By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

AURORA, Ore.– Free Throws and Turnovers decided the North Marion and Stayton Girls Basketball game Tuesday night in a battle for second-place in the Oregon West Conference.

Faced with a huge hole in the fourth quarter, the Lady Eagles reiled on FTs from Alyssa Lindemann and Mariah Hollenbeck to tie the ball game up at 53 with 1:15 left in the ball game.

Both teams being in the bonus, the next foul against Stayton gave North Marion a two-point lead with 44.6 seconds left.

But following an inbound pass following the pair of Free Throws, a steal by the Lady Huskies forced the Eagles to foul as North Marion sealed the 59-54 with four late Free Throws late.

“They did a good job,” said North Marion Head Coach Dennis Melcher. “They stayed focused, kept battling.  They don’t panic.  I was wondering when Stayton came back, ‘ah no here they come’, but hey we did ok.”

The fight back was something that Stayton Head Coach Melissa Hollenbeck has been waiting for all year.

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to see all season,” she said.  “That fight, that desire and you know what, they gave it their heart.  They worked extremely well and I’m really, really proud of them .  Very proud of them.”

The first half had its fair share of runs sparked by strong defensive play.

The Lady Eagles were the first with a run as in the first quarter as Tess Hendricks hit two three-pointers and added a duece as the Stayton Ladies built a 17-6 lead early in the second stanza thanks to a strong physical play on defense.

“We were excited,” said Eagles Alyssa Lindemann.  “All of those shots, they went in and that got us more and more excited to just come out and play harder on offense and have lock down defense the whole time. “

However, turnovers hurt the Eagles following Madison Anderson’s lay-up to start the second when a Ally Umbenhower led stole a 11-point deficit and turned it into a 20-19 deficit.

The fight never ceased for both teams in the final three minutes, and behind a Rachel Doran buzzer beating lay-up, Stayton led 26-21 at the half, but momentum was in the balance before Kelsie Henry put that momentum in favor of the Huskies.

“It was crucial, we needed that to win and we knew what was at stake, and having that run helped us,” said Henry.

The lead was 48-39 following Henry going 1-2 from the charity stripe.

“We just had a slow start and Stayton came up fired up,” said Melcher.  “I knew they would and jumped on us and we just hung in there.  Then we hit a couple of shots and got a little momentum going our way back and that’s what happen.”

Hollenbeck knew that their lead in the first half wouldn’t last long against a Dennis Melcher-led team.

“I knew it would’ve last long,” said Hollenbeck with a laugh.  “Dennis is a very good coach and he has good players, they were just soft a little at the very beginning.  So it was trying to keep that going.

“We definitely have to keep that consistency up and consistency all across the board, not just offensively but defensively.  There were a few mental lapses and everything, they got a little momentum, got a few banks under belt and then, boom lights out.”

Then, a final hurrah, on a 14-5 run capped by free throws by Lindemann and Mariah Hollenbeck, the game was tied at 53 apiece with 1:15 left.

But, free throws against them and turnovers hurt the Eagles down the stretch.

“Last time we didn’t make our free throws and it came down to the end and the fact we made all of our free throws, or most of them, helped us in the long run,” said Henry.

Henry had a game-high 16 points for North Marion with Ally Umbhower with 14 points for the Huskies.  Madison Anderson of Stayton had eight points, five steals and eight rebounds.  Hendricks had 13 points and five assist.

Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013).  Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81