(The following reprinted by permission from the Corvallis Gazette-Times.)
Casey Campbell, Gazette-Times Philomath's Cassandra Noble goes up for a shot during the Warriors' loss to Marist on Friday night. Noble finished with four points and five rebounds. (12/15/07)
Overview
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 10-17 overall
HEAD COACH: Amy Leonard, third season
RETURNING STARTERS: Kate Phelps (Sr. G), Brittney Crocker (Sr. F), Cassandra Noble (Jr. F)
KEY NEWCOMERS: Skye Houk (Jr. G), Audrey Hendricks (Sr. G), Jenna Borowski (Sr. G), Chelsea George (Jr. G), Laura Schaudt (So. F)
TEAM OUTLOOK: “We have lots of great energy coming in this year and should be very quick. I expect that our returning starters will make significant contributions and we should play very well in league this year.” Leonard
Coaches: Head Coach: Amy Leonard Assistants: Mandy Weaver (JV1), Kathy Steele (JV2), Kristi Currans (Vol.)
Girls Basketball 2007-2008 Schedule
Philomath 42, Molalla 59
PHILOMATH (11/27) — Amanda Luna found the holes in the Warriors’ defense to score 24 points in the non-league game.
Cassandra Noble and Chelsea George led a balanced scoring effort by the Warriors with 10 points apiece.
“It’s always tough to lose the first one,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “But I did see a lot of good things ... We have a lot to work on.”
The Warriors (0-1) will host Pleasant Hill on Thursday.
Molalla 59, Philomath 42
MOLALLA 16 15 11 17 — 59
PHILOMATH 9 9 6 18 — 42
Molalla: Amanda Luna 24, Hannah Steffey 10, Emily Burch 9, Gilbert 6, Gibbons 4, Filippi 2, Hobart 2, Roth 1, James 1, Palmer, Parmelee
Philomath: Cassandra Noble 10, Chelsea George 10, Phelps 7, Crocker 7, Hendricks 4, Houk 2, Larrabee 2, Schaudt, Gunter, Borowski
JV I: Molalla won
JV II: Molalla won
Philomath 47, Pleasant Hill 45
NOBLE'S LAYIN LIFTS PHS
PHILOMATH (11/29) — Cassandra Noble drove for the game-winning layin as time expired Thursday and Philomath High slipped past Pleasant Hill 47-45 in a nonleague girls basketball game.
Pleasant Hill tied the game at 45 with 10 seconds remaining on two free throws. Brittney Crocker inbounded to Noble near midcourt and she drove to the game-winner.
Noble finished with 19 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors (1-1), while Crocker added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“Defensively we played a great game,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “We worked really hard in practice on our defense this week.”
Braidy Bates scored a game-high 20 points for the Billies.
Philomath plays at Cottage Grove on Tuesday.
Philomath 47, Pleasant Hill 45
PLEASANT HILL 11 5 10 19 — 45
PHILOMATH 10 8 15 14 — 47
Pleasant Hill: Braidy Bates 20, Franklin 8, Johston 4, Dappert 4, O’Brien 3, Parmenter 6
Philomath: Cassandra Noble 19, Crocker 11, Schaudt 6, Hendricks 4, Borowski 3, Houk 2, Phelps 2, Larrabee, Gunter, George
JV: Philomath 28, Pleasant Hill 20
Philomath, Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove won.
Philomath 52, Tillamook 45
PHILOMATH (12/8/07) The Philomath High girls basketball team put together a late run against a short-handed Tillamook team and came away with a 52-45 nonleague win on Friday.
The Warriors (2-2) trailed 25-20 at the half, but outscored Tillamook 19-10 in the fourth.
“We had a pretty big letdown in the second (quarter) and had lots of turnovers,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “We talked about it at half and the girls came out in the second half and got their hearts into it.”
The Cheesemakers had six players on the roster for the game and found themselves playing with four for a while in the fourth quarter when foul trouble sent two players to the bench.
The Tillamook coach had to bring in three junior varsity players and take a technical foul, which helped the Warriors pull away.
“We struggled in the first half, but in the second half we came out and played a much better game,” Leonard said.
Brittney Crocker led PHS with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Cassandra Noble finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
The Warriors play at Cascade on Tuesday
Philomath 52, Tillamook 45
TILLAMOOK 12 13 10 10 n 45
PHILOMATH 12 8 13 19 n 52
Tillamook: Melissa Ward 11, Schneidecker 9, Valencia 7, Bake 8, Armstrong 2, Smith 6, Oldenkamp 2, Shere, King
Philomath: Brittney Crocker 14, Houk 3, Phelps 6, Schaudt 6, Larrabee 2, George 2, Borowski 8, Noble 11, Gunter
JV: Philomath 36, Tillamook 14. Freshmen: Philomath won.
