No. 1 Lady Tigers face a run-and-gun No. 7 Hidden Valley squad
Ontario averaging 54.8 points a game
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 11:57 AM PDT
| |
| Ray Rodriguez | Argus Observer
Ontario head coach Jon Buck (front) goes over some game plans with his girls varsity squad Monday at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany. The No. 1-ranked Tigers kick off elite eight action at 1:30 PST today against Hidden Valley at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. |
Corvallis — Can you smell it?
Yes, it’s playoff time.
No. 1-ranked Ontario takes on No. 7 Hidden Valley at 1:30 p.m.today at Gill Memorial Coliseum in Corvallis with a chance to advance to the semifinals.
The Tigers have the likes of Stephanie O’Connor, Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili and Kim Boyd, while the Mustangs bring to the battle Jamie Richardson, Laura Silva and Megan Swanson.
In what could shape up to be a battle of wills, the Tigers enter action with the second-best ranked offense, averaging 54.8 points per game, while the Mustangs boast the 4A division’s best defense, which allows a paltry 28.3 points per contest.
Hidden Valley’s offense isn’t exactly a slouch as it averages 47 points a game in a high-energy, up-tempo style where it spreads the floor, looks to penetrate, pass and cut.
In many ways, Hidden Valley’s offense mirrors their counterparts from the east.
“They’re pretty similar to us. They like to run up and down the court. They have some good offensive players, and they are pretty well-balanced,” Ontario head coach Jon Buck said. “I think it will be a tough battle.”
According to the scouting report, the Mustangs like to run the ball and like to shoot quickly and crash the boards.
Buck has a simple game plan when it comes to slowing down the Mustang offense.
“We have to get back fast, and we have to pick up all their players. They all can do some kind of attacking and scoring against you. There some basic defensive things. We can’t just key on stopping one player like you can some of the teams you play.”
On defense, they like to run a full court press man, where they look to pressure the ball with the guards.
“If you stop your motion, they will just front and deny you and make it tough on you,” Buck said. “Because they’re pretty quick, they’re strong and they’re physical. Our key is quickness. We want to run our offense quickly, get people open and make them chase us all around. Hopefully, we can get some open shots.”
The Mustangs advanced to the third round of playoff action after a low-scoring 26-25 grudge match win over Junction City Friday.
Junction City won 10 of its last 11 games and was the No. 3-ranked team in the state.
Hidden Valley has won nine of its last 10 games against ranked teams, and claimed double-digit victories in eight of those games. The Mustangs boast a league best No. 1 power ranking and are ranked fifth in strength of schedule.
Ontario is currently on a 12-game winning streak and enters action after a 58-44 win over Douglas in second round action. In the game, Dzhidzhiyeshvili notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and O’Connor had an all-around game with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Eight different players scored for Ontario, which connected on 16-of-25 from the field in the second half to break open a 23-19 halftime lead.
Buck said the balanced scoring has led to the resurgence of the Lady Tiger squad.
“That’s one of the keys to why we have done well, especially the bench. They have stepped up and contributed scoring for us,” Buck said. “The defensive players are concentrating on the Alla’s, the Stephanie’s and some of the other players are going to get open shots. That has benefited us all year.”
Now that the season is hanging one game at a time, Buck’s main priority is making sure his team is prepared both offensively and defensively to take on some of the best teams in the state.
“I think we approach this game as ‘Are we prepared?”’Buck said. “If you look at what they have done, we’re prepared. We have practiced our defense, we have practiced our offense, so we know what we have to go out and do. Can we be quick enough? Can we read their defense well enough? Absolutely. I think they are confident that they are well prepared. They will always play hard, and I think that they know they can beat this team. They also know the other team can beat them if they don’t play well. It will come down to who plays the best defense.”
