By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SILVERTON, Ore.– This game lived up to the hype. Even for a season-opening game for both of the squads involved Thursday night.
Silverton and Cascade both were coming off of strong playoff finishes, the Foxes finishing third in 5A with the Cougars finishing fifth in 4A respectively and both are looking for similar successes this season as they both got the ball rolling on the year.
Cascade, playing their first game under Glenn Norris as Head Coach, jumped out to a 6-0 lead within the first ninety seconds of the game and led the Foxes by five, 16-11, by quarter’s end. If there were any nerves to start for the 4A squad, they didn’t show it as they weathered a stronger second quarter by Silverton.
It was almost weird to say a strong start with the Cougars squad as of late, normally they start off slow points Cascade’s Olivia Bennett.
“We started off the game hot. At Cascade, we’ve never done that, we’ve always started slow and tonight we started hot,” said Bennett.
Bennett surpassed an important milestone Thursday night, surpassing 1,000 career points with her 11th point of the game. The senior finished with 20 points in the victory to lead the Cougars.
“I’ve been waiting for this since season started…it’s a big accomplishment for someone in 4A. I came out here, obviously looking for my teammates. We all came together this game, I know it wasn’t a win but we got close to one of the best teams in 5A right now,” said Bennett.
The Foxes started to build some momentum thanks to their defense during that second quarter, eventually taking the lead going into the half up 24-23. They pushed their lead to ten during the third quarter twice, only to see Cascade respond both times to keep the game within reach going into the fourth quarter.
It was 43-36 going into the fourth quarter, Silverton pushed their lead to seven thanks in part to a Karlee Martirano three-pointer in the closing seconds of the frame that gave them some extra breathing room.
“It’s just our team togetherness,” describes the Foxes Head Coach Alyssa Ogle. “Whenever you play in a basketball game against a good team and get an opportunity to get better, come out and perform…we love that. Our preseason is packed with tough opponents. Getting that first one is great, (Cascade’s) a good team.”
Both team’s kept each other in check to start the fourth quarter. Silverton couldn’t extend their lead, Cascade couldn’t make a run until they pieced together the early looks of a run in the final 1:57 of the game.
Down 48-40, Bennett was fouled shooting a three-pointer at the 1:48 mark of the game. She made the three, Cascade got a stop and saw Rozalynn Schmunk draw the Cougars back to within three with 1:27 in the game. Bennett got a quick steal and passed it to Schmunk, who had the looks for a lay-in that could have put further pressure on Silverton with a minute left, but Silverton got some traffic by the basket to throw Schmunk off target and the Foxes got the rebound.
“We were down ten, but we rallied back until the end of the game. We were not giving up, we knew that we could battle with this team,” starts Bennett. “It didn’t go our way tonight, but it’s just a preview of what you’re looking at for this season. We’ve been working in practice, our defense, our offense and this game is a little preview of what we’ve done working in practice.”
The Foxes slowed down the pace of the game, a rather high-pace and aggressive game to this point, and tried to draw the fouls to ice the game at the line. They drew the two fouls they needed with seven seconds remaining with Martirano, who finished with 21 points in the game, made both of her free throws that helped Silverton walk out of the tough game with a 50-45 victory on Wednesday night.
“It’s huge for confidence. We have different players on the floor. Marley Wertz fouls out, a starting player that’s an impact player for us. Emery (Yant) comes in for us, as a freshman and has to make big moments and big plays, but it’s just confidence all around for the team to know that ‘next person up,, and we’re going to five everything we got’,” said Ogle.
Silverton will head to McMinnville on Tuesday night for their next game while the Cougars are at Astoria on Tuesday night.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
