Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Video: Wilsonville 55, Ashland 39: Wildcats advance to state title game

No. 2 Wilsonville wins by 16 in Friday's semifinals to move onto the state championship game

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 3/12/2010 3:43:17 PM
• Last Updated: 3/13/2010 5:33:32 PM

Photo By: Alex TamGirls basketball: Wilsonville 55, Ashland 39
(From left) Wilsonville High School senior Ashley Walters, coach Cindy Anderson and senior Megan Arnoldy celebrate over the final seconds of the Wildcats' 55-39 victory in the OSAA Class 5A state semifinals on Friday at McArthur Court in Eugene.

EUGENE – Over the course of the season, the idea of a state championship never crept into the minds of No. 2 Wilsonville.

But as victory after victory piled up, the Wildcats now find themselves with that chance after taking down No. 3 Ashland, 55-39, on Friday in the OSAA Class 5A state semifinals at McArthur Court.

Wilsonville (23-4 overall) extended its winning streak to 19, improved to 21-0 against Class 5A teams and still has not lost in the calendar year.

“It’s just a huge adrenaline rush,” senior Ashley Walters said. “The whole season, I never thought about going to the state championship (game). I just thought of state and thought of getting through league, and thought of getting in the moment. But now that it’s here, it’s like oh my gosh – the state championship.

“This is my dream since I was little so here we are.”

The Wildcats received a huge lift from junior Kellie Krueger, who had been mired a slump over the first two state-playoff games due to foul trouble. It had affected her game mentally as she totaled just 11 points in the two games after having been one of the team’s leading scorers this year.

Krueger scored all of her team’s nine first-quarter points, and finished with 16 points off 4 of 7 shooting, along with seven rebounds and two assists.

“Mentally, I had to stay of foul trouble, just play my game, just don’t be frustrated by the refs or anything,” Krueger said. “Just play my game.”

Coach Cindy Anderson said it was exactly what her team needed.

“She’s that kind of player,” Anderson said. “I don’t know if she came out of the game. She’s a warrior, she did well. She had our first seven, eight points, she did a great job. I don’t think teams realize that Kellie Krueger is an awesome basketball player.”

Wilsonville also had an impressive defensive display, limiting Ashland senior Allison Gida to just 13 points on 6 of 15 shooting. Gida had scored her team’s 16 first-half points in its quarterfinal win over Willamette.

“Gida is a really talented player,” Walters said. “We knew she’d be aggressive and we knew she’d attack from anywhere on the court, so we knew we had to keep her in front of us and if we didn’t, we had help side. We knew who their other shooters were, too, so we just had to get up on them and make sure they didn’t get the ball in the hoop.”



Ashland (23-6) hung tough for most of the first half, and even had a 14-13 lead in the second quarter off senior Drew Van Vleck’s three-pointer.

But the Wildcats closed the quarter on a 16-3 run capped by four points from junior Kelsie Lang, including a three-point play, just before halftime for a 29-17 lead.

The Grizzlies closed to within four points in the third quarter at 33-29 when Gida and junior Kayla Reynolds helped Ashland go on a 12-4 run to start the second half. Gida scored three field goals, and Reynolds hit back-to-back three-pointers in the run.

Wilsonville extended its lead back to 40-29 with 2:33 left in the third following senior Megan Arnoldy’s three-pointer, and two free throws each by junior Emily Dungey and Krueger.

The Grizzlies closed to within six at 43-37 with 7:13 to go in the game off Van Vleck’s fourth three-pointer of the game, but that was as close as they got.

The Wildcats finished the game on a 12-2 run as the Grizzlies did not score over the last 4:52 of the game.

“It feels so amazing,” Krueger said. “It feels so surreal and I’m just so excited right now. I am just in shock but I’m just real pumped up right now. I’m really happy.”

Wilsonville will play for its first state championship since 2002 when it won back-to-back Class 3A state titles under Anderson and behind player of the year Jill Noe. The Wildcats beat La Grande, 41-34, in 2002; and beat Madras, 61-49, in 2001 at Gill Coliseum.

“It’s super exciting for me but I’m really excited for the kids,” Anderson said. “They deserve it. I don’t think they thought they could be here at the beginning, but as we moved on and on, I think they started to believe. We started to believe, (had) a great game plan and they played their hearts out, which is awesome and that’s all you can ask from your team."

Walters had 15 points off 6 of 8 shooting, along with eight rebounds and three blocks in 32 minutes for Wilsonville. Arnoldy and Dungey each added five points, and sophomore Alyssa Clark, sophomore Nicole Gearhart and Lang each had four.

Van Vleck had 12 points for Ashland, and Reynolds added nine.

Wilsonville will play for the Class 5A state championship against either Jefferson or Crater at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Mac Court in Eugene. Jefferson and Crater play tonight at 6:30 p.m.

“We’re ready to go,” Anderson said. “And our goal was to play Saturday and then after our win the other day, we said let’s play Saturday at 6:30 so we’re ready to go. I think they’re excited.”

Notes: Walters was named QWEST player of the game for Wilsonville, and Van Vleck earned player of the game honors for Ashland. ... The Wildcats shot 18 of 30 from the field (60 percent) and Ashland was 15 of 44 (34.1 percent). ... Ashland made 8 of 21 from the three-point line and Wilsonville was 1 of 2. ... The Wildcats were 18 of 29 from the free-throw line (62.1 percent) and Ashland was just 1 of 3 (33.3 percent). ... The loss snapped Ashland's 16-game winning streak.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Ashland Grizzlies	11	6	17	5	39
Wilsonville Wildcats	9	20	13	13	55

Ashland - Allison Gida 13, Drew Van Vleck 12, Reynolds 9, McCoy 3, Patton 2, Sturges, Shulenberger, Minor, Kasiah, Pavlich, Michiels
Wilsonville - Kellie Krueger 16, Ashley Walters 15, Arnoldy 5, Dungey 5, Clark 4, Gearhart 4, Lang 4, M. Bullock 2, L. Bullock, Riewald
Field goals - Wilsonville 18-30 (60.0 percent), Ashland 15-44 (34.1 percent)
Free throws - Wilsonville 18-29 (62.1 percent), Ashland 1-3 (33.3 percent)
Turnovers - Wilsonville 15, Ashland 15
Rebounds - Wilsonville 27, Ashland 22
Assists - Wilsonville 8, Ashland 8
Blocks - Wilsonville 4, Ashland 1
Steals - Wilsonville 5, Ashland 8


Recap of Wilsonville's 43-32 victory over Hermiston in the OSAA Class 5A state quarterfinals

Recap of Wilsonville's 48-34 victory over Dallas in the OSAA Class 5A state-playoff second round

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