A second-half turnaround

Maybe it was the 6:30 a.m. wake up call, or maybe it was not realizing the season could end that quickly.

Whatever it was, the Corvallis High girls basketball team struggled through the first half of Thursday's 9 a.m. consolation game of the OSAA 5A tournament at the University of Portland's Chiles Center.

Whatever it was, coach Joe Williamson was going to make darn sure the Spartans knew he wasn't particularly pleased with the way they played the first 16 minutes against Crater.

So he let them have it in the locker room.

"I've only challenged them a couple of times in the locker room this year," Williamson said. "Even in big games or close games I try to stay calm and build confidence and tell them to relax. This game I thought they needed a little bit of ... to get in their heads. To challenge them, chew on them a little bit."

The Spartans heard their coach loud and clear.

In eight minutes they scored more points (19) than they did in the first 16 (15) and turned a 19-15 deficit into a 34-25 lead en route to a 56-38 win over the Comets and a chance to play for fourth place on Saturday.

"I think we really took it heart," senior Taylor Westly said of the halftime talk. "I think we knew it (heading) into the locker room.

"I think that makes it all the more powerful because he is normally quiet or enthusiastic. To have him get on us made us step it up and play our basketball."

The Spartans started the second half with more energy on the defensive end, and Katie Schrock caught fire from 3-point range. Schrock hit back-to-back threes to put the Spartans up 23-22 with 5:30 to play in the third. It was a lead the Spartans would never relinquish.

Kayla Laney hit a jumper and added a free throw before Schrock canned her third three of the quarter and all of a sudden the Spartans were up 29-22 with 3:15 left in the quarter.

"I think we wanted it a lot more," Laney said of the third-quarter run. "We kind of realized how important the game was. It could have been our last game. We didn't want to go out 0-2 in the state tournament."

The Spartans led 34-25 after three but the Comets trimmed the lead to 36-32 with 6:28 to play. But the Spartans responded and Schrock's fifth three of the second half capped a 12-2 run making it 48-34 with 2:51 to play.

Schrock was 5 of 7 from three and the Spartans were 6 of 13 overall.

"They can either make or break a game," Westly said of shooting threes. "Stepping up like that, props to (Katie). To hit five threes, that's no small accomplishment. I think the rest of us worked really hard in Carolina getting the screens and getting her so she was wide open for those."

The Spartans forced Crater into 21 turnovers and disrupted the Comets offense in the second half.

"I also think we played really tough defense as a team," Westly said. "The posts really got them off the boards and stepped it up and rebounded. We all contributed."

Schrock finished with 17 points, as did Gabe Johnson for the Spartans. Kayla Laney added eight points and eight rebounds.

The Spartans have a chance to finish fourth with a win over Ashland on Saturday. They believe that would be the best finish in the program's history.

"I get shivers up and down my body thinking no matter what we take home a trophy," Westly said. "We have a chance to finish higher than any other CHS (girls basketball) team has ever placed in state. That's a great opportunity and win or lose it's something this team will take away and come back here with as seniors."

The Spartans will face a tall test in Ashland, the Southern Oregon Conference champions. Ashland (25-3) is led by 6-foot-3 post Brenna Heater, who had 36 of Ashland's 48 points in an overtime loss to Willamette on Wednesday. She had 17 points and 12 rebounds in a 52-45 win over Bend on Thursday.

"Yeah, the big girl is an issue but our big girls are an issue too and they play hard defense," Westly said. "Our guards get up and pressure out there.We will be missing (McKenzie Redberg) in that pressure but I know we'll all step up and put the pressure on the guards and make it more difficult to look into the post."

Corvallis 56, Crater 38
CRATER 9 10 6 13 -- 38
CORVALLIS 11 4 19 22 -- 56
Crater: Leona Steel 11, Noon 9, Harding 8, Albright 4, Kappel 3, Heard 2, Britton 1, Deschamps, Sullivan, Hills, Smith, Sailing, Bonney
Corvallis: Katie Schrock 17, Gabe Johnson 17, Kay. Laney 8, Westly 7, Seitz 2, Gerner 2, Kar. Laney 2, Adams 1, W. Redberg