Colville faces busy week

December 15, 2011

Cheney’s Courtney Sewright blocks out Colville’s Erin Little.

Colville High downed a couple of Great Northern League foes in non-league girl’s basketball last week.
The Lady Indians (3-1) got 17 points and 12 rebounds from senior post Ashley Knight in an impressive 60-41 win at home Friday over old GNL rival Cheney (2-2).
The Indians’ aggressive full-court pressure defense took the Blackhawks out early. Colville led 14-4 after one quarter and was able to maintain the energy and pressure.
Last Tuesday at home against East Valley, CHS ran to a 16-7 first quarter lead before falling behind and then retaking the lead in the second half. Colville rallied in the fourth quarter with some heavy man-to-man pressure. The Indians outscored EV 18-7 in the period to record a 54-46 win.
THIS WEEK
Colville will host Lakeland (Rathdrum, Idaho) on Thursday (5:30) and will travel to Medical Lake to face the Cardinals on Friday (5:30).
CHS will travel to Okanogan next Tuesday for a non-league date with the always tough Bulldogs of the Caribou-Trail League. That game is scheduled for an early 2 p.m. start.
RECAP
Colville played some of its best basketball of the early season to date last week in beating East Valley and Cheney.
Despite the comeback win over East Valley, Colville co-head coaches Al Bushnell and Ray Clark weren’t particularly pleased with the defensive effort, especially inside against the EV posts.
“They beat us on the blocks badly,” Clark said. “We weren’t able to get enough guard pressure and their posts got the ball too easily.”

A come-from-behind win over East Valley

But the two veteran coaches were pleased with the way their mix of veteran seniors and talented sophomores battled and came from behind.
“We played well in the fourth quarter,” Bushnell said. “So far, that’s been our strength.”
The Indians have a deep rotation and are able to keep fresh legs—and the pressure on.
“We are able to use nine and 10 kids,” Clark said.
“That has been a point of emphasis,” Bushnell added. “When the kids get the chance to contribute, we expect them to come in and help out.”
The Indians took better care of the ball against Cheney. CHS totaled 21 turnovers against East Valley. They had 18 in a very good win over Cheney.
Senior Erin Little led Colville with 13 points against East Valley. The 5-11 Little pulled down eight rebounds. Knight added 12 points and 10 boards.
Colville was 36.7 percent from two-point distance against EV (11 of 30) and four of 11 from three-point distance. Little had two of those treys.
The Indians were 15 of 38 from two-point distance (39.5 percent) and two of nine from three against Cheney.
Senior guard Tasha Luu was four of eight from the field and scored 11 points against the Blackhawks. She dished out five assists against EV and three more in the Cheney game.
Bushnell and Clark also had praise from point guard Taryn Main. The sophomore has been sharing duties at the point with fellow sophomore Sadie Learn. But Learn was ill and didn’t play against Cheney.
“She did a good job,” Clark said. “She set a really fast pace and took care of the ball really well.”
The Indians got solid minutes in the Cheney game from Knight, Luu and Jessie Wittmeyer off the bench.

Wittmeyer has big night against Cheney

Wittmeyer, another of those sophomores, turned in the best game of her young career to date with 15 points against Cheney. She was three of five from the field from two-point distance, hit her only three-point attempt and was six of eight from the line. She also dished out three assists and had only one turnover. For good measure, the 5-4 guard also pulled down nine rebounds and had three steals.
“Cheney was a little rattled,” Bushnell said of Colville’s relentless pressure. “But that’s our goal…create a pace they (opponent) aren’t comfortable with…get out and get going.”
But as Bushnell cautioned, “We are still a work in progress. We still have to get better at a lot of things.”
“It’s getting better as we go along,” added Clark.
The players are beginning to grasp Bushnell’s offensive sets. On defense, look for the Indians, who have pretty much been working off one press to date, to incorporate a few more in Clark’s package.
“We have another busy week, but three full days of practice is going to help us,” Clark added.
ELSEWHERE
In action last week involving Northeast A League teams, Lakeland (5-3) got past Riverside 43-37 last Tuesday night at Chattaroy.
Cieana Close led a balanced Hawks’ attack with 10 points.
Courtney Davis led Riverside with 15 points.
Lakeside downed Deer Park 52-45 behind Tayler Flemming’s 15 points and Ashley Cook-Cox’s 13.
On Saturday, Lakeside (4-1) got 13 points from Tayler Flemming in a 44-30 win at Nine Mile Falls over winless St. George’s of the Panorama League.
Newport (5-0) stayed unbeaten, downing Medical Lake 58-27 last Tuesday night in Pend Oreille County.
Taylor Lewis had 17 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists for the Grizzlies, who outscored ML 18-4 in the first quarter and led 35-10 at the half.

Surprising Deer Park plays Newport tough

On Friday night, Newport got a late free throw from Courtney Weise and a field goal in the final seconds from Alex Newcomb to break a 60-60 tie and propel the Grizzlies past Deer Park, 63-60 in non-league girl’s basketball.
Lewis led Newport with 22 points. Miranda Frederick added 20 for NHS.
On Friday, Medical Lake picked up its first win of the season, beating Chewelah 50-38 behind Sabrina Earl’s 16 points. Kelby Wegner added 10 for the Cardinals (1-3).
Katelyn Garner led Chewelah (1-4) with 13 points.
Chewelah lost to Northwest Christian 46-6 at Colbert on Saturday night. Chewelah was held scoreless in the first and third quarters.
Fellow NEA unbeaten Freeman (3-0) got 12 points from Molly McIntyre in a 48-37 win over Lake Roosevelt.
Freeman downed Cheney 47-40 on Saturday behind Katie Vold’s 14 points and Sierra McGarity’s 12.
Riverside (3-3) got past Medical Lake 42-30 on Saturday behind Courtney Davis’s 13 points, 12 boards, five steals and five assists.

Colville 60, Cheney 41
Cheney 2 14 18 7— 41
Colville 14 15 12 19— 60

Cheney—C. Brown 10, Peterson 4, Vergo 4, Lake 3, Labish 1, Ward 8, A. Brown 11.
Colville—Luu 11, Brons 4, Little 5, Main 4, J. Wittmeyer 15, Knight 17, Cabbage 3, Lehman 1.

Colville 54, E. Valley 46
EVH 7 19 13 7— 46
CHS 16 13 7 18—54

East Valley—Rankin 7, Sol 4, Bellamy 4, Brady 6, Reynolds 2, Wallman 7, Christianson 6, Munns 3, Connors 2, Phan 5.
Colville—Knight 12, Cabbage 2, Wittmeyer 5, Main 3, Little 13, Learn 5, Luu 7, Brons 7.