By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
AMITY, Ore.– Amity found themselves up against the ropes with 5:50 left in the game against Creswell Saturday night in their Warrior Classic finale.
The Warriors led 32-29, and were up against a Bulldog squad that matched their intensity. Flying around and just outright kept Amity from getting back into rhythm that they were in early on in the game when they led 12-2 at the 1:48 mark of the first quarter.
“They’re just a good defensive team. Physical, aggressive. They muddied up the game. It’s what they want to do,” said Alyssa McMullen. “I think it was hard for us to adjust, partially because it’s the start of the season and we haven’t played a game like that yet.
“Going forward, we’ll definitely be ready for it. Just slow down and we imprived as the game went on and we better by the end of the game.”
Second game in the year and they were already tested like this. And it’s something that they hoped for with the slate that they are just getting underway doing as they began to pull away for good over those final 5:50 of the game.
They slowed down the game. They were patient in their approach as well as they rebuilt a double-digital lead, leading 40-29, behind an 8-0 burst with 1:13 left in the game. From that, they rode that momentum to the finish line in their 44-34 victory over Creswell.
“Just slowing the game down and staying confident within ourselves that we knew that we were going to come out and win and just playing like we knew we could play,” said Lyliana Rideout.
McMullen led the Warriors with 13 points and Rideout contributed another nine points in the victory.
Amity heads to play Scio on Thursday before starting the Capitol City Classic on December 20 against 6A Sprague.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
