Sunday, January 27, 2002

Crimson Flashes get a rare test from Columbian

By Andy Cole
Sports Writer
acole@advertiser-tribune.com

While a 36-0 regular season record over the past two seasons has provided plenty of excitement for fans of Willard's girls basketball, many of the games themselves have been about as exciting as a "Steel Magnolias" marathon. Heading into Saturday's game at Columbian, only three games this year had been decided by less than 10 points.

Even though Columbian's upset bid fell short with a 65-56 loss to the Crimson Flashes, TC coach Larry Kisabeth can be proud of his girls for giving the visitors more than a little bit of a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"-type scare.

"You can't fault our kids, because they played their hearts out against a great team," Kisabeth said. "The first time we played Willard (a 54-25 loss on Dec. 14), we turned the ball over 30 times and went 11 minutes without scoring, and we did a much better job with that today.

"We made some good decisions and some big plays today, but Willard got the big baskets when they absolutely needed them. After starting slow, we did some things to get ourselves to the foul line. Part of the problem was that we didn't convert from the foul line."

With the win, Willard clinches at least a share of its second straight Northern Ohio League title. As coach Barry Pfahl pointed out, the Tornadoes didn't make it an easy ride.

"This has never been an easy place for our teams to come and play," Pfahl said. "Tiffin played very well, and (Alex) Miller and (Katie) Kobelt both had great games. I knew that the first game we played with them this year wasn't indicative of a Willard-Tiffin game. There's no way to describe what an abnormality that was, and I knew it was a fairy tale and it wouldn't happen again."

Like a very good team, Columbian (11-5, 8-3 NOL) shook off a bad game on Tuesday and a slow start Saturday to give fourth-ranked Willard (16-0, 11-0 NOL) all it could handle. Like an undefeated team, the Crimson Flashes had an answer for everything.

After grabbing an early 4-2 lead, Columbian went nearly eight minutes without a field goal. Willard's Heather and Stacey West scored six points each in the first quarter, and the Flashes shot 7 of 10 compared to 2 of 10 for the Tornadoes to build an 18-6 lead at the first stop.

Willard's biggest lead game after a Kendra Shoup trey made the score 21-6. After a Columbian time out, Whitney Nahm broke the drought with a 3-pointer, starting a 9-2 run for TC. Later, a jumper by Alex Miller and a pair of free throws by Katie Kobelt helped Columbian draw closer. Kobelt's three-point play with 30 seconds left cut the Willard lead to 29-22 at halftime.

Jess Sendelbach fed Miller with an early second half bucket, and a Kaila Dunn bounce pass led to a trey by Kobelt to force a Willard time out with the score 32-27. Kobelt made all four of her field goal attempts and scored nine points in the third quarter, but three perimeter baskets by Jennifer Graham on the other end helped to keep TC at a distance.

After baskets by Miller and Dunn cut the lead to four on separate occasions, Kobelt emerged from a mad halfcourt scramble with the ball and fed Dunn to make the score 39-37. A Kobelt drive moments later would cut it to two points again, but Columbian would get no closer.

Stacey West and Graham scored eight points on outside buckets to finish the quarter with the visitors still in the lead, 47-39.

The final chapter of the game was written by Graham at the foul line. After putting up 10 points in the third quarter, Graham was 10 of 12 from the line in the fourth to lead her team to a 16-of-20 performance down the stretch. Baskets by Miller would cut the lead back to three points three times in the fourth quarter, but the Tornadoes could never get over the hump.

"We got some big defensive stops down the stretch, and a big second half from Jennifer Graham," Pfahl said. "A couple of years ago, she was a great defensive player who could make layups, but she worked hard to turn herself into a better shooter. She's just really developed as a player."

Graham led four Willard players in double figures with 24 points, followed by Heather West (13 points), Stacey West (12 points) and Shoup (10 points, eight rebounds). Willard shot 20 of 36 from the floor.

Miller (25 points, five rebounds) and Kobelt (18 points, four rebounds) combined for 43 points for the Tornadoes, who shot 22 of 42. Miller scored 11 points in the fourth quarter. Sendelbach (seven rebounds) and Dunn added four points each.

"We did a lot of good things today and a lot of things that we can build on, but we just didn't knock down enough shots," Kisabeth said. "We were up 4-2, and I think our inability to hit shots in the few minutes after that let them get a big lead on us and made a big difference in how the game ended up. We adjusted well offensively in the second quarter and in the second half, and this turned into a great game to watch."

The Tornadoes now have to be ready for a few tournament-like games before the tournament as games against Shelby, Upper Sandusky and Bellevue will decide where TC finishes in the NOL standings.