By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.– The Blanchet Catholic Girls Basketball team rebounded well from the press defense of Valley Catholic on Wednesday as they jumped out to a 32-13 halftime lead on 1A’s Willamette Valley Christian of Brooks Thursday night at home.

The Warriors came out a lot more soundly and physical than they did in the first half however.  Taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the Cavaliers to keep Blanchet on the toes in their season-opener, causing Blanchet to call timeout to refocus and reboot as a unit.

“We talked a lot during halftime about making silly mistakes and making sure that we know our role and doing exactly what we’re supposed to be doing and I think we came out a little bit too high from the first half.  We came back (for the second half) and dipped a little bit and we were like, ‘we have to get back into it’.  So just kind of talking a lot… a lot of talk, we talk a lot more on defense than we have in the past, which helps us a lot too,” Abby Weber said.

Weber led the Cavs with nine first half points and finished with 12 points in the 62-35 home victory.  Ella Peeraboom and Maya Privratsky each finished with six points for Willamette Valley Christian, who head to Faith Bible/Life Christian before opening Casco League play December 9 versus Perrydale.

Grace Weber and Pauola Diaz-Hermosilla each added nine points as Blanchet heads to Oregon Episcopal Tuesday evening, looking to build from Thursday’s win into their next game.

“I think taking that and looking at some things that we didn’t do as well in the second half than we did in the first half and seeing what we can improve on.  Picking those things and ‘ok, these are the things we need to work on’,” Weber said.  “So just little things and trying to remember to take it to practice tomorrow and hopefully our game.”

Photos By Jeremy McDonald