MORO – As the curtain closes on a promising breakthrough for the Sherman girls’ basketball program, head coach Steve Bird is looking forward to a productive offseason with all but three players returning for play next winter.
The Lady Huskies advanced to a state sub-round matchup for the first time since the 2013-2014 season and came away with a 72-27 loss to No. 6-ranked Joseph Tuesday in 1A hoops playoff action in Moro.
“We lost this game, but I don’t think tonight is any indication of the growth and maturity this team showed this season,” Bird said. “We were more like a team and that’s the biggest thing. They have come together as a group. They did it enough to give themselves an opportunity to have a state playoff game at home and that’s fantastic.”
The Eagles, out of the Old Oregon League, jumped out in front by a 26-8 margin after the first period and then worked a 18-2 second-quarter split for their 44-10 halftime score.
Ahead by 34 points to start the second half, Joseph used a 16-3 third-quarter spurt and went ahead by a 60-13 score with one quarter remaining.
All told, the Eagles made 30 field goals, one 3-pointer, and finished 11 of 14 from the line.
Sabrina Albee scored a game-high 24 points, Alexis Sykora added 19, Madelyn Nelson chipped in 12, and Emma Hite went for seven points to lead Joseph.
Playing without injured seniors, Kiersten Casper and Brianna McKinney, the Huskies managed to hit 12 field goals, three 3-pointers, and shot 0 of 2 on free throw attempts.
Sammie Lepinski poured in eight points, Desiree Winslow tacked on seven, Jaelyn Justesen had six, and the trio of Lexi Grenvik, Savanna Orendorff and Emma Stutzman each tallied two points.
The Huskies (13-13 overall, 10-4 league) started the season with a 3-7 mark and posted a 5-3 mark through February with wins over Condon, Arlington and Ione.
Sherman added back-to-back victories against Horizon Christian, a No. 2 seed-clinching 39-30 road win on Feb. 10, followed by a 36-33 triumph in the opening round of Big Sky Conference district action to move into the championship final versus No. 1-seed and eventual title winner, South Wasco County.
“I feel really good for them. This team deserves all the credit here,” Bird said. “And coach (Laura) Perisho she deserves credit as well. We work very well together. We make all the plans together and we go game-by-game, strategize, figure out what players give us a matchup edge and we have made it work. I give coach Perisho as much credit as anyone gives me. She has been a great asset to this program.”
With Casper, Grenvik and McKinney moving on, Bird and Perisho have some veterans like Winslow, Lepinski and Stutzman set to return, along with Orendorff, Nancy Ambriz, Makayla Macnab, Lindsey Jones, Justesen and Grace Poirier, representing a handful of underclassmen.
Sherman averaged 2.5 more points a game this season, jumping from 37.6 to 40.1.
On the defensive side, the group posted better defensive numbers, holding opposing teams to 46.5 points a clip, as 10 times this year, they allowed 35 points or fewer, all wins.
“I feel like we have the potential to get to this point or better next year,” Bird said. “I believe that this group has got the ability, but it was just a matter of them playing together as a team and playing together and giving it their all. We are almost to that hump. We are climbing as a program and we are still going up, so that’s what is good. Now, we got to take another step and play a little better.”
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