Rowan leads Eagle girls to victory against St. Helens

Hood River (5-10 overall, 1-4 Northwest Oregon Conference) was hampered by turnovers in a four-minute stretch to start the second quarter, but when Coach Steve Noteboom’s Eagles got into their offensive flow, they were effective against the Class 4A Lions (5-11). HRV assisted on 12 of its 16 field goals, attesting to the team’s overall ball movement.

Julia Rowan was the beneficiary of a number of those passes. Her first make was perhaps an indicator of the good things to come, as the corner three bounced straight up off the rim and back down through the hoop to give HRV a 3-2 lead. She added two more 3-pointers in the period and two in the second frame enroute to a 15-point first half.

Hood River did not trail after Mallory McNerney made a 3-pointer — one of nine for HRV for the game — with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter. Hood River finished the opening period holding a 17-9 lead.

The scoring pace slowed considerably after the break between the first and second quarters. Hood River turned sloppy at the outset of the second period with seven turnovers — after committing just two in the opening period. St. Helens couldn’t take advantage, however, as the Lions committed six of their own early in the quarter.

The one thing that didn’t change was Rowan’s hot hand. Her fourth 3-pointer pushed HRV’s lead to 20-11. St. Helens countered by switching to a 1-3-1 zone defense to chase Rowan as she went corner to corner along the baseline (they later played man-to-man and also tinkered with a box-and-1). Rowan made an adjustment herself, by simply stepping almost out to the corner sideline where she swished her fifth 3-pointer to expand the Eagles’ lead to 23-15 at halftime.

St. Helens limited Rowan’s touches in the third quarter, but Abby Schrankel and Griggs entered the Eagles’ 3-point parade by making one apiece. Griggs scored seven of her 12 points in the period, but it was Rowan who capped the quarter scoring with a rare two-pointer.

It came after she had missed badly on a hurried 3-pointer attempt from the top of the key. On HRV’s next offensive possession, Rowan went back to the baseline and swished a short-corner jumper prompting a St. Helens timeout with the Eagles holding their biggest lead at that point, 37-24. McNerney assisted on the play after she had grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball ahead and found Rowan waiting just inside the 3-point line at the other end.

Hood River earned its biggest lead of the game, 43-26, on Rowan’s other 2-pointer, which came one third into the final quarter. Hood River struggled to score late, with one point in the final 4:50 of the contest — fittingly provided by Rowan’s free throw in the closing minute.

Hood River entered the contest coming off its first NWOC win, 64-30, at winless Parkrose on Jan. 17. With its initial Northwest Oregon Conference girls basketball victory out of the way, HRV is in the midst of its long home stand. The Eagles were scheduled to host Hillsboro on Jan. 24 and Putnam comes to town on Friday.