Canby Herald Online

Gladstone 39, North Marion 26: Short-handed Huskies fall to Gladiators

Halee Pyatt leads North Marion with seven points in Friday's loss

• By: Garrett Rudolph  
• Published: 2/3/2010 12:40:05 AM

Photo By: Garrett RudolphGirls basketball: Gladstone 38, North Marion 26
Halee Pyatt scored seven points to lead North Marion, but the Huskies fell by 12 points on Friday night to Gladstone.

AURORA — With North Marion’s top two players sidelined with injuries, the Huskies didn’t stand much chance on Friday night at North Marion High School.

After falling behind early, the North Marion girls basketball team couldn’t catch up to Gladstone in a 39-26 loss.
 
The Gladiators took quick control of the game, holding the Huskies to a single field goal in the first quarter and just four field goals in the entire first half. Gladstone’s defensive performance allowed the Gladiators to take a 24-12 lead into the second half.
 
However, North Marion stepped up its play in the second half, keeping the game close in the third quarter, and outscoring Gladstone 6-5 in the fourth quarter.
 
“Once we got in a hole, we played them even the rest of the way,” said Huskies coach Dennis Melcher. “It could have been a lot worse.”
 
North Marion was led by seven points from junior Halee Pyatt and six points from freshman Jasmine Flores.
 
“I thought we had a lot of positives (Friday),” said Melcher. “We drew three or four charges, we took care of the ball pretty well against their press. We weren’t consistent, but we had some good positive things.”
 
Melcher said defense continues to be one of the team’s strengths, as the Huskies have held three of their past four opponents to under 40 points. However, North Marion has struggled to score at times, averaging 37.7 points per game — lowest in the Capital Conference.
 
Still, Melcher said the team has been competitive in almost every game this year, and with a roster full of juniors, sophomores and a freshman, he expects them to only get better as the season progresses and looking ahead toward next year.
 
Rounding out North Marion’s scoring was sophomore Hannah Johnson, who scored four points, junior Ariel Peasley, who scored three points, and sophomores Courtney Lee, Nicole Ferchland and Jennifer Nichols, who all scored two points apiece.
Earlier in the week, North Marion lost, 38-36, to Stayton, falling just short of its second league win of the season.
 
Friday’s loss dropped the Huskies’ record to 1-5 in league play (7-12 overall).
 
The Huskies were without leading scorer Jamie Melcher on Friday, who sprained her ankle in a Thursday night practice. She and Shanelle Garinger were both on crutches for the game.
 
While Jamie is expected to return to action this week, Garinger is out for the season, after having surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
 
Jamie had been averaging about 15 points per game during the season, and for a team that hasn’t been scoring a lot of points, her absence had a profound effect on the team’s play Friday.
 
Yet, the team has gotten a surprising boost from the play of Flores, who only recently joined the varsity squad, after starting the year at the junior varsity level.
 
“She just keeps getting better and better,” said Melcher. “She played really well in the Stayton game for us. … I think she’ll get more comfortable as time goes on and she’ll continue to get better.”
 
This week, North Marion will host Estacada (0-5, 5-10) on Tuesday, followed by a road game at Cascade (6-0, 16-1) on Friday. Both games are scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

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