St. Helens pulls off win over Putnam, but falls short in game against Sandy

The St. Helens Lady Lions hit a bump in their road to respectability in the Northwest Oregon Conference on Friday night, but in two games last week they proved they don’t quit.

The Lions started the week with a 55-49 win at Rex Putnam. The Lady Lions found themselves down by just a point after one, and three points behind at the break.

They tied up the game by the end of three, and came up big with a 21-15 fourth quarter. Rianne Tupper scored eight points in the period, including a big three and three of four free throws. Tupper would lead the game in scoring with 22 points, 12 of those on four threes. Jillian Ross helped clinch the win with four free throws made in the fourth. She was 8 for 8 in the game and the second leading scorer with 15. Michelle Sass also had four points in the final period with a field goal and two free throws.

As satisfying at Tuesday’s road win was, Friday’s home game was a bitter pill for St. Helens to swallow. They may have thought Sandy’s 0-5 league, 2-12 season record going in made them an easy mark for a NWOC win.

It was not to be. Sandy proved a tougher nut to crack than the Lady Lions thought. St. Helens was getting shots, but the ball was not dropping.

St. Helens led 6-3 midway through the first quarter. It was tied again at eight with less than three minutes left. Sandy then went on an 8-0 run to lead 16-8 going into the second period.

It didn’t get better in the second frame. Sandy reeled off another 10 points and had a 16-10 lead with three minutes left in the quarter. A basket by Ashley Sharp, just returned from a broken leg early in the season, and a three from Tupper closed the margin. A three from Ross and one from Harcourt at the buzzer made it a 10-point game.

The Lady Lions still had hope and kept plugging away. Sandy hit just two field goals in the last period, and just four in the half. However, they connected on 14 of 21 free throws in the half and that would be enough. St. Helens twice closed to within seven in the closing minutes on threes from Ross and Sass, but Sandy hit five of six free throws in the last minute to clinch their first league win.

The loss left St. Helens at 2-3 in league. They are at Liberty this week (5-1, 7-9) and Parkrose (3-3, 6-8) on Friday. The Lady Lions dropped to 28th in the standings. They’ll need to pull off an upset or two to move back up. Only the top 24 ranked teams make the play-in round.

Scoring:

St. Helens 55, Rex Putnam 49

St. Helens 8 10 16 21—55

Rex Putnam 9 12 13 15—49

St. Helens (55)—Rianne Tupper 22, Jillian Ross 15, Sass 6, Kyle-Milward 5, Hembry 5, Bingaman 2, Harcourt.

Rex Putnam (49)—Ali Schooley 14, Kelsea Baton 11, Manzano 7, VanLeuven 6, Snyder 4, Bolander 3, D’Auvergne 2, Amsberry 2, Beko, Simpson, Hager.

Sandy 54, St. Helens 46

Sandy 16 17 8 13—54

St. Helens 8 15 7 18—46

Sandy (54)—Raquell Pellecer 21, Kaylee Barnett 12, Remsberg 7, Richardson 5, Turin 5, Nutt 3, McAllester 2, Valitski 1, Phipps, Schmautz, Byron.

St. Helens (46)—Michelle Sass 13, Ross 8, Tupper 7, Harcourt 5, Bartolomucci 4, Roth 4, Amick 2, Sharp 2, Etchison.

Tuesday, Jan. 22

St. Helens 55, Putnam 49

Parkrose 51, Wilsonville 40

Liberty 40, Sandy 32

Milwaukie 58, Sherwood 43

Friday, Jan. 25

Sandy 54, St. Helens 46

Parkrose 44, Milwaukie 55

Sherwood 62, Wilsonville 55

Liberty 68, Putnam 52

Tuesday, Jan. 29

St. Helens at Liberty

Parkrose at Sandy

Putnam at Sherwood

Milwaukie at Wilsonville

Friday, Feb. 1

St. Helens at Parkrose

Wilsonville at Putnam

Milwaukie at Sandy

Liberty at Sherwood