Class 4A girls state BASKETBALL championship
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Conditt, La Pine get tough on Cottage Grove for first 4A championship
Posted to Web: Saturday, Mar 14, 2009 11:40PM
Appeared in print: Sunday, Mar 15, 2009, page C6
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Kevin Clark/The Register-Guard
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CORVALLIS — With a wad of gauze shoved up her nose and a bandaged arm, Kassi Conditt stood near midcourt like she had just won a game of “King of the Hill.”
In a way, the 6-foot-1 junior did.
Conditt scored a game-high 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and more important, willed No. 6 La Pine to its first-ever Class 4A state championship.
The Hawks outmuscled second-ranked Cottage Grove, 40-32, on Saturday night at Gill Coliseum.
“They’re not keeping me out of the game, so they can do whatever they want,” Conditt said. “Nothing can beat the feeling of being No. 1.”
The victory snapped the Lions’ 15-game winning streak, which included a pair of meetings with the Hawks to determine the Sky-Em League title — won by Cottage Grove (24-4 overall) by a game over La Pine (25-3).
“We’ve had La Pine’s number, but they’re very dangerous,” Cottage Grove coach Kerry Clawson said. “We know each other. We know what to expect. Every time we’ve played them it’s been a very tough game, and we knew that would happen again.
“Sometimes we were impatient. Other times we worked the ball, worked the ball and passed things up. In this point in the season, you have to play to win. You can’t be hesitant. You have to let it go. They did that better than us.”
The Lions’ 32 points were a season low thanks to a miserable shooting performance and 13 turnovers. Cottage Grove made only 13-of-43 field goals, including an abysmal first quarter when the Lions were 1-of-10 shooting.
However, Cottage Grove’s Jordan Brunetti nailed a pair of three-pointers midway through the second quarter to spark an 11-1 run that gave the Lions a 15-13 lead — their first of the game.
La Pine answered with a 6-0 run capped with back-to-back jumpers by Maria Ramirez early in the second half to regain the lead, which they never relinquished.
“We wanted it more than them,” said Ramirez, who had 12 points and five rebounds. “We knew what we wanted and we went after it.”
Cottage Grove kept the game within single digits until the final minute, when the Hawks iced the game with free throws. La Pine, which made only 11-of-27 free throws in the fourth quarter of its semifinal game Friday night, converted 9-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes.
“We definitely have been the underdog this tournament,” Ramirez said. “We wanted to show people why we weren’t the underdog.”
La Pine dominated points in the paint, 20-10, and utilized 11 offensive rebounds for 10 second-chance points.
Reed Levings scored a team-high eight points for Cottage Grove, which has placed at state for the second time in as many years.
Last season, the Lions finished fourth to earn their first trophy at the tournament.
This was the first appearance at the Class 4A state tournament for La Pine, which claimed the Class A state championship in 1989.
“I think this is going to be a permanent mark on my attire,” said La Pine coach Kim Beer, who was wearing a game net like a necklace.
Levings, Conditt and Ramirez earned first-team all-tournament. Cottage Grove’s Kaitlyn Kronberger was named second-team all-tournament.
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