HOLIDAY HEROICS

Courtesy of Chinook Observer

DAMIAN MULINIX photoThe Comets bench and head coach Bob Torppa, erupt with joy as Cheryl Steppe hit the game-winning shot in overtime Thursday night, giving the Naselle girls a 41-39

Comets get overtime win over Gulls

By PHIL RAISTAKKAObserver corespondentNASELLE - Ring the bell! Toot the horn! Beat the drum! What a way to open the Christmas holiday! The Naselle Comets girls gave their sparse crowd a great way to begin the Christmas season as they came from behind twice in the closing minutes of their victory over league rival Raymond.Pacific League game with the Raymond Seagulls girls team to beat the Gulls 41-39 in overtime. The game played Thursday, Dec. 21, in Lyle Patterson Gym saw the Comets improve their league record to 1-1 and 3-3 overall.Naselle Coach Bob Torppa said, "We needed this one. After losing a couple of tough ones, it did us lots of good to come back and win one the way that we won this one. I am proud of the girls in the way that they improved their ball handling and cut down on the turnovers in the second half. They hung in there and our shooting was better, probably the best it has been this season from both the floor and the foul line. We really did a good job of staying with it to come back and tie at the end of regulation and then come back to win in the last seconds of overtime."The Comets did just that, and overcame the adversity of losing their top scorer, Erin Saari, to fouls with 1:38 to go in regulation. The Comets were also still playing without the services of Brandi Keightley who is out with a hand injury until after the first of the year. With those two guards unavailable for the stretch run, Torppa called on the services of reserve Kelsey Fletcher and she more than filled the spot for the last five and one-half minutes of the game.It was anything but a cakewalk for the Comets to get to the point where they could win this game in overtime. The Gulls took an early lead and led 12-9 at the end of one period. The Comets then rallied to tie the score at 12 on Cheryl Steppe's two hoops, only to see the Gulls score six straight to pull out in front again. The two teams then traded points as Steppe, Ashley Ahlstrom and Saari scored for Naselle while the Gulls Tammy McGough and McKenzy Miller were scoring for Raymond. The Gulls led the second quarter scoring 12-11 and went in at the half leading 24-20.The Comets, with points coming from Kellyn Pakenen, Saari and Ahlstrom tied the game twice and briefly took the lead at 28-26, only to see the Gulls hold on for the third quarter lead at 32-30 after being outscored 10-8 in the period. Saari's four fourth quarter free throws, along with Ahlstrom's one freebie, nearly matched the Gull output, and the Gulls led by one when Saari drew her fifth foul. They added another free throw and led 37-25 with 48 seconds left in regulation time.However, Fletcher stole the ball and the Comets called time with 16 seconds left. The tying shot was missed but Ahlstrom rebounded and her putback tied the game at 37 with 3.6 seconds left in regulation time. The Gulls called time and they just did miss the winning shot on a full court drive, and the game went into overtime.The four-minute overtime was half over before either team could score. Jenny Klinger then dropped in a long deuce to give the Comets their first lead since early on the third period. However, McGough popped in another hoop and the game was tied again at 39 with a little over a minute left in overtime. McGough also drew a foul on her shot but she missed the free throw and Steppe pulled down yet another rebound (15 for the game for a double double to go with her 13 points) and the Comets called time with 17 seconds left. Playing for the last shot, Klinger missed a long two from the side but Steppe was there for her 15th rebound. She pulled it down and put the ball back in the hoop for a 41-39 lead with eight seconds left. The Gulls were not able to get off a good clean shot and the Comets had their first league win of the year, earned before the Christmas holiday."Hitting the board the way that we did gave us the chance to come back. We had some of our best shooting of the year and we beat a team that has a couple of league wins. If we keep that up we should be able to do well in Astoria," Torppa concluded.The Comets girls now enter the Vince Dulcich Tournament in Astoria where they open against the Astoria Fishermen today, Wednesday, Dec. 27, at 6:30 p.m. The Naselle girls will play their second game this Friday, Dec. 29, at 2 p.m. in the consolation game if they lose their first game, or at 6 p.m. in the championship game if they win their first game. The other two teams which will provide their second game opposition are Banks and Knappa.The Naselle girls have a busy first week of the New Year as they travel to Menlo to do battle with the Willapa Valley Vikings on Wednesday, Jan. 3, and entertain South Bend on Friday, Jan 5. Both games are Pacific League counters against two of the strongest teams in the league.

DAMIAN MULINIX photoNaselle’s Cheryl Steppe blocks away a rebound from Raymond’s McKenzy Miller. Steppe had 13 points and 15 rebounds in the game.

RAYMOND (39) - Tammy McGough 11, Miller 8, Kongbouakhay 6, Rutherford 6, Webber 6, Stepp 2, Khammala, Settlemyre;

Shooting: FG - 18 of 45 for 40 percent,

FT - 5 of 11 for 45 percent;

Turnovers (16)

NASELLE (41) - Erin Saari 15, Cheryl Steppe 13, Ashley Ahlstrom 9, Pakenen 2, Klinger 2, Fletcher;

Shooting: FG - 16 of 38 for 42 percent,

FT - 9 of 17 for 53 percent;

Rebounds (32): Steppe 15, Ahlstrom 6, Saari 4;

Assists (4);

Steals (6);

Turnovers (24)