Philomath 33, Cascade 54
TURNER Gazette-Times (12/12/07) The Warriors couldn’t keep pace with an aggressive Cascade team in the nonleague loss.
Brittney Crocker led PHS (2-3) with 13 points.
“We had some real fundamental errors and Cascade is a good team,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “We have lots to work on in practice.
PHILOMATH 8 9 6 10 � 33
CASCADE 16 14 18 6 � 54
Philomath: Crocker 13, Phelps 8, Noble 4, Borowski 4, Larrabee 4, Hauk, Schaudt, Gunter, George
Cascade: Nitzel 16, Stevens 6, Pearson 6, Taylor 2, Klein 13, Lewis 2, Tuttle 5, Ralph 4, Nunnellee, Everett
JV: Cascade 54, Philomath 30
JV II: Philomath 37, Cascade 28
Philomath 37, Yamhill-Carlton 31
Crocker sparks Philomath girls
Gazette-Times (12/14/07)
PHILOMATH - Brittney Crocker scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds on Thursday night to lead the Philomath High girls to a 37-31 nonleague basketball victory over Yamhill-Carlton at PHS.
“We saw a whole lot of improvement,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “We were able to get everybody in the game, and that’s always a good thing.”
The Warriors (3-3) play host to Marist tonight.
Philomath 37, Yamhill-Carlton 31
YAMHILL-CARLTON 5 6 9 11 - 31
PHILOMATH 12 10 11 4 - 37
Yamhill-Carlton: Dani Dunham 6, Skye Larson 6, Skuzeski 5, Findley 5, Webb 5, Anderson 4
Philomath: Brittney Crocker 18, Noble 7, Larrabee 4, Borowski 2, Houk 2, Schaudt 2, Phelps 1, George 1, Watson, Hendricks, Gunter, Torgerson
JV: Philomath 27, Y-C 21
Freshmen: Philomath 32, Y-C 11
Philomath 18, Marist 66
Marist posts up PHS By Raju Woodward Gazette-Times Reporter (12/15/07)
Spartans’ size leads to an easy blowout of the host Warriors
Casey Campbell | Gazette-Times (12/15/07) Marist’s Kayla Reay comes up with the rebound, ripping the ball away from Philomath’s Kate Phelps, center, and Mindi Larrabee on Friday night during the Warriors’ 66-18 loss.
PHILOMATH Philomath High hung with No. 14 Marist for one quarter on Friday night.
Then the visiting Spartans got rolling en route to a 66-18 nonleague victory over PHS.
“(This game) is an indicator that we need to work harder in practice,” junior guard Chelsea George said. “A lot of the stuff we messed up on was fundamental errors. We just need to think better when we are out there.”
Added sophomore post Laura Schaudt: “We just need to keep our heads up and play hard all the time.”
The Warriors (3-4) started off solid by playing tough defense in the opening quarter and breaking through Marist’s press with ease. As a result, they trailed 12-6 going into the second quarter.
Things went downhill from there, however, as the Spartans (5-2) went on a 9-0 run to open the second quarter, pushing their lead to 21-6.
PHS struggled against Marist’s posts as Allie Rogers, Lydia Gust and Marshall King combined to score 13 of the Spartan’s 23 points in the quarter.
The trio’s height posed problems for the undersized Warriors all game. Rogers is 6-foot-1, King 6-foot and Gust 5-foot-11. They grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds, leading to second-chance opportunities for Marist.
PHS’s tallest player is Schaudt at 6-foot, and there’s only one other player on the roster taller than 5-10. The Warriors, however, weren’t offering any excuses for their poor rebounding.
“I feel like we could have boxed out more,” Schaudt said. “We have a lot of things we could work on, but that’s one thing we could definitely do better at.”
Rogers and Gust each scored a game-high 13 for the Spartans, while King had 11. George led PHS was seven points. She was one of few Warriors to get good looks against Marist’s high-pressure defense.
“I try to do my best every game,” George said. “I tried to look for the posts (first).”
PHS failed to score in double digits in any quarter and was shut out in the third quarter. During that span, the Spartans went on a 15-0 run to enter the fourth quarter with a commanding 50-11 lead.
