Sheldon locks down North

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North Medford’s McKenzie Smith, right, fights for a rebound with Sheldon’s Carlee Hauser during Friday’s game.

January 05, 2008

By Kevin Goff

Mail Tribune

Defensively, Sheldon and North Medford looked every bit the part of two teams ranked in the top 10 in Class 6A girls basketball.

Both squads, however, left their shooting touch at home Friday night in a Southwest Conference opener at North Medford High School.

The fifth-ranked and SWC-favorite Irish used an effective zone defense to limit No. 6-ranked North to 12-for-49 shooting and won 43-34 despite the absence of top scorer and rebounder Theresa Brown.

The 6-foot Brown, a senior post, tweaked an already tender hamstring in warmups and was scratched from the lineup.

"We were really nervous for this one without Theresa," said Sheldon coach Luke Roth. "North Medford plays so hard and Tim (Karrick) does such a good job coaching them. Not having Theresa made it difficult but we pulled through."

Senior wing Katie Steigleman took up some of the scoring slack by pouring in seven of her 14 points in the decisive third quarter to help the Irish extend a 16-14 lead to 31-19 after three quarters.

North Medford, which was picked to finish second in the SWC in a preseason coaches' poll, got as close as five points twice in the fourth quarter, but poor shooting and turnovers never let the Black Tornado (8-3) threaten to take the game.

Sheldon's zone defense and North's inability to connect from the perimeter proved to be the difference. The Black Tornado made just two field goals outside of five feet — both makes were 10-foot jumpers — and missed several offensive putbacks from point-blank range.

"We didn't execute well at all on offense," said North coach Karrick. "We didn't pass well against their zone, we didn't penetrate well against their zone.

"We played our good defense but we were way too lethargic on offense."

The Irish (8-3), after a 4-for-20 effort in the first half, finished 12 of 35 from the field and 19 of 30 from the foul line.

"It's always tough coming on the road," said Steigleman. "And both of these teams play real physical. It's always like that when we play (North Medford)."

Steigleman and sophomore point guard Taylor Ward helped Sheldon to an 11-2 lead late in the first quarter. North cut the deficit to 11-6 at the end of the period and two free throws from Erica Schultz with eight seconds remaining in the second period trimmed the Irish advantage to 16-14 at intermission.

The Irish had only four field goals at the break but used an 8-for-12 effort from the charity stripe to maintain the lead.

The Black Tornado, meanwhile, was hampered by a handful of missed layups in the opening minutes against Sheldon's full-court pressure.

"We were pressing too much on offense early on," said Karrick. "We miss those three or four chippies where we were actually doing a good job breaking their press. That kind of typified our night."

Steigleman went to work in the third quarter.

A free throw from Steigleman and 6-1 post Tami Brown stretched the lead to 18-14. Kellie Satterfield then made good on a layin for North but Brown scored inside, Carly King broke free for a fastbreak hoop and, after Ward and North's Whitney Hodnett traded three-point plays, Steigleman hit three straight buckets to close the period and give Sheldon a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Ward added 10 points for the Irish, while Schultz, a senior post, was the lone North Medford player to score in double figures with 11.

SHELDON (43) — Steigleman 14, Ward 10, King 5, Girod 2, Gray 0, Pangilinan 2, Doe 0, Hauser 1, Brown 8, Anderson 1. Totals: 12-35 19-30 43.

NORTH MEDFORD (34) — Schultz 11, Satterfield 2, Dixon 4, Hodnett 8, Parker 1, Egge 2, Smith 4, Abeloe 2. Totals: 12-49 10-17 34.

Sheldon 11 5 15 12 —43

North Medford 6 8 5 15 —34

Fouled out — Brown.

JV score — Sheldon 51, North Medford 50, 2OT.

Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483, or e-mail kgoff@mailtribune.com

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