Game-changing calls costly

Joe Williamson had nothing but praise for his Corvallis High girls basketball team after their tough 60-58 loss to 6A Aloha on Wednesday afternoon at the Nike Laker Interstate Shootout at Lake Oswego High.

The Spartans were down double digits in the third quarter and had just lost starting point guard Gabe Johnson to a rather questionable flagrant foul call.

Johnson was using a “swimming motion” to try to break free from the grasp of an Aloha defender, when her hand apparently hit the player in the face, prompting the official to call her for making a swinging motion to the face and ejected her. Anyone who knows Gabe knows she wouldn’t throw a punch.

Instead of panicking — well, OK, they may have panicked a bit for a possession or two — the Spartans rallied without their leader. Eva Oriakhi came in and scored all nine of her points in the quarter. Freshman Whitney Redberg saw action in her first varsity game. One by one players stepped up and all of a sudden the Spartans had the game tied at 58 thanks to two free throws from Katie Schrock with under 30 seconds left.

Then the game changed again, on the same official’s second questionable call, when Syree Gerner was whistled for a foul on a 15-foot jump shot. The shot hit the front rim.

Instead of playing a four-minute overtime, the Spartans could only watch as Aloha’s Heather McFarland calmly sank both free throws and the Warriors escaped with an official-aided victory.

The Spartans showed a lot in that loss. They battled through early foul trouble to starters Alaina Adams and McKenzie Redberg, the loss of their floor general and a pretty solid Aloha team that came in 6-2. They nearly overcame a woeful 20-for-37 performance from the free-throw line.

Despite all of that, the Spartans appeared upbeat in the locker room following the loss. They had nothing but praise for the performances of their teammates. Sure, they were upset, but they knew it was a gutty performance and that they can overcome a lot the next time they are faced with a similar situation.

There certainly was no letdown a few hours later when the Spartans returned to the court to take on Glencoe.

The Spartans jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead that included a sweet change-of-direction layup by Johnson, then a steal and layup by Taylor Westly.

About the only disappointment was allowing Sarah McNeilly to get open in the paint and score the Crimson Tide’s first 10 points. In a nut shell, the Spartans were making McNeilly look like and All-American, at least that’s how assistant coach Nova Sweet described it.

McNeilly finished with 17 points, but only seven over the last 21 minutes. CHS limited the Crimson Tide to just two free throws in the second quarter.

The game allowed Jessica McGowan, a freshman, to see her first varsity experience as the Spartans kept up the early advantage and cruised to a 51-28 win.

It was a nice rebound game, and one that allowed the Spartans to quickly get the tough loss out of their system and ready to face another solid team Thursday when they face 6A South Medford. The Panthers came away with a 65-60 win in their only game on Wednesday.