The Bruin girls varsity basketball team, drew the #1 OSAA ranked Vale Lady Vikings after defeating the OSAA #17 ranked Oregon Episcopal Lady Aardvarks at home Wednesday evening. The second round of play-off games included a 10 hour, 550 mile road trip to Vale, Oregon, and an early 1:00pm Saturday tip-off time.
Two teams who have had similar game plans throughout the season, took the floor in Vale, with both teams immediately going into a defensive press to slow the others offense, and it became clear early on that the game was going to be a physical contest with hand checking, body contact permitted in an early end to end race to score and obtain a lead.
The physical play and constant pressure, combined with missed scoring opportunities put the Bruin girls in an early 3-8 deficit midway through the first. However, the Bruin girls continued to drive into the paint, in what appeared to a deliberate attempt to get to the free-throw line and put the Lady Vikings in early foul trouble, but the shots were not going in and the fouls weren’t being called, putting the Bruin girls behind 3-14 with 7 turn overs in the first period.
In the second period, Vale turned up the pressure continuing their full court press on the inbound, forcing the Bruin girls out of their offense and creating turnovers that turned into fast break points and trips to the foul line, leaving many Bruin girls player with multiple fouls as the Lady Vikings extended their lead to 7-27 into the half-time break.
In the third, the now very confident Lady Vikings continued their barrage, physically challenging ball-handlers, using their bodies to move Bruin ball-handlers off their spots forcing traveling calls and turnovers while keeping the Bruin girls off the free-throw line until the final seconds of the third period, on their way to 19 points in the period and a commanding 15-48 lead.
Vale closed out the final period adding 6 points to finish the game and move on to the quarterfinals with the 54-24 win.
“There are so many things to celebrate about this season, but I specifically want to celebrate the leadership of our seniors, Ella Reneau and Adison Hodges. Playing with a team full underclassmen can be challenging, but they were able to build relationships and help each other focus on their strengths.” head coach Kara Morris said after the game. “I also want to celebrate the growth in self-confidence and resilience this team had and we’ve got a solid group of girls coming back next year and they are motivated and unsatisfied with where we finished this year. As disappointed as we are with the season being over, after some rest and recouping, they are excited to keep getting better.”