Cassandra Noble finally ended the Warriors’ scoring drought with 5:25 remaining in the game, converting a nice baby hook shot. By that point, PHS trailed 55-13.
George scored five of her seven points in the fourth to help the Warriors to their highest scoring quarter.
While it was a tough loss, both George and Schaudt said a big positive came from it: players emerged in leadership roles for the Warriors.
“I think we had some leaders step up tonight who don’t usually,” George said. “But they did tonight and that was good. Jenna Borowski stepped up big for us. She was on the bench and she told the coach (Amy Leonard) she wanted to go in and she played hard.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Warriors though, they play next Tuesday at No. 1 ranked Junction City.
Marist 66, Philomath 18
MARIST 12 23 15 16 � 66
PHILOMATH 6 5 0 7 � 18
Marist: Allie Rogers 13, Lydia Gust 13, King 11, Dennis 10, Reay 5, Younger 4, Hagstrom 3, Wilkins 2, Lonston 2, Hacker 3, Demers
Philomath: Chelsea George 7, Noble 4, Crocker 3, Larrabee 2, Schaudt 2, Houk, Phelps, Borowski, Gunter
Philomath 30, Junction City 53
Gazette-Times (12/19/07)
JUNCTION CITY - The Warriors played well in the first and fourth quarters but fell behind in the meantime in the nonleague loss.
PHS (3-5) was outscored 29-10 in the second and third quarters, including 16-4 in the third.
“They had a run in the third that we had trouble countering,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “We played well in the fourth. It was good to see that at the end.”
The Warriors travel to North Marion on Thursday.
PHILOMATH 10 6 4 10 - 30
JUNCTION CITY 16 13 16 8 - 53
Philomath: Laura Schaudt 8, Cassandra Noble 8, Crocker 5, George 4, Larrabee 3, Gunter 2, Houk, Phelps, Borowski
Junction City: Leah Mancino 13, Ceniga 8, Nora 7, Rauschert 6, Shipley 5, VanRaf 5, Sherman 4, Montgomery 4, Sager 1, Patterson, Hanson
JV: Junction City 48, PHS 22
JV2: PHS 39, Junction City 24
Philomath 38, Yamhill-Carlton 45
YAMHILL - The Warriors faltered in the fourth quarter and could not recover in the nonleague loss.
Philomath (4-8) led 36-32 going into the final quarter but was outscored 13-2.
Foul trouble plagued the Warriors and Y-C took advantage, hitting 7 of 10 free throws in the fourth.
“We just had a big mental breakdown,” PHS coach Amy Leonard.
The Warriors open ValCo League play at Sweet Home on Tuesday.
Yamhill-Carlton 45, Philomath 38
PHILOMATH 15 9 12 2 - 38
YAMHILL-CARLTON 9 12 11 13 - 45
Philomath: Cassandra Noble 10, Crocker 9, George 8, Phelps 4, Larrabee 3, Houk 2, Gunter 2, Schaudt, Borowski
Yamhill-Carlton: Elle Anderson 16, Findley 9, Bellwood 6, Webb 6, Dunham 4, Braden 2, Larson 2, Skuzeski
JV: Y-C 31, PHS 28. JV2: PHS 20, Y-C 8
Philomath 49, Sweet Home 43
Crocker’s 3 sparks Warriors
Gazette-Times, 1-9-08
SWEET HOME - Brittney Crocker hit a 3-point shot from the top of the key with 1:25 remaining on Tuesday to save Philomath High in its 49-43 Val-Co League girls basketball opening victory over Sweet Home.
Crocker’s shot ended a 12-4 fourth quarter run by the Huskies that had vaulted Sweet Home into the lead, and started the Warriors on their own streak of seven straight to end the game.
Crocker who scored five points in the final three minutes, shook loose and ended a long drought for the Warriors.
Philomath had jumped to a 9-0 lead to start the game. Poor shooting, which plagued the Warriors all night long, let the pesky Huskies back in it, however, as the two teams battled back and fourth throughout the opening half.
Chelsea George had 10 first half points despite foul problems, including two 3-point shots in the second quarter.
The Warriors scored the first eight points of the second half to run to their lead to 10 before another cold spell brought Sweet Home back to within four.
Led by a dominant rebounding effort, Sweet Home’s run in the fourth got it the lead at 43-42, before Crocker hit her 3-pointer.
Kate Phelps, led the Warriors with 16 points and George finished with 13. Sweet Home got 13 points from Ashley Danielson.
