Mama said there would be days like theses

If there is one thing Joe Wiliamson expects out of his Corvallis High girls basketball team it is effort.

Williamson couldn't have been happier with the effort his Spartans put forth during Wednesday's OSAA 5A quarterfinal game, however the outcome could have been much better.

Corvallis scrapped and clawed back in the fourth quarter, but a 16-point third-quarter deficit was too much to overcome as Hermiston held on to knock off the Spartans 51-46 at the University of Portland's Chiles Center.

Corvallis (16-10) will take on Crater (14-9) in a loser-out game at 9 a.m. Thursday. The winner advances to play for fourth place on Saturday. Crater hung tough with Wilsonville before falling 66-52 in the first quarterfinal of the day.

The Spartans battled hard throughout, but an injury to first-team all-Mid-Willamatte Conference player McKenzie Redberg, 33 turnovers and a tough shooting night doomed Corvallis.

"All in all, you want the effort to be there and to shoot well," Williamson said. "The effort was there but we didn't shoot well. But I'll take the effort first."

Corvallis was just 16 of 46 from the floor and 1 of 12 from three for the game.

The Spartans trailed 25-22 early in the third quarter after Kayla Laney converted a three-point play. But Hermiston went on an 11-2 run to push the lead to 36-24 before making it 43-30 at the end of the quarter. The lead was 46-30 with 6:45 to play before the Spartans started chipping away.

Leah Seitz provided a spark off the bench during a 9-1 run with a couple of steals, a layup, a big rebound and outworked Hermiston standout Shoni Schimmel for a loose ball to give the Spartans possession.

"We needed someone to come in and play inspired basketball for us and she was the spark, on the floor diving, reading passes and getting out for steals," Williamson said. "I was proud of her."

So were her teammates.

"I'm so proud of Leah," point guard Gabe Johnson said. "At the beginning of the season she was having some tough times but she has improved so much and I'm really proud of her."

Seitz had a couple of things on her mind during the game.

"One was Z is out again once again so I have to make up for her and the other was I got injured and I haven't been playing as well since then and I just wanted top prove myself and say I can play well," she said.

Seitz was referring to the South Albany game when Redberg was sick and left at halftime. Seitz played most of Redberg's minutes and scored nine points to hep lead the Spartans to a win.

Despite being down 16 on Wednesday, Seitz said the Spartans never lost hope.

"I think we had the confidence," she said. "All of us were thinking this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so if we don't make the most of it then why are we here? So I think we tried to make the most that we could."

Seitz played more after Redberg was injured early in the second quarter when she and Shimmel fell hard to the floor.

Redberg didn't play the rest of the game. Her absence meant the Spartans had to make some major adjustments.

"As soon as she went down, our whole rotation process (changed) and who we were going to sub in to take Schimmel, now we really have no subs coming in," Williamson said.

Added Johnson: "It was really tough but I knew to trust in the team. I knew people were going to step up and I knew I had to step up."

The Spartans trailed 16-6 after the first quarter, struggling a bit with nerves and the Hermiston pressure. They committed nine turnovers in the first quarter.

"The pressure they put on, it takes a few minutes to adjust to it," Williamson said. "We did a pretty good job for the second half of the first quarter and the second quarter and then all of a sudden we came out in the third and it looked like we hadn't seen it and struggled a bit."

Johnson led the Spartans with 19 points while Alaina Adams added eight and Laney seven. The Spartans outrebounded Hermiston 47-28.

Schimmel led Hermiston with 14 but the Spartans forced her into 6-for-21 shooting, including 1-for-12 from three. The Bulldogs as a team were just 17-for-59 from the floor and 2-for-23 from three.

"For the most part we got back on defense and did a good job with that,"Williamson said. "We made them get in a half-court set and made the shots as difficult as we could."

The Spartans return to the floor early with the 9 a.m. game Thursday. They can still finish fourth with two wins.

"For me, I feel like this game was just like a wakeup call for what we're really at right now and I'm ready to go win those next two games," Seitz said. "If we don't win them, all hell will break lose."


Hermiston 51, Corvallis 46
CORVALLIS 6 13 11 16 -- 46
HERMISTON 16 9 18 8 -- 51
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 19, Adams 8, Kay. Laney 7, Seitz 4, Gerner 4, Westly 2, Schrock 2, Redberg, Kar. Laney
Hermiston: Shoni Schimmel 14, Stacona 8, Rowan 7, McCloud 5, Royer 5, Davis 4, Coombs 4, Whitsett 2, Vonarx 2, Cobb