Silverton’s Brooke McCarty (12) drives through Crescent Valley’s Cali McClave (23) in the Crescent Valley vs. Silverton girl’s basketball game at Silverton High School on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2015.
SILVERTON – Good teams make their own breaks, and great players play a big part in those.
The No. 2-ranked Silverton High School girls basketball team improved to 12-0 – the Foxes are the only undefeated Class 5A team in the state – with a 45-27 win against Crescent Valley in a Mid-Willamette Conference game on Wednesday.
With Silverton holding a slim 30-25 lead going into the fourth quarter, sparked by senior wing Alia Parsons, the Foxes went on a 15-0 run to put the game out of reach.
It’s not a coincidence when Silverton needed a spark, the team’s only senior and one of the top players in the state provided it.
“She’s played a lot of varsity basketball,” Silverton coach Tal Wold said. “It’s her fourth year playing. I think that’s key. She’s a captain and a leader, and she’s really kind of taken that seriously. Some of that comes from that, we got to get going, I got to do a better job here.
“She did come on and a key for her is that focus and concentration of playing, whether your shot’s going or not, for 32 minutes. That’s an important part of her piece is keeping that focus. Sometimes she can drift in and out, and we needed her.”
In a game in which it seemed like there was a lid on the rim for Silverton, the Foxes figured out a way to win.
Silverton shot 30 percent (17 of 56) from the field and 22 percent (6 of 27) from 3-point range.
But in the fourth quarter the Foxes turned defensive stops and defensive rebounds into easy baskets in transition.
Silverton’s Maggie Roth (20) moves with the ball between Crescent Valley’s Marin Plemmons (22) and Vanessa Taylor (12) on Wednesday.
The ability to close out games like Wednesday’s is a good sign for Silverton.
“I think we’re just mentally tough,” Parsons said. “When it comes down to it, it’s mental toughness. It’s all in your head. We’re all a bunch of skilled players. If we have a positive attitude we know we can pull through.”
Inevitably the season will get harder for Silverton (2-0 Mid-Willamette Conference).
And it gets tougher quickly.
The Foxes host No. 4 Corvallis (9-3, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday with their share of first place in the conference at stake.
A Silverton team that is No. 1 in the OSAA’s power rankings has gotten used to life on top.
“It’s a big target on your back,” said junior wing Hannah Munson. “In practice every day you have to go hard because you know the next team wants to beat you just as bad as the one before.”
Crescent Valley led 13-12 early in the second quarter on a lay-up by Elisia Harder.
But Munson hit a 3-poitner to give Silverton the lead back on the ensuing possession, and the Foxes led 25-18 at halftime.
The Raiders (4-7) cut Silverton’s lead to 30-25 on a lay-in by Taryn Gray.
Munson hit another 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter, Parsons scored six of Silverton’s next eight points, and the Foxes scored 15 straight points to put the game out of range.
“We share the ball well so we’re not all a bunch of individuals,” Parsons said. “I think none of us are concerned with how much we score. How much we win by is a better measurement of our success. So the more we move the ball, the more it feeds us to keep pushing.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
Silverton 45, Crescent Valley 27
Crescent Valley: Elisia Harder 12, Gray 6, Huang 3, McClave 3, Taylor 2, Daniels 1, Van Laere, Plemmons, Moore, Hollon. Totals 12 1-9 27.
Silverton: Alia Parsons 11, McLaughlin 8, Munson 6, Roth 5, H. Smisek 5, E. Smisek 5, Ulven 3, McCarty 2. Totals 17 5-12 45.
|
CV |
11 |
7 |
7 |
2 |
— 27 |
|
SIL |
12 |
13 |
5 |
15 |
— 45 |
3-point goals: Crescent Valley 1 (McClave); Silverton 6 (McLaughlin 2, Munson 2, Ulven, Parsons).