By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

LEBANON, Ore.–  It was a heartbreaking way to open the season for the Santiam Girls Basketball team at the Silver Cross Tournament at East Linn Christian Academy.  They fought back from a 13-7 halftime deficit to build a 25-17 lead with 4:25 left in the game.  Hitting their shots, playing crisper than they did in the first half before Open Door Christian, their opposition on this day Friday afternoon, began to pressure and caught the Wolverines in a jam.

The Huskies from the 1A The Valley 10 league, began to chip at the lead eventually tying it in the final minute.  Sending the game to Overtime where both teams traded three-pointers, Santiam getting theirs from Chole Lowery before a final push by ODCA separated the two battling teams in the 35-32 game.

“We battled really hard, we didn’t give up at all.  We stayed in the game,” Brooke Massey said.  “The second half we came out and we pushed in the third quarter.  I think once they started catching up, we started panicking  and once you panic everything starts falling apart.  It helped us because we now know what we need to fix and how we can adjust our offense because I think our offense messed with us.  Shooting.”

Massey and Emma Longfellow each led the offense each eight points each in the second half.  Massey finished with nine points and Longfellow with eight from the post as the Wolverines look to bounce back Saturday morning for the 10am game back at East Linn Christian.

“It’ll be a big game if we bounce back.  It’ll show that we can bounce back together,” Massey said.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald