Losing is never fun

McKenzie Redberg doesn’t have many fond memories of playing at Sherwood High.

The Corvallis High junior was frustrated following Friday night’s girls basketball loss against the Bowmen, partly because it was the first loss of the season, and partly because it was the last place she had lost prior to Friday night.

Redberg and her soccer teammates were knocked out of the 5A semifinals by the Bowmen in a shootout back in November.

That bitter taste was still lingering after the girls basketball team fell 50-36 to the Bowmen.

Losing is part of sports, but the Spartans didn’t do much to avoid that on Friday night.
Sherwood opened with a 16-0 run and had enough separation to withstand whatever the Spartans could muster.

The Bowmen needed almost all of those 16 points, even though the Spartans played what could be considered their worst game of the young season.

Down 18-4 after the first quarter, coach Joe Williamson wanted to see how his team would respond in the second quarter.

Defensively, they responded nicely, allowing just three free throws to the sixth-ranked Bowmen to close within 21-14 at the half. They had cut it to 18-14 with 2:22 left in the half before the three free throws.

It was a 25-21 Sherwood lead before the Bowmen rattled off an 11-2 run to regain control.
Missed layups, rimmed out shots and not boxing out hurt the Spartans throughout the second half, as did some solid shooting by the Bowmen.

Still, the Spartans were able to cut the deficit to 40-32 with 3:05 to play, but they couldn’t find Sherwood’s Megan VanNoy on three straight trips down the floor and the Bowmen pushed the lead back to double figures.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Williamson told the team after the game.

A true statement for a young team that is learning a new system, and how to win.

It was the first road test of the season, and now they return home for two more games before heading off to the Lake Oswego Tournament after Christmas.

A 3-1 record is quite an accomplishment, made better by improving the first three games.
Maybe the Spartans took a step back, but the effort was their throughout the game. Had a few shots fallen, who knows what could have happened.

Now comes the next step, regrouping after a tough loss. The Spartans had a short shootaround on Saturday morning after the long ride home Friday.

They get back to action on Tuesday, facing a North Eugene team that is 0-3 against 6A teams.