Tough championship loss

Editor's note: Sorry for sucha long delay in getting this up from last week. Had too much fun in California. Thanks for your patience.


McKenzie Redberg stood in the corner of the Van Nuys High School gym late last Wednesday night.

The frustration from a difficult 76-69 double-overtime loss to Oaks Christian (Calif.) in the championship game of the Winter Slam Jam tournament evident on her face.

Redberg could only listen and relive the painful ending to a game the Spartans had all but won late in regulation and early in the first overtime.

But missed free throws and a failure to execute proved costly.

“It’s hard to look for the positives,” Redberg said just after the postgame talk ended that night. “I mean, we were up by seven (in regulation) and in both overtimes and we gave it away. It shows we could have put it away, but we need to execute and get better and calm down and settle down and run what we need to do.”

The Spartans led 58-51 with 2:22 left in regulation after Karly Laney’s strip at the free-throw line led to Redberg’s layup.

After Oaks Christian cut the lead to 58-54, Gabe Johnson missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw attempt and Katie Brooks’ basket made it 58-56.

Johnson missed another front end free throw with 22 seconds left and Oaks Christian had a chance to tie.

And Brooks made sure she had the ball and scored with six seconds left.

The Spartans missed a game-winning shot and went to OT.

Syree Gerner, who had a team-high 23 points in a breakout performance, drained a 3 and hit a 14-footer to put CHS up 63-58 in the first OT.

But Brooks, who scored 11 of her game-high 37 in the two overtimes, scored seven straight points to put Oaks Christian up 65-63.

Redberg then scored to tie the game and got a turnover on the inbounds play.

But the Spartans weren’t able to score and Oaks Christian had a chance to win.

However, the Lions failed to get a shot off and the game went to a second OT.

Redberg gave the Spartans the start they wanted with a 3, but Oaks Christian held the Spartans scoreless the next three minutes and pulled away for the win.

“We all make mistakes, we all learn from them but next time we’re in the state championship or like that we’ll know and think back to California and not let that happen,” Johnson said.

The Spartans opened with a 10-0 run and led 37-22 at the half and looked well on their way to another easy win in the tournament.

However, Oaks Christian used a 23-11 spurt in the third quarter to get right back into the game.

The game went back-and-forth with some physical play and intense moments throughout the fourth quarter and both overtimes.

Neither team backed down.

“It was a fun game all around,” Redberg said, with the exception of the outcome, of course. “It was intense. We haven’t really had a full intense game. It was good competition for what we need at state.”

It could be another one of those “learning” experiences for the Spartans.

Both losses this year have been games the Spartans could have won against tough competition — Willamette and Oaks Christian.

“Against Willamette that was a hard loss,” Johnson said. “I know this loss, we had some things we did wrong, we all take blame for what we did. It’s a game, we just have to keep playing.

“I think it was a good experience, but like Joe (Williamson) said we never really had an overtime experience yet this year. I think we all really wanted it but you know ...”

While the loss was difficult, it didn’t put a too much of a damper on an otherwise successful trip to California for the Spartans.

“It’s been good for our team chemistry,” Redberg said of the trip. “Even just being here for four days we’ve been able to click and do things a lot better on and off the court and it shows how close we are. It’s really fun down here.”

The trip is over and the Spartans open Mid-Willamette Conference play at 6-2 with Woodburn at home on Monday night.

Oaks Christian 76, Corvallis 69 (2OT)
CORVALLIS 16 21 11 10 7 4 — 69
OAKS CHRISTIAN 9 13 23 13 7 11 — 76
Corvallis: Syree Gerner 23, M. Redberg 15, Schrock 13, Johnson 6, Adams 5, Kay. Laney 4, W. Redberg 2, Kar. Laney 1
Oaks Christian: Katie Brooks 37, Owusu 14, Barrett 12, Roce 5, Au-Speakes 4, Landa 4, Cooper