Off the mark
Maidens lose pair at Tip-Off Tournament to open season
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CORVALLIS - The Maidens opened the season with a tough test at the Northwest vs Southwest Tip-Off tournament this weekend as they opened the year with a matchup against Anaconda.
The Lady Copperheads are coming off a 2009-2010 season in which they finished third in the state in Class A, and the team looked to be back in midseason as they downed Ronan, 66-16.
The Maidens were able to bounce back with a good showing against Corvallis Saturday as they fell to the Lady Blue Devils 43-34.
“I think that our kids are resourceful. I like the way they responded after basically getting shellacked by Anaconda on Friday,” head coach Doug Fisher said. “They came back the next day and just put it behind them. That tells me something about the character of these kids.”
Defensive rebounding troubles cost the Maidens in their opening game against Anaconda at Hamilton Friday as the Lady Copperheads repeatedly turned second-chance opportunities into points.
“That first game, we just didn’t get bodies on bodies. We gave them way too many second chance opportunities,” Fisher said. “They were able to get nearly 80 shots up against us. They averaged about two and a half shots per trip down the floor. That was a back breaker.”
Ronan also had trouble finding the basket in the contest, shooting just 17 percent from the field while committing 25 turnovers.
“We got great looks. I thought there were only a couple of shots that went up that were not what we wanted. We got the shots we wanted,” Fisher said. “We were executing our offense and we just didn’t get anything to fall. With our lack of rebounding, that meant we were one and done.”
The Maidens were cold from the field throughout the game, and Ronan fell behind early as Anaconda built an 18-3 lead after one quarter of play. The Lady Copperheads continued to score in the second frame, building a 39-8 halftime advantage. Anaconda outscored the Maidens 27-8 in the second half as the Lady Copperheads got the win.
According to Fisher, the lack of baskets by the Maidens kept the girls from setting up the defenses they wanted to run in the contest.
“We were able to get into our half-court trap, which is probably our best defense, only nine times,” he said. “We came away with seven turnovers, and they only scored twice.”
Tailyr Irvine led the Maidens with six points in the loss while also adding a team-high seven rebounds. Mariah Cheff and Courtney Clairmont each added three points while Ashley Grandchamp and Justice Burland had two points each.
The Maidens played a much better game against Corvallis on the second day of the tournament Saturday, outrebounding the Lady Blue Devils in a hard-fought game.
Free throws were the Achilles’ heel for the Maidens in the contest as Ronan made just 5-22 from the foul line on they way to a 43-34 loss.
“We played well enough to win against Corvallis. We won the rebounding battle. Our press was fantastic,” Fisher said “The problem was that we went 5-22 from the foul line. We just could not get a free throw to go down. I thought we outplayed them, though.”
Clairmont led the Maidens in the loss with a career-high 10 points and four rebounds while Irvine added six points and eight rebounds. Cheff also scored six points, Ashleigh Lynch added five points and six rebounds, Grandchamp had five points and four assists and Burland added two points.
The Maidens season continues this week as they play at Hamilton Friday before hosting Mission Saturday.
Corvallis 43, Ronan 34
Ronan 6 7 8 13 - 34
Corvallis 15 13 5 10 - 43
RONAN - Clairmont 10, Irvine 6, Cheff 6, Lynch 5, Grandchamp 5, Burland 2.
CORVALLIS - Conder 17, Mosbrucker 12, Jessop 5, Powell 4, Hannahan 3, Butt 4.
Anaconda 66, Ronan 16
Ronan 3 5 6 2 - 16
Anaconda 18 21 17 10 - 66
RONAN - Irvine 6, Cheff 3, Clairmont 3, Grandchamp 2, Burland 2.
ANACONDA - Jense 13, Moodry 12, Stanberry 9, Green 6, Flynn 5, Stergar 4, King 3, Verlanic 3, Forhan 3,, Champman 2, Morani 2
