Dong 3, H. Doran 2, Barnes, Waite, Rausch
Corvallis: Johnson 15, Redberg 6, Adams 9, Schrock 6, Oriakhi 5, Seitz 4, Westly 3, Kay. Laney 1, Kar. Laney

Facing the rival

Rivalry games are always important. You never want to lose to your rival and allow them to have bragging rights over you for however long until the next time you play.

Sometimes too much emphasis can be put on a single game. It’s hard not to focus on that rivalry game for obvious reasons. But put too much focus on that game and bad things can happen.

For the Corvallis High girls basketball team, Friday night’s game against crosstown rival Crescent Valley could be one of those games.

Sure, the Spartans want to win. But what if they lose? What if they don’t play well? What if …

The Spartans have been working hard each day in practice this week, they played exceptionally well against an overmatched Woodburn team that makes it hard to judge just how well they played and they must feel ready to play.

But for a program that hasn’t experienced much success against their rivals the past few years, they could be putting more into the game than they should.

They have been told all week that regardless of what happens Friday night, it doesn’t make that much of a difference in achieving their goals.

If they win, they beat their rivals. But its only the second game of the Mid-Willamette Conference season. If they lose, they lose. Again, its only the second game of conference.

The Spartans have the coaching and skill to beat nearly any team they have faced or will face in the regular season. They have shown that throughout the course of the first 11 games. Think too much about it and make Friday’s game bigger than it is, and that could be a recipe for disaster.

All the Spartans need to focus on is playing up to their potential. Do that and the result will work itself out.

Regardless, there’s a lot of season left to play.

Opening conference play with a win

There have been times this season when the Corvallis High girls basketball team has let teams they should beat hang around long enough to give them thoughts of a win.

At times it has come back to bite them.

That didn’t happen on Tuesday night.

The Spartans opened Mid-Willamette Conference play with a convincing 76-19 win over an overmatched Woodburn team that could find it hard to be competitive this year.

Corvallis came out and played solid defense and worked the ball on offense and took a 23-4 lead after the first eight minutes.

There was no letup as the Spartans used a 26-4 advantage in the second quarter to take a 49-8 lead into the half. Woodburn had just three field goals, and that total remained the same after a 22-1 advantage in the third quarter.

McKenzie Redberg was her usual harassing self on defense and used eight steals to help her get easy layups on her way to a game-high14 points. Katie Schrock hit a couple of threes and finished with 11 points while Gabe Johnson and Eva Oriakhi each added 10 in the win.

In fact, all 10 usual players scored at least three points,

The Spartans met the goals they set out for at the start of the game, so even though the score was lopsided, they didn’t get complacent.

It would have been nice to face a tougher challenge with crosstown rival Crescent Valley next up on Friday. The Raiders are coming off a 57-37 demolishing of No. 8-ranked West Albany on the road on Tuesday night.

If both teams play like they are capable, Friday night should be a barnburner at Spartan Gym.

Box score

Corvallis 76, Woodburn 19
WOODBURN 4 4 1 10 – 19
CORVALLIS 23 26 22 5 – 76

Woodburn: Katie Kalugin 7, Doman 4, Robles 2, Marquez 2, Biggs 2, Ivanov 2, Kaufman, Armstrong, Maldonado

Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 14, Schrock 11, Johnson 10, Oriakhi 10, Gerner 9, Adams 6, Kay. Laney 5, Seitz 4, Kar. Laney 4, Westly 3, Hendrickson, McGowan, W. Redberg

Almost time for the conference season to begin

It was a little tough to return to practice on Wednesday after four days off, but the players made it through and made it through the next two days before getting two more days off.

The nonconference part of the season for the Corvallis High girls basketball team would have to be deemed a success, not only in the record books, but by the improvements made during games and during practices.

The team is boxing out way better than it did when they took to the court for the first few weeks of practice. The players have learned a number of new offenses and defenses and you can see things start to click each day.

The Spartans are less than 48 hours away from opening the Mid-Willamette Conference season when they host Woodburn at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Spartan Gym.

The goals are much higher now than they may have been at the start of practice. A 7-3 record that easily could be 9-1 will do that. But that won’t make the MWC season any easier. In fact, it could make it tougher as you can bet no team in the conference will be looking past the Spartans this year.

Last year was last year and most, if not all, of the player have put a 4-10 record behind them. So that’s all that will be said about last year.

The feeling and belief is this team can challenge for the conference title. It certainly won’t be easy as night-in and night-out every team in the conference will be forced to play at the top of their game if they hope to come away with a win.

Some would say that Woodburn is a gimme win. The Bulldogs have struggled at 0-9, but anything can happen. The Spartans know that all too well from last year (oops, sorry no more of that).

The important thing is to play the best they can so they know what they are capable of. Prepare for the next game at the same time, but never look past an opponent.

There are seven more weeks of the regular season, with two conference games each week. The goal is simple — go 2-0 each week. If that happens, the Spartans will be right where they want to be as MWC champions and a win away from the state tournament.

It’s a long road and the players know they can’t look too far ahead. After what they have been through so far this season, and where they have come from the past few years, they understand that concept well.

TJNTD

Let the MWC season begin.