By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– It’s been quite a while since Chemawa’s last Girls Basketball Varsity victory. The Lady Braves haven’t won a game since December 1, 2023, when they defeated Slietz Valley before going to a JV schedule after Winter Break.
Chemawa’s last home victory, you would have to go back to February 10, 2023, against Kennedy for their last home victory at the varsity level.
Well. On Monday night, the Lady Braves got it done. Ending both droughts as they used a strong fourth quarter against Delphian in Tri-River Conference action to do so.
“I never knew it was that long, but knowing that we’re the first (home) win in two years is kind of cool. And we’re young too. We got room to improve,” said Chemawa’s Tyshaya Foster. “We just had to go through it even though it’s hard. I felt scared and nervous, but I just had to push through it.”
“This is the first time that we all played together, and I’m glad that we got it,” adds the Lady Braves’ Richelle Sipary. “We just battled, and we just had to compete as much as we can.”
Chemawa led 10-9 after the first quarter and built a 13-9 lead before the Dragons pulled ahead of Chemawa going into the halftime break 23-20. Delphian tried pulling away from the Lady Braves, leading 34-29 after three quarters, but the Lady Braves came back. Soon enough, it was tied at 34, and Piper Lockwood put Chemawa back ahead, 35-34, following a split at the free throw line.
Fouls limited the Dragons from possibly doing more and adding to their lead as they built up over the contest Monday night at Chemawa’s Moccasin Square Garden. But with the two team’s meeting up again Thursday in Sheridan, Head Coach Brandon Lidgard is hoping that it will be a slightly different result for his squad when the two squads have their TRC rematch.
“One, we gotta not foul as much. We got to keep our top girls on the floor and make more shots. We were missing a lot of shots inside,” said Lidgard. “It was definitely a game that I thought we had a chance to compete in. The girls have been building and building. This is a game where we’re still searching for that first league win. We’re looking forward towards that game on Thursday, and I think it’s going to be another great competitive game.”
Despite the foul trouble, Delphian kept it close. Chemawa led 41-39 with 3:34 left in the game and led by three with 1:37 left as they just kept finding ways to make the right plays when they needed to. And despite not being a packed crowd, those there for the Braves made it feel like there were more bodies in the stands whenever Chemawa made a good play.
The Lady Braves are at Kennedy in Mount Angel on Wednesday before heading to play Delphian on Thursday. Lockwood led the Braves with 14 points, Foster scored nine points, and Cierra Danford scored another eight for Chemawa.
Liv Curry led the Dragons with 15 points, and Masha Ershova scored another ten for Delphian.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
