After watching his team struggle running a play in practice on Thursday night, Corvallis High girls basketball coach Joe Williamson reminded his players of the importance of practicing like they would play in a game.
Don’t go half speed, don’t make lazy passes and most of all, prepare for that game situation because you never know when it will be needed.
Turns out Williamson knew just what it was going to take to get a win on Friday night against Mid-Willamette Conference rival West Albany.
The Spartans brought a 5-0 MWC record into the game against a 4-1 West Albany team that was coming off a 55-44 win over previously conference unbeaten Silverton on Monday.
Turns out the Bulldogs gave Corvallis all it wanted and then some through three quarters.
West Albany was beating the Spartans to loose ballsand on the boards.
But a pattented defensive performance early in the fourth quarter helped the Spartans break out to an eight-point advantage.
It was time to run Carolina, a play designed to run clock or get an easy basket, depending on the situation.
It was the same play that the Spartans struggled to execute on Thursday night.
They weren’t setting good screens and weren’t popping out right or not hitting the girl on the way up.
(Part of it was the defense knew exactly what was coming.)
There was no trouble making it look like a thing of beauty on Friday night.
The Spartans made prefect passes, set solid screens and ran more than 1:30 off the clock before West Albany coach Craig Swanson finally ordered his team to begin fouling.
And even though they didn’t score on the possession, the Spartans used that play to seal a victory as West Albany turned the ball over and Swanson told his players not to foul even though there was still 1:08 to play in and eight-point game.
The result was a crucial 45-36 victory over the Bulldogs that keeps the Spartans (12-2, 6-0) a game ahead of Silverton (13-2, 5-1), who they play on the road on Wednesday to end the first half of the MWC schedule.
The players were a bit frustrated on Thursday with running the play over and over, but not on Friday.
“In practice we struggled with it but then we came out here and actually ran it and we did it correct so it was worth it,” McKenzie Redberg said.
Added Karly Laney: “I personally thought it was tight because they broke down physically and mentally. The (West) girls were just sagging into the key and if we wanted to run it to get points we would have gotten the points. The key was wide open. They were confused, they didn’t know what to do, their coach was frustrated, they broke down and that’s how we took the game from them.”
The game was nip-and-tuck throughout the first three quarters as West Albany’s largest lead was four and the Spartans largest lead was three.
Corvallis closed the third quarter with three straight points to tie it at 32, then scored the first eight points of the fourth to take the eight-point advantage and change the complexion of the game with 5:44 left.
“We made it a lot more difficult than it needed to be,” Redberg said. “If we would have just executed and come out hard from the beginning and focused from the beginning it would have been a completely different game.
“We finally just calmed down. It took a while but we got it done when we needed to.”
Added Laney: “I think we all just found the desire to do it. I knew when coach was yelling at us I knew he was so right.”
Gabe Johnson led the Spartans with 13 points as all 13 came either on layups or from the free-throw line.
“You guys need to give Gabe a pat on the back,” assistant coach Tom Cox said in the locker room. “She’s a good point guard, one of the best in the state, and she’s taking it to the hole so hard and getting fouled, or not (getting) calls. You know how frustrating it is to get fouled and never get a call? She kept going and kept going. You need to give her a pat on the back.”
Alaina Adams added 10 points for the Spartans. And Whitney Redberg came off the bench and grabbed a few rebounds and made a crisp pass to a wide-open Katie Schrock for a layup to put the Spartans back up eight with 3:26 to play.
“All of their players just watched as the pass went through,” Williamson said.
That allowed the Spartans to be able to run Carolina on their next possession and put the victory away.
Corvallis 45, West Albany 36
WEST ALBANY 11 12 9 4 — 36
CORVALLIS 12 11 9 13 — 45
West Albany: Lacey Dixon 10, Barawis 8, Kastrava 6, Siegner 4, Jamison 4, Silsby 2, Kuntz 2, Hartman, Greber, Martin
Corvallis: Gabe Johnson 13, Adams 10, Gerner 6, Schrock 4, Kar. Laney 4, Kay. Laney 4, M. Redberg 3, W. Redberg 1
JV: West Albany 70, Corvallis 67
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