An impressive perfromance (or two)

Not even 16 hours of travel was going to slow down the Corvallis HIgh girls basketball team on Saturday.

And you can forget about those two weeks without a game as well.

No, the Spartans are on a mission it seems.

They want to get back to the Spartans of 2007-08. You know that team that would outwork anybody they faced.

And they want to prove to another state just how good they can be.

"We wanted to come out and send a message that we can beat anybody," senior McKenzie Redberg said. "We are here and we want to represent our school and our state."

So far so good as the Spartans (5-1) dispatched two overmatched opponents on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the Winter Slam Jam at Van Nuys High School in Malibu, Calif.

The Spartans took out their frustrations of the travel day, two weeks of snowouts and two poor performances against Willamette and Hermiston the last time they played against Viewpoint (Calif.)

Corvallis scored the first 32 points of the game and had so thoroughly dominated Viewpoint that a parent walked over to the Corvallis bench during a timeout two minutes into the second quarter and said, "Do you know it's Christmas coach? You could take the press off, it's 32-0."

The parent was quickly dealt with and escorted back to the other side of the gym.

It was a tough situation as coach Joe Williamson was about to tale the press off but he also knew his team couldn't stop playing hard because they needed the floor time to continue to improve.

Of course the fullcourt press was taken off but that did little to slow the Spartans.

Viewpoint hit two free throws to end the scoring drought with 6:04 to play in the quarter. However, it would not score again for more than a half of play as CHS led 71-2 early in the fourth quarter.

"I didn't know what to do," Redberg said afterwards.

No one did, really.

Gabe Johnson had 17 points, Katie Schrock 14 and Karly Laney 13 for Corvallis as every player saw significant minutes and every player but Jessica McGowan scored.

The team left the gym for dinner and came back to face St. Genevieve (Calif.) with a chance to advance to the championship bracket out of pool play.

And while St. Genevieve was able to take an early 4-0 lead after some sluggish play on both ends by the Spartans, it was not a sign of things to come.

The Spartans responded with an 11-0 run and firmly took control of the game, eventually winning 92-33.

All five starters scored in double figures led by Redberg's 20. Kayla Laney added 15 points, Alaina Adams and Johnson 14 each and Schrock 13. Even McGowan got into the scoring column with a free throw as all 10 players scored.

But what was nice to see was the effort the players exhibited throughout the two games. Even with big leads they were not about to slow down.

Case in point, in the third quarter against St. Genevieve the Spartans led by 30, yet Johnson and Redberg had steals on six straight possessions, with Redberg outrunning a St. Genevieve player for the ball and ended up with a layup to put CHS up 66-21.

"What I like about this tournament is we don't know anything about these teams and what to expect, so we have to go out hard no matter what and I think that is good for our team," Redberg said.

It wasn't just the defense that was solid, the offense used good passing and finished with 27 assists on 41 made baskets against St. Genevieve, and had 20 assists on 35 made baskets against Viewpoint.

Next up is a date at 6 p.m. on Monday against Sierra Canyon. Also in the semifinals are Oaks Christian and North Hollywood.

Corvallis 79, Viewpoint (Calif.) 12
VIEWPOINT 0 2 0 10 -- 12
CORVALLIS 23 26 19 11 -- 79
Viewpoint: Troxler 7, Winters 3, Keane 2, Trainer, Kessler, Alters, Davis, Hsu, Reeb, Rose, Sage
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 17, Schrock 14, Kar. Laney 13, M. Redberg 9, Gerner 8, Kay. Laney 7, Adams 6, Hendrickson 3, W. Redberg 2
Corvallis 92, St. Genevieve 33
ST. GENEVIEVE 12 8 3 10 -- 33
CORVALLIS 24 19 30 19 -- 92
St. Genevieve: Michele Espinueva 9, Megan 9, Cadiz 7, Manasco 5, Alvarez 2, Alvaringo 1, DeGuia, Martinez
Corvallis: McKenzie Redberg 20, Kay. Laney 14, Johnson 14, Adams 14, Schrock 13, Gerner 7, W. Redberg 4, Hendrickson 2, Kar. Laney 2, McGowan 1