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Thursday, May 23, 2013
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Central’s Sai Tapasa, center, goes up for a shot Friday as Cascade’s Sadie Trump, left, and Kassi Sanders defend. Tapasa finished with 10 points.
February 13, 2013
INDEPENDENCE -- Maddy Pape's backdoor layup with 26 seconds to play that tied the game was a bright spot for the Central High girls basketball team in Friday's Oregon West Conference showdown with Cascade.
Teammate Catherine Cutsforth's steal with 13 seconds left was yet another big play for the Panthers.
But the ensuing missed shot at the buzzer, missed free throws down the stretch, key players in foul trouble and ill-timed turnovers turned out to be far too much for Central to overcome in a gritty, 66-60 overtime loss at home.
"We just weren't disciplined enough," sophomore forward Sai Tapasa, who might've been fouled on her shot attempt to end regulation but didn't get the call, said afterward.
The lack of discipline in an ugly game marred by a total of 55 fouls, 821free-throw attempts and several questionable calls proved to be Central's (15-6, 6-2 OWC after Tuesday's 53-27 win at Taft) undoing in the loss.
It also might have cost the Panthers a regular-season league title. With the win, Cascade (16-5, 7-1) seized control of first place in the OWC with three games remaining.
"This personally (was) like the biggest game of my life," Pape, who finished with a team-high 14 points, said of the contest's title implications.
Central’s Catherine Cutsforth, center, celebrates with teammates Ryanne Huffman and Mo Tapasa, far left, after a big steal Friday.
"It was stressful," Tapasa added. "We had to stay calm, but it was really upbeat and uptempo and we had to try to keep our cool."
Central did that for most of the second half, despite several key starters -- point guard Ryanne Huffman and Cutsforth would eventually foul out -- playing with foul trouble. Down five points at the half, the Panthers went on a 16-9 run in the third, led by four points each from Huffman, Cutsforth and Pape.
The Panthers even kept last year's OWC Player of the Year, Kassi Sanders, in check, holding her to just one field goal and 10 points.
But missed assignments late -- Alejandra Marquez (12 points) drove down the lane for two uncontested layups during the overtime frame -- and missed offensive opportunities by the Panthers allowed the Oregon School Activities Association's No. 5-ranked Class 4A team to pull away.
Hannah Riddell (six points in overtime) and Tapasa (11 rebounds) each finished with 10 points and Cutsforth added eight in the loss.
"It came down to discipline and free throws, and they hit them and we didn't," Central coach Julie McDonald said.
Central finished the game 25 of 42 and Cascade was 23 of 39 from the charity stripe.
"We had chances to win, just missed buckets, had turnovers .. we'll learn from it, we'll move on -- just a little speed bump, I told them. But (Cascade coach Mark) Stevens gave us a good compliment. He said he didn't want to see us for the rest of the year. I told him, `Vice versa.'"
NEXT GAMES
Stayton at Central
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Central at Newport
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
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