CENTRAL POINT — The Crater girls put themselves in a good position to upset Springfield in a key Midwestern League basketball home contest Friday.
But a rash of turnovers late in the game proved costly for the Comets in a 36-34 loss to the Millers.
Crater (14-4, 5-3 MWL) opened league play with a 21-point road loss to Springfield (16-2, 7-1). A victory against the Millers on Friday would have put the Comets in a tie for second in the MWL.
The Comets fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half. But after some halftime adjustments, Crater outscored the Millers 14-1 in the third quarter to take a six-point lead entering the final period.
Crater was ahead 34-30 with about 90 seconds to play then turned the ball over on three of its last four possessions.
Springfield senior guard Cielo Gonzalez, who led the Millers with 13 points, hit the winning basket on a floater in the key with two seconds left.
Crater finished with 17 turnovers, including five in the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Sydney Gray paced the Comets with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Alexus Woodard, a Crater senior post, added nine points, five rebounds and three steals and teammate Nehkyah Ellis contributed six points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
SPRINGFIELD (36): Todd 0, Newall 6, Durbin 11, L. Barraza 0, Birkey 2, Dade 2, J. Barraza 0, Gonzalez 13, Travertini 2. Totals: 14 3-8 36.
CRATER (34): Van Hook 4, Ryerson 3, Robison 0, Gray 12, Ellis 6, A. Woodard 9, Young 0, K. Woodard 0. Totals: 13 4-8 34.
Springfield;13;8;1;14;—;36
Crater;10;4;14;6;—;34
3-point goals — Springfield 3 (Durbin 1, Gonzalez 2), Crater 4 (Ryerson 1, Ellis 2, A. Woodard 1).
JV score — Crater 45, Springfield 30.
SOUTH MEDFORD 79, WILLAMETTE 36: South Medford’s Ula Chamberlin erupted for 34 points and eight rebounds as the host Panthers took care of Willamette early on in the Southwest Conference affair.
Chamberlin knocked down four 3-pointers and was backed by Bella Pedrojetti’s 18-point effort while Shakia Perry recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers (13-8, 6-2 SWC).
Willamette dropped to 8-12 overall and 2-6 in the SWC.
WILLAMETTE (36): Morris 7, Sendrijas 3, Smith 4, Jackson 0, Young 0, Crawford 4, White 0, Pickering 0, Lee 2, Willoughby 16. Totals: 15 4-8 36.
SOUTH MEDFORD (79): K. Chamberlin 7, Coleman 4, U. Chamberlin 34, Schmerbach 0, Pedrojetti 18, Dahlin 4, Perry 10, Laupola 2. Totals: 32 7-8 79.
Willamette;7;10;9;10;—;36
South Medford;20;26;14;19;—;79
3-point goals — Willamette 2 (Morris 1, Sendrijas 1), South Medford 8 (K. Chamberlin 1, U. Chamberlin 4, Pedrojetti 1, Dahlin 1).
JV result — South Medford won.
GRANTS PASS 39, SOUTH EUGENE 25: At Grants Pass, South Eugene was limited to three points in the first half and Grants Pass held on in the second half to pick up a Southwest Conference victory.
Camdyn Bruner finished with a game-high 12 points while Alyssa Etheridge and Ayla Klinger added eight points apiece for the Cavers (13-7, 5-3 SWC), who won their third straight.
The Axemen (7-13, 1-7) lost their fourth in a row.
SOUTH EUGENE (25): Lewis 6, Glenzel 2, H. Stein 4, McGowan 6, Galloway 5, Brandt 0, Curtis 0, Jost 0, Schmidt 2, Lee 0, Ellison 0, K. Stein 0. Totals: 10 2-8 25.
GRANTS PASS (39): Etheridge 8, Gaither 0, Ay. Klinger 8, Williams 3, Ah. Klinger 6, Bruner 12, Noga 2. Totals: 16 5-16 39.
South Eugene;1;2;12;10;—;25
Grants Pass;7;11;9;12;—;39
3-point goals — South Eugene 3 (Lewis 2, Galloway 1), Grants Pass 2 (Etheridge 1, Williams 1).
EAGLE POINT 46, NORTH EUGENE 42: At Eagle Point, Andrea Flores’ steal and breakaway layup down the stretch put Eagle Point in control for good after the lead had changed hands three times in the fourth quarter.
Flores, who finished with 12 points, gave the Eagles a 42-40 lead with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining before Nicole Lawler locked up the victory by going 3-for-4 at the foul line over the final 35 seconds.
Odalis Rincones also dropped in 12 points for the Eagles (9-10, 3-5 MWL), and Carlene Hart added eight points.
NORTH EUGENE (42): Cook 8, Babogan 12, Oravec 3, Monley 5, Carrier 8, Ahlstrom 6, Lundin 0, Smith 0. Totals: 10 18-23 42.
