Columbia High’s final tune-up girls basketball game before Trico League play begins this week answered a few questions for Coach Howard Kreps. It also earned the Bruins their first win.
Columbia (1-4), which is scheduled to begin league play Jan. 4 (weather/COVID permitting) at home against Seton Catholic, hosted Gorge neighbor Hood River Valley on Dec. 28. The game was essentially two teams looking to work off some holiday rust, but also two teams looking to simply play a game. Columbia has had almost as many games canceled (four) than it has played (five). HRV, one of the youngest teams in Class 5A, also has had a couple of contests called off — including its latest, Dec. 30, against Hillsboro.
The Gorge teams got after it last week, with Columbia able to accomplish two important things that had been hampering the Bruins’ chances for success. “We rebounded and we made our free throws,” Kreps said. “The girls finally learned how important both those things are.”
Columbia had played a decent non-league schedule — as abbreviated as it was. Lopsided losses to Corbett High were somewhat explained by the Cardinals’ 9-0 record and No. 9 Class 4A Oregon ranking. The Bruins lost by 10 points to Riverside Dec. 22; the Pirates from Boardman are 7-4 and ranked No. 5 in Oregon Class 3A. Kreps argues that the outcome of those games — or at least the margin — would have benefitted the Bruins had they shot better from the foul line and boxed out.
“They realized making free throws and rebounding can keep you in the game,” Kreps said of his team’s 16-for-24 free throw, 16 defensive rebound effort against HRV. If a team wins those categories, it can overcome subpar shooting, which has also hampered Columbia this season.
“Our first four games we shot 19% from the two, 18% from three, and 39% from the foul line,” Kreps said. “We just had to relax a little bit and put a few balls in the basket.
“And we did a better job of taking care of the basketball.”
Sydney Aman and Maggie Bryan played their steady overall games, and Teagan Blankenship and Ella Reed hit a few outside shots to lead the Bruins to their five-point win.
On the flip side, the turnover and free-throw shooting woes that have plagued Columbia seemed to shift Hood River’s way. HRV Coach Steve Noteboom was succinct in noting that in his assessment of the Eagles’ performance. “Columbia was more physical and aggressive,” he said. “We had too many turnovers and fouls, and also got out rebounded.”
Hood River looked winter break rusty. The Eagles turned the ball over 24 times against the aggressive Bruins, two Eagle players fouled out, and HRV was 4-for-14 from the foul line.
Marina Castaneda led Hood River in scoring with 21 points, but the sophomore needed 25 shots to get there and five of her points came late in the contest. Sophomore teammate Megan Griggs added six points and led her team in rebounding with 10.
Kreps said the Bruins did a good job with help-side defense when HRV deliberately posted up Castaneda. “We were able to kind of double team her,” Kreps said. “We did pretty well against Hood River. We actually played OK; we played with some defensive intensity. They pressed us a little bit and we were able to handle that pressure.”
The Eagles were scheduled to return to competition Jan. 4 at Aloha. HRV hosts Scappoose Jan. 7 and Banks Jan. 11.
After Tuesday’s league opener vs. 4-4 Seton, the Bruins travel to King’s Way (3-2) for a 6 p.m. game on Thursday.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.