Sherman takes their revenge

The senior duo of Janet Guzman and Makenzie Blaylock scored a combined 22 points and the Huskies outscored Dufur 7-2 in the final minute and 43 seconds to secure the 42-31 win and advance to the Big Sky Conference district championship game.

"It is awesome. Dufur has always been a huge competitor for us," Blaylock said. "It has been a long, long three years for me, but we finally accomplished this. It feels great. Now we are in the championship game and I am so excited."

Sherman started the second half up by 11 points with a 21-10 lead, but the. No. 12-ranked Rangers stayed within reach, down 29-23 with 5:32 left in regulation.

Dufur senior Aimeelyn Miller sank a pair of free throws to make it 29-25 with 4:40 remaining and the Rangers had possession after a Husky turnover, but could not take advantage.

After a Dufur miscue, Blaylock answered with a short jumper to run the Husky lead to 31-25, but Miller swished a running one-hander to cut the lead to 31-27 midway through the fourth.

After a Sherman timeout with 3:43 on the clock, the Rangers were held to one field goal and a 2 for 4 effort from the line the rest of the way.

Sherman, which shot 4 for 22 from the free throw line in a win over South Wasco County on Wednesday, sank 11 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter, including 4 of 6 in the last 1:11.

Dufur had previously won games by scores of 39-35 and 42-26 this season to sweep the series, but the Huskies battled strong Friday by holding the Rangers without a field goal for the first 5:27 of the first quarter, as they inched ahead on baskets by Emily Hill, Brittney Orendorff, Kiersten Casper and senior post Katie Asher to take the lead, 11-5.

The Huskies had momentum brewing throughout the opening frame.

"I think the biggest difference is that we all have the confidence," Asher said. "We know that we can beat the best teams and that we can compete. We are always ready to go. We are all eager and we bring a lot of energy."

Staked to a six-point advantage to start the second quarter, Guzman hit a field goal to move the Huskies to a 13-5 cushion, but Dufur rallied for a 5-2 run in a span of 3:42, capped by a layup from Hannah Harris to make it a 15-10 margin with 3:21 left in the half.

Blaylock then hit a layup, had a rebound and a putback and Orendorff worked a give-and-go with Blaylock to score a layup to surge the Huskies to a 21-10 halftime lead.

Jeana Hill said coach Steve Kaseberg sent a clear message to his team in the locker room -- the game was far from over.

"He always tells us at halftime that we are going to come out the same way we started," Jeana Hill said. "We knew we had to come out in the second half and not let our guards down because Dufur is tough to keep down.

“We had to keep our focus and just continue what we had been doing. It was important that we didn’t lose it too much."

Miller paced the Ranger offense with 17 points, 14 coming in the second half. Taylor Darden added six points, but sank just one field goal in the final 16 minutes.

Only Chloe Beeson had multiple baskets after that, as she finished with five points for a Ranger team that totaled nine field goals and went 13 for 24 from the free throw line.

"I have a lot of respect for the Dufur program. I have a lot of respect for (Dufur head coach Hollie Darden) Hollie. He is a good coach," said Sherman head coach Steve Kaseberg. "I knew that they were going to make a run at one time, but the kids just stuck with it. They didn’t panic, they did not get the deer in the headlights look, they just kept running the system and executed. Kudos to the kids. They executed the game plan almost perfectly."

Overall, Sherman made good on 15 field goals, one from long range and they hit on 11 of 18 from the line.

Blaylock had 12 points, Guzman tacked on 10 and both Emily Hill and Casper chipped in six points apiece.

"I think Kiersten has shown a lot this year, especially for her first time being thrown into this league. She is in her first year out of middle school and she is proving she belongs," said Asher, a 5-foot-11 inch post. "I think the entire team’s chemistry from our point guards really helps us all work better. They work really hard and they know how to read us and we know how to get open for them. So, just reading the whole court the entire time and communicating has helped us get better."

Kaseberg is quick to acknowledge the senior leadership of six of his athletes, but also added that bench contributions and unselfish play has helped move the Lady Huskies up the ranks.

Saturday, the Huskies played No. 4-ranked Condon-Wheeler in the Big Sky title game.

More importantly, however, Sherman will host a state sub-round game next week and are two wins from earning a Baker City berth.

To see his group rise up to the challenge is awe-inspiring all in itself, said Kaseberg.

"It is one of the happiest moments I have ever had," Kaseberg said. "As a coach, you sit there and nurture this team, you teach the fundamentals and you want them to click.

“To be honest, that is the team I have expected to see a long time ago. Kudos to the kids. They picked the right time to gel. They executed everything we asked them to do."

Jeana Hill has seen and heard of the many top players who have paved the way for the Sherman hoops program over the years.

To finally keep a season moving forward into late February and possibly March brings a level of excitement she has rarely felt over her varsity career.

"I think it means a lot to our program," Jeana Hill said. "Not being able to get to state for the last few years has pushed us harder. It feels awesome to all of us to play our best and play our hearts out to get us to the point where we are at right now.”