Published
January 20, 2003
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West Valley Runs Strait at
Bellingham
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West Valley
Corey Wehr looks for a shot at the basket in front of Bellingham's Tony
Hillaire during the final game of the Tourneytown.com Shootout on
Monday.
SANDY SUMMERS/
Yakima Herald-Republic |
By
SCOTT SPRUILL
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Andrew Strait wasn't happy with his free-throw shooting Monday night. West
Valley's senior post had four cracks from the foul line and missed three
times.
But when he was in traffic with bodies flying every which way -- most of
them directly in his path -- Strait was nearly unstoppable.
Pouring in 23 points on 11-for-12 shooting, the 6-foot-8 Strait led his West
Valley boys basketball team to a 61-52 victory over Bellingham in the
nightcap of the Tourneytown.com Shootout.
"We've been up for this game since last year," said Strait, who was 7-for-7
from the field in the first half and also had a game-high eight rebounds and
three blocked shots. "In this environment playing a team as good as those
guys, this was an easy game to get excited about. I wanted to play well."
The Rams (10-2), who extended their win streak to six games and ended
Bellingham's at five, basically traded baskets with the Red Raiders (8-3)
until late in the second quarter.
And then, all of a sudden, West Valley remembered the reason for its win
streak -- defense. And nasty tough defense, at that.
Leading 31-30 with just under three minutes left in the first half, the Rams
pressed, ran and hustled their way to full control of the game. Over the
next 14 minutes, a span stretching well into the final period, Bellingham
scored just two field goals.
"With all the talent we have the offense just kind of comes naturally, but
the defense takes hard work," Strait said. "We got some turnovers off the
press and got a hand in their face. That's been the big thing for us lately,
the defense."
West Valley built a 16-point lead with 2:32 left in the game before
Bellingham cut into the margin with a late 9-0 run.
"We kept talking about getting back on defense because (Bellingham) has
quick kids and they run the floor real well," said West Valley coach Jim
Berndt. "In the first half we liked that long (pro-length) floor on offense
but not very much on defense. Once we got them slowed down we were able to
pull away a little."
Bellingham got a lot of good looks at the baskets in the second half but
couldn't convert them.
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"We got 11 more shots than they did in the second half but couldn't cut into
that lead," said Bellingham coach Ken Crawford. "When they pressed us at the
end of the first half, we were confused for a while and turned the ball
over. That's not like us -- we've never struggled again a press."
Bellingham's Tim Sellereit scored eight of his 18 points in the second
quarter and finished with four 3-pointers. He also led his team in rebounds
with five and the Red Raiders needed a bigger presence in that area to keep
up with the taller Rams.
"We've got to play hard for 32 minutes," Crawford explained. "We're not big
enough to slow it down. We attacked the basket with plenty of energy but we
had six, seven missed layins. The kids got a little frustrated."
With the help of Strait's near-perfect shooting, the Rams finished at 58.1
percent for the game. Corey Wehr contributed a 4-for-6 effort for 12 points
and he grabbed seven rebounds.
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:: GAME STATS
West Valley 61,
Bellingham 52 |
