By Raju Woodward
Gazette-Times Reporter | Posted: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 12:00 am
Crescent Valley follows Kaufman in rout of North Eugene
EUGENE - Kelsey Kaufman wasn't ready to play her final game in a Crescent Valley uniform.
The senior post scored eight of her game-high 14 points in the first half to help the Raiders claim a 47-29 5A playoff victory over North Eugene on Tuesday night.
"Knowing it could be my last game motivated me tonight," Kaufman said. "We got it done."
Two straight baskets by Kaufman capped the Raiders' scoring in the first quarter, as they went into the second leading 8-2.
She did the same for CV (16-10) in the second quarter, scoring the team's final four points, including a tough shot as the buzzer sounded, to help the Raiders take a comfortable 18-7 advantage into the locker room.
"Kelsey had a couple big baskets down low, quick turnaround shots, and hit a couple outside shots," CV coach Kodi Waite said.
The Raiders also got a strong effort from junior post Janelle Batista. Not only did she score 12 points, but she helped contain Kristen Huff, North Eugene's 6-foot-3 post, in the first half. Batista denied several entry passes to Huff and came up with four steals in the game.
"Her biggest improvement from last season has been her defense," Waite said. "She's always been an offensive player. It was just a matter of getting her to understand that defense leads to offense and this year she's improved a lot."
Huff finished with 14 points to lead the Highlanders, but 12 of those came in the second half, after the Raiders had taken control of the game.
They did that by going on an 8-0 run early in the third quarter which stretched their lead to 28-9. Four different players scored during that stretch for the Raiders.
The closest North Eugene would get the rest of the way was nine points, when Huff opened the fourth quarter with a basket to make the score 32-23.
But any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when CV went on another 8-0 run to go up 40-23 with under five minutes remaining in the game.
After a sluggish first half, the Raiders made some adjustments on offense that allowed them to get to the hoop easier.
"We knew they were taking it away and coming in inside on the weakside, so we knew we had to be quick and whip the ball around," Kaufman said.
And it was Batista and Molly Doran who benefited most from those changes, which Waite said was simply scrapping some offenses CV decided to run against the Highlanders and switching to ones they used during the regular season.
Batista scored eight points in the second half, including five straight near the end of the game to put the contest away for the Raiders, while Doran scored all of her seven points in the half.
But perhaps the biggest factor in the game was the Raiders' defense. It held the Highlanders to seven points in the first half, including two in the first quarter.
Mackenzie Ficek, North Eugene's top scorer was also held in check, scoring six points on two 3-pointers.
"They are a really solid team like we are," senior guard Mikayla Coyier said. "Ficek is really good and has a good shot, but we knew what we had to do."
Coyier, who had missed the Raiders' past four games due to an ankle injury, hit several big outside shots and finished with six points. CV's other senior, point guard Christine Dong, added four.
An even tougher test looms for the Raiders now. They face Wilsonville, the No. 1 seed from the Northwest Oregon Conference, on Friday. They lost to the Wildcats 76-44 on Dec. 7.
"It's going to be really tough," Waite said. "We played them once already and we were missing our point guard, but Wilsonville is quick and fast. They love to run. Their two big girls are fluid and athletic, and they are well coached.
"So it will be a tough battle, but it will also be nice to have a rematch against them."
Crescent Valley 47, North Eugene 29
CRESCENT VALLEY 8 10 14 15 - 47
NORTH EUGENE 2 5 14 8 - 29
Crescent Valley: Kelsey Kaufman 14, Batista 12, M. Doran 7, Coyier 6, Waite 4, Dong 4, Rausch, Barnes, H. Doran, Walsh
North Eugene: Kristen Huff 14, Wilson 7, M. Ficek 6, Kimball 2, T. Ficek,Wiltz, Harvey, Brown, Couts, Virde