Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Page A-3
Beavers knock-off Volunteers
By
Rhiannon Potkey
Associated Press
On Saturday, March 17 at I.V. High School the I.V. Boys and Girls Club’s two un-
defeated middle school basketball teams had a championship game. The green team
was sponsored by Wheels A’ Turnin and the brown team was sponsored by River
Valley. The green team ended up winning 30-25. Skylar Larkin takes a shot (below).
(Photos by Laura Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Life in the
Valley
of Riches
By DAN MANCUSO,
Publisher
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, “Things
happen, sometimes.” This week’s edition, to be
frank is a disappointment. Stories fell through
and we were left scrambling for content. I am not
happy, and I would like to apologize to you, if I
let you down.
Taking on the other paper has been a larger
chore than I expected. But in time, things will
settle into a flow and things will improve.
Losing our reporter Jason McMillen
was a bit of a blow and we have been trying
new reporters with both failures and success.
That is the life of a small town newspaper. We
find them, train them and then they move on.
Typically about one year is the norm. I have
been fortunate to have kept the writers we have,
for as long as we have. If you are interested in
community journalism please give me a call.
The
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w/ Jammer & Birdy
8-midnight
OPEN MIC w/ B
Thursdays @ 7
Leonard Griffie Band
SAT March 24
8-11 p.m. $10 cover
Usually when we ask for help we get a few
people who want to write columns, but we need
people who want to be reporters, not writers.
This time of year is generally a slow
news time, so I suppose it’s good that we are
shorthanded.
Speaking of shorthanded, the Land Use
Board of Appeals (LUBA) overturned the
counties ban on growing cannabis on parcels
less than 5 acres. It appears they didn’t notice
the 16,000 RR-5 zoned properties as the law
dictates. As for any other position that was to
be argued, LUBA declined to tackle the issues,
because it seemed that in their minds, since
it wasn’t noticed, it didn’t happen. Josephine
County Commissioner Lily Morgan said by
phone March 16 that the board had not discussed
the outcome yet, but plans to in a meeting
scheduled for March 20.
As for the lengthy article about Rough
& Ready, some of you may have read it in the
Oregonian. I felt it was important to republish it
for all to see. It’s a complicated topic and a beast
in length. If you start it, finish it. We gave the
Phillipis a chance to respond as I felt it was the
right thing to do.
Thank you for picking up this week’s
paper, try to enjoy it! ~djm
Phil
King
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) — Oregon State coach
Scott Rueck had insulated
himself from much of the
media coverage leading
into the women’s NCAA
Tournament.
But struggling to sleep at
2 a.m. Sunday morning before
Oregon State faced Tennessee
in the second round, Rueck
stumbled upon an ESPN
preview article.
He noticed a nugget
about the Lady Vols having
never lost at home in the
NCAA Tournament and
thought, “How often in life
do you have a chance to do
something for the first time?”
After informing his team
at shoot-around about their
shot at history, the Beavers
went out and added another
chapter to their renaissance.
Senior Marie Gulich had
14 points and 12 rebounds
to lead sixth-seeded Oregon
State to its third straight
regional semifinal appearance
with a 66-59 win over
third-seeded Tennessee at
Thompson-Boling Arena.
“We had an opportunity
to do something today that
is really special and that is a
first,” Rueck said. “So when
the clock was ticking down
right at the very end and we
knew we had it, I just couldn’t
hardly believe how far this
team has come.”
Rueck can say the same
for his program. The one-time
Pac-12 Conference doormat
has become a perennial
contender with expectations
to make deep tournament
runs and share the stage with
tradition-rich Tennessee.
The Lady Vols had been
57-0 at home in NCAA play
with most of those victories
coming under late Hall of
Fame coach Pat Summitt,
who led the team to eight
national championships. It’s
the second straight season that
Tennessee lost in the second
round of the NCAAs and will
miss the Sweet 16 in back-
to-back seasons for the first
time in the program’s 37-year
tournament history.
Tennessee (24-8) and
OSU (25-7) played an intense
game befitting of two teams
separated by only one spot
in the AP poll entering the
tournament.
Tennessee’s swarming
pressure defense flustered
OSU early, forcing turnovers
and contested shots. The
national leader in 3-point field
goal percentage, OSU started
1 for 7 from behind the 3-
point line in the first half.
The Lady Vols went on
an 11-2 run in the first quarter,
punctuated by a Jaime Nared
3-pointer, to take a 17-7 lead.
But OSU switched to a zone
defense in the second quarter
that slowed UT’s offense and
began hitting shots on the
other end to claw back.
The Beavers embarked
on a 13-2 run to take their
first lead on two free throws
by Kat Tudor with 2:44
remaining in the half. Rennia
Davis hit a deep 3-pointer to
send Tennessee into halftime
with a 26-24 advantage.
“I think it just made
us stagnate,” UT senior
Mercedes Russell said of
OSU’s zone defense. “We
were standing around on the
perimeter a lot, not really
passing and cutting and
moving the defense, which we
should have. We didn’t really
make them work defensively.”
The teams battled
through a physical third
quarter, with OSU attacking
the basket and drawing fouls
to end the quarter on an 11-2
run for a 44-39 advantage.
OSU grabbed two
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offensive rebounds to keep a
possession alive to start the
final quarter, and Mikayla
Pivec capitalized with a 3-
pointer to set the tone.
The Beavers gradually
built their lead to as large as
13 points. Tennessee made
a desperate attempt to rally
in the final minutes, but
OSU managed to keep the
Lady Vols at bay and beat
Tennessee for the first time in
five attempts.
After the final buzzer,
the Beavers celebrated on the
court as their small contingent
of fans behind the bench
cheered.
Senior Mercedes Russell
finished with 21 points and 14
rebounds in the final game of
her Tennessee career. Fellow
senior Nared scored nine
points on 3 of 14 shooting.
Having started the
season as a young team in
rebuilding mode, OSU has
matured into another Sweet
16 squad ready to carry on the
legacy.
“It’s amazing to see this
program grow. I’ve been a
Beaver fan since I was a little
girl, and once Scott got here
it just got better and better,”
said McWilliams, a junior.
“I am so happy to be able to
play for this team and that we
are making this Sweet 16 run
again.”
The Beavers were not
an average No. 6 seed, and
proved it. The switch to a
zone defense in the second
quarter changed the game for
the Beavers and contained a
Tennessee team that thrives on
uptempo offense.
OSU advances to the
Sweet 16 to play No. 2
Baylor or No. 7 Michigan in
Lexington, Kentucky.
DJ
Fri & Sat nights
9 p.m. $3
@
McGrew’s
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541-596-2202
for dinner reservations