EAGLE POINT (46): Hogan 4, Flores 12, Rincones 12, Lawler 6, Meerten 4, Hart 8, Monroe 0, Burgess 0, Shelton 0. Totals: 15 13-19 46.
North Eugene;12;10;7;13;—;42
Eagle Point;10;12;7;17;—;46
3-point goals — North Eugene 4 (Bobogan 2, Oravec 1, Monley 1), Eagle Point 3 (Rincones 2, Lawler 1). Fouled out — Meerten.
JV result — North Eugene won.
CHURCHILL 50, ASHLAND 28: At Ashland, Ashland couldn’t rebound after a tough opening half and fell to Churchill in a Midwestern League game.
Neither team had a player finish in double figures, but the Lancers had five different players score at least six points.
The Lancers (8-9, 5-3 MWL) also limited the Grizzlies (3-15, 0-8) to just two points in the second quarter to build a 25-12 lead going into halftime.
Malia Rodriguez scored a team-high eight points for Ashland. Vita Witnauer had six points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Nina Munson had a team-high four steals.
Kalya Nesbitt finished with nine points for the Lancers, while Natalie Elstone added eight.
CHURCHILL (50): N. Elstone 8, S. Elstone 5, Aley 2, Williams 6, Young 4, Nesbitt 9, Acker 6, Reyes 8, Miller 2. Totals: 20 7-13 50.
ASHLAND (28): Sollinger 4, Barnes 0, Garringe 2, Moran 0, LaCoste 4, Munson 2, Summers 2, Witnauer 6, Rodriguez 8, Abel 0. Totals: 13 2-4 28.
Churchill;14;11;16;9;—;50
Ashland;10;2;12;4;—;28
3-point goals — Churchill 3 (N. Elstone 1, S. Elstone 1, Nesbitt 1).
JV score — Churchill 47, Ashland 30.
ILLINOIS VALLEY 46, ST. MARY’S 41: St. Mary’s lead slipped away in the fourth quarter as Illinois Valley began to take over at the free-throw line and came from behind for the Southern Cascade League win.
Ibixica Alvarez splashed in four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for the Crusaders (5-16, 2-5 SCL), who led 24-18 at halftime before the Cougars (13-7, 4-3) took the lead midway through the fourth, where they went 11-for-19 from the charity stripe.
St. Mary’s received 14 points from Emma Bennion.
ILLINOIS VALLEY (46): Scott 16, Miller 2, Navarro 14, Brooks 9, Moore 5, Gomez 0. Totals: 14 16-29 46.
ST. MARY’S (41): Lippert 6, Alvarez 16, Bennion 14, Conner 3, Ward 2, Christman 0, Birmingham 0, Alftine 0. Totals: 16 2-10 41.
Illinois Valley;12;6;11;17;—;46
St. Mary’s;13;11;6;11;—;41
3-point goals — Illinois Valley 2 (Navarro 2), St. Mary’s 5 (Alvarez 4, Conner 1). Fouled out — Bennion, Alftine, Ward.
CASCADE CHRISTIAN 54, ROGUE RIVER 36: At Rogue River, Sophie Ferreira collected 15 points and 10 rebounds to help Cascade Christian navigate past Rogue River in SCL play.
Mallory Meilicke pitched in 12 points for the Challengers (11-12, 4-2 SCL), and Katelyn Willard generated five points, six assists and four steals.
The Chieftains (6-14, 0-6) picked up 13 points from Jesse Langfield and 12 from Madison McKown.
CASCADE CHRISTIAN (54): Willard 5, Reed 3, Alexander 7, Meilicke 12, L. White 8, Ferreira 15, Bennett 2, R. White 2, Runeman 0, Carlson 0, Robinson 0, Joseph 0. Totals: 19 7-11 54.
ROGUE RIVER (36): Sizemore 3, McKown 12, Langfield 13, Spaeth 6, Reeder 2, Rangel 0. Totals: 13 4-5 36.
Cascade Christian;15;15;14;10;—;54
Rogue River;7;16;8;5;—;36
3-point goals — Cascade Christian 3 (Willard 1, Reed 1, Meilicke 1), Rogue River 2 (Sizemore 1, Langford 1).
CHILOQUIN 48, PROSPECT 18: At Prospect, after getting burned by Chiloquin’s superior athleticism while using a man-to-man defensive scheme in the first half, Prospect dropped into a zone defense in the second half and forced Chiloquin to shoot from outside, and Prospect was outscored only 19-12 in the final 16 minutes of the Mountain Valley League game.
Four players finished with four points apiece for the Cougars (3-17, 1-8 MVL), who dropped their fourth straight.
The Queens (15-3, 8-2) have won five of their last six.