The Corvallis Blue Devils struggled at the charity line but still came away with a 35-24 Southwest A conference win on Saturday. Corvallis hit only nine of 23 free throws in the contest.
“We shoot free throws every night,” said Blue Devil coach Andy Knapp. “The only thing that comes to mind is that we played a hard and emotional game last night (Friday) against Florence. That’s the best explanation I have.”
Hannah Martin started the Blue Devils off with a couple of treys in the early minutes of the first quarter and Corvallis had the lead. Butte Central is a young, scrappy team that plays tough defense. There were two Lady Maroons on Corvallis’ Isabel Evans at all times. Evans, a 6’2” post player, is a threat on both the offense and the defense but the double pressure kept her from getting into a groove on offense.
By the time the first quarter had ended, Corvallis was only up by three points. Butte Central’s Maddie Kump hit a couple of shots to keep the Lady Maroons close and they built upon that momentum the second quarter. Although Butte Central used a full court press to try and stop the Blue Devils, Corvallis easily handled the press.
Corvallis, who only scored three points in the second quarter, had a chance for three more when Hannah Hutchison was fouled on a three point shot attempt. Unfortunately, she was able to convert on any and when the buzzer for the half sounded, Corvallis only had a one point lead.
Coach Knapp said the Butte Central defense was tough and tightened up even more in the second half.”Their defense got to those girls, especially in the second half. They didn’t give us a lot in the second half,” he continued. “I expect nothing different when we play Butte Central. Meg (Murphy) is such good coach and these kids play hard.”
Corvallis came back in the fourth quarter and slowly pulled ahead behind the play of Ashlynn Nixon and Brook Powell who sank seven free throws to pull away with the win. The Blue Devils are 2-2 in conference play
Knapp said that he likes to play back to back games such as the team did on Friday and Saturday nights against Florence and Butte Central. “It gets us tournament minded. That’s what we need to do.”
Corvallis 35, Butte Central 24
Corvallis – Isabel Evans 5, Hannah Hutchison 2, Madeline Gilder 1, Brooke Powell 5, Hannah Martin 12, Jenna Jordan 4, Ashlynn Nixon 6.
Butte Central – Delaney Hasquet 6, Emma Keeley 4, Sofee Thatcher 2, Maddie Kump 8, Taylor Harrington 4.
Corvallis played Florence in an inner valley match on Friday. Although this is a non conference match as Corvallis is Class A and Florence is Class B, the rivalry is there none-the-less. As Knapp said, “It’s a valley school, they’re your neighbors. You want to go and play ball against them.”
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead behind the play of Evans who scored five of her 11 points in the frame. Nixon added a trey to increase the lead while holding Florence to only four points. The Blue Devils continued build on the lead and went on to take a 39 – 23 win.
Corvallis 39, Florence 23
Corvallis – Isabel Evans 11, Hannah Hutchison 2, Madeline Gilder 1, Brooke Powell 7, Hannah Martin 8, Jenna Jordan 6, Ashlynn Nixon 4.
Florence – Emma Stensrud 2, Kylie Kovatch 4, Kasidy Yeoman 12, Kelsen Zahn 2, Trista Williams 3.
The Lady Broncs of Hamilton dropped a conference game to league-leading Dillon on Saturday. Hamilton jumped out to an early lead but was not able to hold on to it. Dillon stepped up their defense and held Hamilton to six points in the second quarter. They went on to win, 40-29.
Dillon 40, Hamilton 29
Hamilton – Taryn Searle 2, Abby Johnson 4, Rylee Brackmen 4, Layne Kearns 8, Maggie Ringer 11.
Dillon – Tylia DeJohn 3, Ainsley Shipman 6, Lauryn Petersen 4, Josey Jones 17, Jordyn Walker 2, Kylee Pittman 4, Madalen Shipman 4.
Florence fell to Anaconda, 57-56, on Saturday. The Lady Falcons had the lead for three quarters. However their shooting slowed down in the fourth quarter and Anaconda’s picked up, outscoring Florence by eight points in the final frame. No individual scoring stats were given.
Clark Fork, made up of students from Superior and Alberton, defeated Darby, 44-35, in Class C action. The Lady MountainCats jumped out to an early lead and held Darby to only seven points in the first half.
Clark Fork 44, Darby 35
Clark Fork – Sorren Reese 11; Isabella Pereira 11; Zoe Kelsey 10; Emmah Baughman 10; Darby Haskins 2.
Darby – Gracie Lang 11; Amber Anderson 9; Madison Conner 7; Lyxie Buhler 6; Kimber Schlapman 2.
Darby lost to Seeley-Swan, 39-25, on Friday.
Victor lost to Seeley-Swan on Saturday.