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5A BASKETBALL: Taylor Fennell's outside touch fuels Dallas girls squad

Dallas boys drop pair of Mid-Willamette Conference games.

Dallas sophomore Taylor Fennell, pictured here in a game against Silverton earlier this season, hit two big 3-pointers to help Dallas defeat Crescent Valley Friday.

Photo by Nicole Watkins

Dallas sophomore Taylor Fennell, pictured here in a game against Silverton earlier this season, hit two big 3-pointers to help Dallas defeat Crescent Valley Friday.

Itemizer-Observer staff

January 30, 2013

DALLAS -- It's obvious that getting the ball inside to Jessica Mitchell is a key part of the Dallas High girls basketball team's offense.

But the Dragons have also been searching for some consistency from the outside in order to keep the defense, well, honest.

With her performances in Dallas' two Mid-Willamette Conference games last week, Taylor Fennell and her long-range shooting stepped into the limelight.

The sophomore guard hit two key 3-pointers late in Friday's 41-35 victory over Crescent Valley and scored a team-best 10 points in a tough 66-29 loss Jan. 22 at unbeaten West Albany, the OSAA's top Class 5A team in the power rankings.

"My thing is trying to get her to shoot more," Dallas coach Dave Brautigam said.

"She's got to shoot more and she needs to do it in the second half when it means something -- she did that at the end of the game (Friday) and that was a big step in the right direction."

With Dallas (10-5, 3-3 MWC) trailing Crescent Valley by four in the fourth quarter, Fennell hit a triple to bring the Dragons within one point.

Crescent Valley would answer to push the lead back to three, but Fennell responded with another huge 3 in the corner with less than a minute to play to tie the game.

Jessica Mitchell (15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) would then seal it, hitting a bucket in the lane and a free throw.

"It was a big, big win for us," Brautigam said. "It was a gut-check win; it wasn't pretty at times, but when we needed to execute or get a stop or a rebound or hit a big shot, it was good to see them step up."

Boys

DALLAS DROPS TWO GAMES:

Cole Church

Cole Church

Cole Church scored a team-best 16 points in the Dallas boys basketball team's 59-38 loss to West Albany Jan. 22. He then netted a team-leading 15 points in Friday's 59-45 setback to Crescent Valley. In Friday's loss, Church hit 6-of-10 shots from the field, including a 3-of-7 performance from behind the arc. Tyler Sommerfedlt added 11 points against Crescent Valley and Hayden Broadus pulled down six rebounds. The Dragons (5-11, 2-5 Mid-Willamette Conference) dropped a 58-46 decision to Woodburn Tuesday after the Itemizer-Observer went to press.

NEXT GAMES

GIRLS

Dallas at Woodburn

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Dallas at Lebanon

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

BOYS

Lebanon at Dallas

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Dallas at Corvallis

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.