Warriors sting Cusick
The Almira/Coulee-Hartline girls basketball team lost a lot from last year’s state runner-up team.
They lost their star player, post Sheena Henderson, and their head coach, Scott Isaak. So how did the Warriors, now under the guidance of Mike Correia, respond in 2004-05?
Why, by again winning the District 7 title, of course.
Michele Balcom hit five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, and sophomore Kami Clark finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists as ACH (24-2) routed top-ranked Cusick (24-2) 73-38 Saturday at Mt. Spokane High School.
Senior post Molly Gwinn added 16 points and nine rebounds as the Warriors led from start to finish, jumping out to an 8-0 run behind two Balcom 3-pointers and never looking back.
ACH never led by less than six the rest of the way, and it was a result that surprised even Correia.
“I never thought we’d do that against that team,” Correia said. “That’s a good team. … There aren’t many words for this feeling. I just thank God for the opportunity to coach these girls, who always put the team first.”
For Balcom, it was just a matter of a senior stepping up at the right time.
“The seniors’ roles, we had to step up,” the 5-foot-4 point guard said. “We knew we’d been here before, we knew we could do it. We just had to make sure the younger girls had confidence in themselves and know they could be right up there with us.”
Cusick spent most of the game in a 2-3 zone, which Balcom and Warriors guards Dani Butler and Danielle Edwards were able to consistently penetrate, pulling up for jumpers at the foul line and avoiding Panthers post Cara Shepherd, who still managed three blocks.
When they weren’t darting through the zone, Balcom was spear-heading a long-range attack that finished with 11 made 3-pointers. The Panthers had no answer.
“Right off the bat, Balcom hits those 3s … and we’re reeling from the get-go,” Cusick head coach J.R. Bluff said. “When you’re just trying to keep up, it’s hard to stay focused on what you’ve been doing. They just made shots and kept us reeling.”
Junior guard Misty Ostlie had a team-high 13 points for Cusick. She and Shepherd, who finished with 10 – though only two after halftime – were the only Panthers in double figures as ACH was able to stifle a normally potent Cusick attack.
“They played some solid D,” Bluff said. “They made our entry passes (to Shepherd) tough. It just seemed like when one thing went bad, it snowballed and it all went bad.”
It all went well for Balcom, who made it a point to be more assertive on offense against Cusick than she had been in Thursday night’s 44-37 victory over Curlew.
“I just wanted to be more aggressive,” Balcom said. “I figured once I hit those two 3s, it was going to be a good night.”
Good nights from Balcom are what Correia believes ACH will need if it makes some noise at state.
“She’s our leader,” the first-year head coach said. “As she goes often is how we go.”
Sprague-Harrington 51, Curlew 46
Stacie Shields and Abby Hatten each had 11 points as the Falcons (22-5) earned third place by beating the Cougars (22-5) at Mt. Spokane High School.
Natalie Deking and Maria Rustemeyer added a combined 17 points as Sprague-Harrington withstood strong games from Curlew post Nichole Miller (14 points) and point guard Brittany Strandberg (17 points) to go into state on a winning note.