Cedarcrest holds off Granite Falls
Published 11:30 pm Friday, January 16, 2009
GRANITE FALLS — The Cedarcrest Red Wolves defeated one powerhouse Murphy, now they’ll face another.
The Cedarcrest girls basketball team held on to beat the Granite Falls Tigers and its star center Audrey Murphy 56-52 Friday night in a Cascade Conference game at Granite Falls High School and are now headed towards a first-place contest against the undefeated Archbishop Murphy Wildcats on Tuesday.
The 5-foot-11 Murphy had her fifth straight double-double scoring 23 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and adding five steals, however only one of those points came in the pivotal fourth quarter.
Murphy, who faced constant double and triple teams, missed five shots in the final quarter and Granite Falls head coach Mark Neuman credits the Red Wolves defense for shutting down his star player.
“It is frustrating,” Neuman said about the pressure defense, “They did a nice job shutting her down in the second half.”
Cedarcrest tested the Tigers outside shooters by putting two defenders on Murphy at all times on offense.
“We put somebody behind her and had one of our guards get in front of her. She’s really physical and has a nice touch on her shot. She knows how to get position,” Cedarcrest head coach Angela Jensen said of Murphy.
The Red Wolves (3-0 in league, 7-2 overall) have had a rough season, having missed games for first snow and most recently floods.
Jensen said her team missed close to 21/2 weeks of practice but believes that, “All that adversity can only help you in the end.”
And it did help in the end of Friday night’s game.
After ending the third quarter on a 7-0 run and taking its biggest lead of the night at 41-34, the Red Wolves had to weather a few Granite Falls runs.
The Tigers would creep within four or five points before eventually cutting the Red Wolves’ lead to 46-45 with just under 3 minutes remaining.
That’s when Cedercrest’s Anne-Claire Den Hartog went on a run of her own, scoring six straight points and increasing the lead again to seven points at 52-45.
Granite Falls – thanks to the streaky shooting of Ericka Smith – had another run remaining.
Led by Smith’s 12 fourth-quarter points, the Tigers would trim the lead to 55-52 before Cedarcrest guard Jackie Smith’s free throw with 11.8 seconds remaining and an arrant pass by Granite Falls caused a turnover ending the game.
“I felt like we didn’t get the stops we needed to. We thought we had a plan to stop them,” Neuman said.
Four Red Wolves scored in double figures led by Taylor and Rachael Kevin, who scored 13 points apiece. Den Hartog and Sara Houser had 10 each.
“They played tough tonight. They definitely challenged us and I’m glad we’re walking away with a win,” Jensen said.
The loss was the first in league for Granite Falls. The Tigers three league wins have already equaled last year’s total when the team finished 3-11 in the conference.
At Granite Falls H.S.
Cedarcrest17121215—56
G. Falls13111018—52
Cedarcrest—Chapman 5, Den Hartog 10, Houser 10, Kevin 13, O’Donnell 4, Paquette, Richter 1, Taylor 13. Granite Falls—S. Spencer 2, Jensen 2, P. Spencer 7, Smith 12, Kramer 2, Hensley 4, Murphy 23. Records—Cedarcrest 2-1 in league, 7-2 overall. Granite Falls 3-1, 6-4.