Philomath 49, Sweet Home 43
PHILOMATH 14 12 10 14 - 49
SWEET HOME 13 11 5 14 - 43
Philomath: Kate Phelps 16, George 13, Schaudt 8, Crocker 6, Larrabee 4, Noble 2, Gunter, Borowski, Houk, Torgerson.
Sweet Home: Ashley Danielson 13, Hamn 10, Niemi 9, Thompson 6, McCartin 2, Fagen 2, Cole 1, Cole, Polley.
JV: Philomath 38, Sweet Home 9
Philomath 43, Central 50
Gazette-Times (1-18-08)
MONMOUTH — Cassandra Noble flirted with a double-double for the Warriors, but Central scored the key buckets in the fourth quarter to pull away in the Val-Co League game.
Noble had 23 points and either 9 or 10 rebounds, PHS coach Amy Leonard said.
The game was virtually even through three tense quarters before the Warriors (5-10, 1-2) missed a couple shots and Central converted to open a five-point lead.
“We played really well, had a whole lot of intensity,” Leonard said. “The numbers don’t show it, but our guards played really good defense.”
Philomath will host Taft on Tuesday.
Central 50, Philomath 45
PHILOMATH 10 13 11 11 — 45
CENTRAL 11 13 9 17 — 50
Philomath: Cassandra Noble 23, Crocker 9, Hauk 6, George 4, Larrabee 3, Phelps, Schaudt, Gunter
Central: Amanda McLain 16, ramirez 11, Waddel 7, Hermans 6, Berg 4, Riddle 2, Curry 2, Cuellar 2, Love, Arden
JV: Central 30-29
JVII: Central 30, Philomath 29
Philomath 51, Taft 28
Casey Campbell | Gazette-Times Philomath's Chelsea George drives past Taft's Samantha Vinson in the fourth quarter of the Warriors' 51-28 victory.
Casey Campbell | Gazette-Times Philomath's Kate Phelps wins the battle for a loose ball against Taft's Kali Vrell during the Warriors' victory on Tuesday.
Defensive practice pays off
By Raju Woodward Gazette-Times Reporter (1-22-08)
Warriors get aggressive to earn Val-Co League win
PHILOMATH — A stand-in coach didn’t prevent the Philomath girls basketball team from improving to 2-2 in Val-Co League play on Tuesday night.
The Warriors overcame a sluggish first half to cruise to a 51-28 victory over Taft, despite the absence of head coach Amy Leonard, who was out of town to be with her ill stepfather.
In her place on the bench for PHS was former boys basketball coach Dave Garvin, who hadn’t coached a game in three years. He ran practice on Monday and is expected to coach the team through the rest of week.
“It was very difficult without Amy because coach Garvin didn’t know our offense,” senior Brittney Crocker said. “We struggled a lot, especially in the first half. We just weren’t playing up to our potential. I think we were a little scared going into it without our head coach.”
The girls penned ‘AL’ on their arms just below their shoulders in support of Leonard and many of them said they played the game for their coach.
Garvin wasn’t fazed by having to come in and coach the girls all of a sudden. Not after sitting on a bench for 30 years. He admitted he didn’t know what the girls were running on offense, so he made defense the focus of practice on Monday.
And it showed against Taft. PHS held the Tigers to single digits in every quarter but the fourth. The defense was especially strong in the first and third, holding Taft to five and four points, respectively. Thanks to a little mentality change brought on by Garvin.
“I don’t think they play defense hard enough,” Garvin said. “So we talked in the locker room before the game that this shouldn’t be fun. You shouldn’t be out there laughing and giggling and having a good time. If you work hard, the good times come.”
That came for the Warriors in the fourth quarter even though they entered it with a 10-point lead. They went on to score 24 points and break open the game. Chelsea George led the way, scoring all 11 of her points in the quarter. Her 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining in the game put the Warriors up 12, 47-25.
“We just got momentum from the third quarter,” Crocker said. “I think the end of the third is where that started. We had five girls on the court who wanted to win, and especially Chelsea. You could see she wanted to win it badly.”
George led PHS, while Crocker added nine. Samantha Vinson led Taft with 11 points.
Crocker’s 3-pointer to open the second half got the Warriors going on offense and pushed the lead to 23-13. And while it was her only basket of the second half, Crocker said she was happy to get other players involved.
“My shots weren’t falling,” Crocker said. “But what can you do? Just create other opportunities for the girls on the team, so that’s what we did because other girls’ shots weren’t falling. So we worked on getting the ball inside to the posts for easy layins and they usually got fouled.”
And despite the up and down offense performance by the Warriors, Crocker doesn’t think practices will change much under Garvin.
