Grizzlies regain control in SRV
Fruitland outscores Weiser 27-11 in first half, wins 52-35

By: Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:25 AM PST

RAY RODRIGUEZ | ARGUS OBSERVER Fruitland’s Bailey Rhinehart (left) glides in for a one-handed shot in front of Weiser’s Marquita Palmer during the first half of their Snake River Valley Conference game Tuesday in Fruitland. The Grizzlies won the game, 52-35.

Fruitland—Reserve senior guard Jennalee Ryan threw down a layup at the buzzer and sent an emphatic statement for the Fruitland girls basketball team — they would not go down without a fight.

In a physical battle on the court, the Grizzly defense limited Weiser to four first-half field goals, 21 total turnovers and a 14-of-42 effort from the floor in their 52-35 victory over Weiser in Snake River Valley Conference girls action Tuesday in Fruitland.

The victory was quite a turnaround for the Grizzlies, who shot 23 percent in their 45-32 loss in Weiser Jan. 10.

Fruitland’s Jarica Martarano said she and her teammates wanted to make sure history did not repeat itself.

“We prepared all week for Weiser, so we knew that they were not going to beat us again. We had it in our minds,” Martarano said. “We have gone through a lot of bumps in the road this year, and we wanted to show everyone in the community that we’re real, we’re Fruitland and we don’t like to lose.”

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The difference for the Grizzlies was their full- court pressure defense.

Aided by the defense, the Grizzlies took control early on, with an 11-5 spurt after one quarter of play, and started the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 21-5 lead with 4:27 left in the second.

With the score 21-5, Weiser’s Melanie Wasrud ended the drought with a 3-point basket, with 3:07 left in the half, to draw the Wolverines to a 21-8 deficit.

After a layup by Martarano, Wasrud struck again on Weiser’s next possession to make the score 23-11, but the Grizzlies connected on four free throws down the stretch to increase the lead to 27-11 at the break.

Things started out on a positive note for Weiser in the second half, as they rallied on back-to-back layups by Mary Lancaster and a short jumper by Ana Overgaard to draw to within a 27-17 deficit.

Holt had seen enough and called a timeout to settle her team down.

The timing of the timeout was perfect.

The Grizzlies answered Weiser’s run and landed the knockout blow with an 11-0 spurt to put the contest on ice.

Chelsea McGinley kicked the run off with a layup at the 5:40 mark, and Bailey Rhinehart followed with another layup to give the Grizzlies a 31-17 advantage.

A basket by Hailey Felgenhauer, and a jumper by McGinley swelled the lead to 35-17.

Weiser came up empty after a timeout, and Fruitland’s Sarah McGinley capped the run with a 3-pointer to make the score 38-17 with 2:58 left in the quarter.

Once the buzzer sounded ending the third, the Grizzlies were up 42-20.

Weiser outscored Fruitland 15-10 in the fourth quarter but could not get the deficit under double-digits.

Wasrud led with 12 points, and teammate Meredith Clark added nine points for the Wolverines.

Stephanie Rule scored 11 points to lead the Grizzlies, and she was followed up by Felgenhauer’s 10 points.

Fruitland (14-4 overall, 5-1 SRV) travels to Homedale Friday, while Weiser (10-9 overall, 5-2 SRV) hosts Payette for senior night Friday.

Payette ........................46

McCall-Donnelly ...........32

Payette

The Payette Lady Pirates tasted victory Tuesday night in a girls Snake River Valley Conference game against McCall with a 46-32 win.

Payette’s seniors stepped up and scored 33 of the Lady Pirates 46 points, with Hailey Schmidt logging a triple-double with 14 points, 13 blocks and 10 rebounds.

Shelbi King added 12 points and two steals.

Payette wasted little time taking control of the game, and by the end of the opening quarter, the Lady Pirates led 17-8 and never looked back.

Despite being outscored 20-17 in the second-half, Payette was able to hang on.

Payette tallied 10 steals and 13 blocks and committed only 13 turnovers in the game.

Payette (4-16, 2-5 SRV) travels to Weiser Friday.

Baker City ....................45

Ontario ....................... 30

Baker City

Ontario head coach Jon Buck said his team played too tentatively and made too many mental errors on their way to a 45-30 loss to Baker City in Greater Oregon League play Tuesday in Baker City.

The Tigers trailed 10-6 after the first eight minutes of play and trailed 21-10 at the half.

Kim Boyd led with 11 points, and Chris Babij pitched in with seven.

The Tigers (8-9 overall, 2-2 GOL) travel to Mac-Hi Saturday.