Comets girls beat Huskies with huge fourth quarter in tourney opener

Courtesy of The Chinook Observer
2/21/2007
NASELLE - Things didn't look good. The Naselle Comets girls were trailing the Morton Huskies by eight points with 2:11 to go in the third quarter of their opening District 4 Girls Basketball Tournament game played in Naselle's Lyle Patterson Gym Tuesday, Feb. 13. The Comets had slowly but steadily fallen further behind as they trailed by one point at the end of one quarter, by two points at the half, and now they had been outscored 7-0 in the opening four minutes of the third period.Then, to further compound the Naselle problems, the Comets' Erin Saari (nine game points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals) went down with a twisted ankle in a scrum under the Naselle basket and she had to be helped off the court with 3:21 to play in the third period. To that point, Saari had only scored one point but her presence had been a big factor in the Comets' scheme of things.Ashley Ahlstrom (12 game points) responded with a hoop to get the Comets within five points but a Morton basket and a later free throw by 6-foot 1-inch Frannie Morrison gave the Huskies that eight point lead. Naselle's Brandi Keightley (11 game points) then took matters into her own hands, drained a three-ball from the corner, took an entry pass and scored from inside the paint and stole the ball but missed the shot when she was apparently fouled on a no-call. Keightley's five points brought the Comets within three points at 23-26 as the quarter ended with Ahlstrom stealing the ball but missing a quarter ending break-away.As the fourth quarter opened, fouls quickly became an issue. Kellyn Pakenen, the point guard of the Comets offense and defense, quickly drew her third and fourth fouls within seconds of each other, but she remained in the game. Pakenen was to play all but the final 1:06 when she finally drew her fifth foul on what looked to be good check on a Huskies break-away. The Huskies' Morrison drew her fourth foul between Pakenen's two fouls, and the tall Husky was benched with seven minute left to play.At that point, Assistant Coach Greg "Doc" Nelson must have performed some off-court magic on Saari's ankle and she was able to return to the court after missing only about five minutes of actual playing time. The first thing that Saari did was drain a long distance trey to tie the score at 26 with 6:23 left in the game. That was the first time the Comets had been in that close since a 16-16 tie with over two minutes left in the first half.Needless to say, the "Comet Crazies," the Naselle student body rooting section, went bonkers. Keightley followed with a steal and a lay-in for a Naselle lead only so see the Huskies' Whitney Self (13 game points) score for the Huskies. Ahlstrom came back with a hoop off a drive, which ignited a 9-0 Naselle run in less than three and a half minutes and an explosive response from the Naselle rooters.Included in that run were a hoop by Keightley from a Saari assist, a Pakenen break-away off a Keightley steal and another Saari three-ball. That last basket gave the Comets a 37-28 lead with 3:30 to play. Morrison, who had re-entered the game, countered with a score from in the paint, only to be matched by a Saari deuce to regain the Comets nine-point lead with 2:03 left.The Comets then took care of business with Ahlstrom's four points on two of two foul shots and a hoop from inside the paint more than matching the Huskies three free throws and the Comets had their 10-point win in their first tournament game of the season. The Comets season record climbed to 13-9 with the win.All of the Naselle points came from their five starters with Ahlstrom picking up 12, Keightley 11, Saari nine, Cheryl Steppe seven and Pakenen four. Steppe led the Comets' board patrol with 12 rebounds and she scored all six of Naselle's points in the second period when her play and the play of subs Colette Beaulaurier and Jenny Klinger helped to keep the Comets close to the Huskies. Saari added 10 rebounds to her nine points and she also led the Comets in assists (four) and steals (four).The Comets had done practically everything right, except their shooting, in earning the win. Their defense and rebounding were outstanding in forcing the Huskies into 20 turnovers and in grabbing 32 rebounds. However the Comets three-point shooting again was better than their two point tries and their free throw shooting was horrendous at only 25 percent (four of 16).The Comets will have to improve their shooting and maintain the other parts of their game if they hope to stay with the state's number one ranked 2B girls team, the Napavine Tigers, in their next game. The Tigers, 20-0 for the season, and the Comets, 13-9, played in the Castle Rock High School gym at 8 p.m., Friday, Feb 16. The winner of that game moves on to the semis on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The loser of that game, played on Monday, Feb, 19, has only one more loss standing between them and a season-ending ouster from the tournament.

Morton (33) - Whitney Self 13, Morrison 7, Nilson 7, Sumers 4, Gaut 2, Franz 0;
Turnovers (20)

Naselle (43) - Ashley Ahlstrom 12, Brandi Keightley 11, Erin Saari 9, Cheryl Steppe 7, Kellyn Pakenen 4;
FG (2's) 15 of 43 for 35 percent,
(3's) 3 of 8 for 38 percent,
FT - 4 of 16 for 25 percent;
Rebounds (32): Steppe 12, Saari 10, Ahlstrom 4;
Assists: Saari 4; Steals (12): Saari 4, Keightley 3, Ahlstrom 3, Pakenen 2;
Turnovers (16)