“Well, I can expect us to work on defense a lot tomorrow and Thursday to get us ready for Sweet Home on Friday,” she said with a smile.
And why not? It worked on Monday and against the Tigers.
“You get in someone’s face defensively, you have a huge advantage,”Garvin said. “That’s what I have always done. Defense has been the key and we’ll play our offense off our defense. That’s exactly what happened tonight.”
Philomath 51, Taft 28
TAFT 5 8 4 11 — 28
PHILOMATH 5 15 7 24 — 51
Taft: Samantha Vinson 11, Ka. Vrell 3, Anderson 4, Taylor 6, Hagemeister 4, Gray, Ky. Vrell, Hargrave, Burch, Dargay
Philomath: Chelsea George 11, Houk 6, Phelps 7, Hendricks 2, Schaudt 4, Larrabee 4, Gunter 2, Crocker 9, Noble 6, Watson, Hardin, Torgerson
JV: Philomath 48, Taft 11
Philomath 41, Central 36
Gazette-Times (1-30-08)
PHILOMATH - Cassandra Noble’s 18 points and 10 rebounds powered Philomath past Central in a Val-Co League game.
“Cassandra had a good second quarter and was a big force for most of the game,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said.
Brittney Crocker added nine points and seven rebounds, Kate Phelps seven points and six rebounds and Laura Schaudt six rebounds and five points for the Warriors, who outscored Central 12-6 in the decisive second quarter.
Philomath plays at Newport on Friday.
Philomath 41, Central 36
CENTRAL 16 6 3 11 - 36
PHILOMATH 15 12 4 10 - 41
Central: Amanda McLean 8, Berg 6, Ramirez 5, Waddell 4, Hermens 4, Waterman 3, Love 2, Rardin 2, Cuellar 2.
Philomath: Cassandra Noble 18, Crocker 9, Phelps 7, Schaudt 5, George 2, Houk, Hendricks, Larrabee, Gunter.
JV: PHS 41, Central 38
Freshmen: PHS 33, Central 27
Philomath 67, Taft 23
Gazette-Times, 2-23-08
PHILOMATH — Philomath High wrapped up its regular season with a 67-23 rout of Taft in a Val-Co League game.
PHS (11-13, 7-5) had an 18-5 advantage after the first quarter and cruised from that point, thanks to a strong defensive effort.
The Warriors held Taft to single digit scoring in every quarter, including four points in the second.
“We have some things to work on and tighten up,” PHS coach Amy Leonard said. “But we have been coming on here at the end of the season, which is good.”
Brittney Crocker scored a game-high 16 points for the Warriors, while Audrey Hendricks, Chelsea George, Beth Torgerson and Cassandra Noble all added eight points apiece.
“It was senior night, so it was nice to see all the seniors get in and score some points for us,” Leonard said.
Philomath plays at Central on Thursday for the Val-Co League’s No. 2 seed to the 4A playoffs.
Philomath 67, Taft 23
TAFT 5 4 7 7 — 23
PHILOMATH 18 16 16 17 — 67
Taft: Ashley Taylor 6, Ka. Vrell 5, Vinson 5, Ky. Vrell, Buren 3, Hargrave 1, Gray, Bailey, Hagemeister, Miller
Philomath: Brittney Crocker 16, Hendricks 8, George 8, Torgerson 8, Noble 8, Phelps 6, Houk 5, Schaudt 5, Larrabee 2, Grunwald, Watson, Gunter
JV: Philomath 60, Taft 18
Philomath 52, Central 61
Philomath’s Season Ends
Gazette-Times (2-28-08)
INDEPENDENCE — Philomath High’s season ended on Thursday with a 61-52 loss to in Central in a Val-Co League girls basketball seeding game.
Chelsea George scored 23 points and Cassandra Noble had 16 for the Warriors (11-13, 7-5), but it wasn’t enough to overcome a sluggish middle of the game.
“They had two good scorers and couldn’t miss tonight,” Philomath coach Amy Leonard said. “Our rally came up short after slumping in the second and third quarters. But we played hard all night.”
Central 61, Philomath 52
PHILOMATH 14 4 8 26 — 52
CENTRAL 20 10 12 17 — 61
Philomath: George 23, Nobel 16, Crocker 5, Houk 2, Phelps 2, Hendricks 2, Schaudt 2, Larrabee.
Central: McLain 25, Waddel 19, Waterman 7, Herman 6, Fraare 4, Love, Hardin, Ramirez, Radell, Curry.
