3A Basketball Championships Day Two: Amity girls grind out victory over Bruins; Pirates fall short of championship game with loss to Knights

Amity girls advance in consolation bracket

NORTH BEND - Despite a third-quarter injury to star point guard Ellie McMullen, the Amity girls basketball team gutted out a 38-36 win over Brookings-Harbor today in the 3A consolation semifinals at North Bend High School.

McMullen's 19 points in 19 minutes propelled the Warriors to a critical 28-17 lead by the middle of the third quarter. However, the junior guard suffered a non-contact injury to her left knee on a fast break opportunity and didn't return to the court for the remaining 13 minutes.

Without McMullen's three-point shooting (4-10) and defensive prowess (eight steals), Amity struggled mightily to put away the Bruins. Brookings-Harbor outscored the Warriors 11-6 in the third period to trim the Amity lead to 31-24 entering the fourth.

With the Amity offense without its primary scorer, Brookings-Harbor slowly seized all momentum in the final period. Bruin guard Faith Burton drilled a three-pointer from the left wing to hand Brookings-Harbor its first lead (34-33) with 3:47 left. The Bruins extended their advantage to three points when Ashlyn Schofield grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the putback.

"We got rattled for awhile," observed Amity head coach Jed McMullen. "We had some moments where we just lost our way."

Amity freshman forward Sara Grove seized an offensive board and dropped in a two-point bucket with 35 seconds remaining.

Trailing by one, the Warriors had possession with under 30 seconds left. With 19 seconds on the clock, Kylie Kendall drove to her left, then drilled a 14-foot pull-up jump shot for the 38-36 lead.

"I had to throw up the shot because there was so little time left. I had the ball and I decided to shoot it," noted Kendall.

Brookings-Harbor last-second attempt at a game-winning three missed short right, and the Warriors surrounded the injured McMullen in celebration.

"When she went down, it was definitely an 'oh crap' moment. we definitely needed her in this game. We had to fight for her," said Kendall.

Despite playing just over half of the contest, McMullen still tallied a game-high 19 points. Grove finished with eight points - all in the second half - and five steals. Kendall had five points, four rebounds and a block. Megan Scharf grabbed a team-high seven boards, while Mya Haarsma chipped in four points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals.

"This was a gritty win. I'm really proud of our kids. It's huge for our kids. We're young, so the experience here at the tournament is going to pay dividends down the road," said Coach McMullen.

Amity plays for fourth place tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. at Marshfield High School against Santiam Christian.

Dayton boys denied opportunity to play for state title

COOS BAY - The third-seeded Dayton boys basketball team suffered a 56-40 loss to the number-two ranked De La Salle North Catholic Knights during today's 3A state semifinal at Marshfield High School.

The Pirates led 7-6 halfway through the initial quarter when Tyler Spink swished a straightaway three-pointer. De La Salle North Catholic responded with seven of the final 11 points of the period to take a 13-10 advantage into the second.

Lucas Ashley's left-wing trey tied the contest at 16, but the Knights again retaliated to take a six-point lead (28-22) into the halftime break.

Spink scored seven of his game-high 20 points during the third quarter. He made a left elbow jumper to cut the Knight lead to 33-27 with 5:18 to go in the period.

Dayton defended the three-point line in the third quarter, and didn't allow a single outside make to the Knights. Still, De La Salle North Catholic maintained a five-point lead heading into the final period.

The Knights won the last eight minutes, 20-9, with high-octane offense and physical defending.

Michael Freeborn joined Spink in double-figures with 11 points and three rebounds.

The Pirates compete for third place tomorrow at Marshfield against top-seeded Westside Christian; tip-off is 12:30 p.m.