Girls beat Prospect to get third straight win
From our weekly issue dated January 12, 2011
Senior Laurissa Tausaga drives to the basket during the victory against Prospect Charter Jan 4. (Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
The Illinois Valley High School girls’ basketball team won its third straight against another Cougar team, Prospect Charter, 48-20 in the first home game of 2011.
Lady Cougar players scored at least ten points in every quarter, overcoming Prospect with unified team play and the ability to spot and control the opponents’ strengths, head coach Loren King said.
“They were ready to play,” King said. “It was the first game that we’ve had four solid quarters where we scored well in all four.”
This time, many teammates contributed points for the Cougars. King said Laurissa Tausaga and Carly Jensen scored ten apiece and Kristen Vidales had 11 points.
“We played 14 girls and 12 of them scored,” King added.
The consistent theme for this team all season has been setting goals: meeting one small goal, moving on to another, and eventually the pieces begin to fall into place.
According to King, confidence is growing and the individual players are learning how to bring their skills together in a cohesive effort. But there’s still plenty of work to do for the Lady Cougars.
“We’re starting to get on the same page and that’s really important,” King said. “We have to continue to develop our basic skills and realize how to play hard for four quarters. You can get very tired, but part of it is the mental toughness to play when you’re tired and realize you can do it.”
Prospect Charter is a 1A team from Prospect, Ore., which King says is similar to Illinois Valley in many ways. Both teams are fairly inexperienced and both are working to gain confidence in each game they play.
“We controlled the boards last night and that was a big difference in the ball game,” King said. “Jessica VanWormer is a good outside shooter. But she had one basket for the game.”
The defense was also a primary part of the win. King said Thea Barker Cortrecht, Meghan Householder and Samantha Frederick had big games, keeping the Prospect Cougars main scorers at bay.
On Friday, Jan. 7, the Illinois Valley girls’ team faced Lakeview in its first league game. It was a tough game against a difficult opponent, and the Lady Cougars fell 25-58.
Currently, the Honkers are 8-7 overall and first in the league, though St. Mary’s High School is 11-0 and has not yet played a league team.
“[Lakeview] is very physical. They’re an advanced opponent who’s been to the State tournament and they want to go back,” King said.
Despite the record, the Lady Cougars varsity has made big strides from the past two winless seasons. The were set to face Lost River on Tuesday, Jan. 11, and are scheduled to play Bonanza on Friday, Jan. 14.
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