By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. Something just clicked for the Silverton Girls Basketball team there in the third quarter.
It was one of those tough starts to the game where nothing went their way. Uncharacteristic turnovers, fouls, and shots weren’t falling, and West Albany took full advantage of those Foxes’ miscues.
They were down as much as eight two minutes into the third quarter when they began to turn the tides of the contest. And it wasn’t until the 4:10 mark when they fully made their move.
Down 37-33, they used a 12-2 run to take a 45-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
It started with their defense, and it just built from there. They held Payton Stalwalt, who scored 21 points in the first half to nine second half points and slowed down the Bulldog offense enough to set them up for them to make a comeback. Stalwalt finished the game with a game-high 30 points for West Albany with five assists.
“Our defense, our talking, our communication. On defense, we all did our part, and I think that’s what got us going,” said Hadley Craig.
Craig led the Foxes with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the game. The senior scored 14 of those points and eight rebounds in the second half alone to upstart the Silverton offense Wednesday night after battling some early fouls in the first half.
It was grit, something that they at Silverton preach, and it showed there down the stretch.
West Albany came out strong in the fourth quarter, getting the game to 47-44 with 6:38 left in the game before Silverton buckled back down once more, closing out the game and advancing to the 5A State Semifinals for the second straight year.
“Our team motto is grit. Being tough, diving after every ball on the floor. Before the game (Silverton Head Coach Alyssa), Ogle said we had to value each possession and get after every ball. We all had it engraved in our heads,” said Grace Hayashida.
Hayashida and Allie Mansur each scored 12 points for the Foxes, who will play South Albany Friday afternoon at 3:15pm.
West Albany will play Springfield in the Consolation Semis Thursday morning at 10:45am. The winner of that game plays the winner of Wilsonville-Summit Saturday morning at 8 am.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
