The dynamic backcourt of junior Taylor Young and senior Sage Winslow has Crater looking like the team to beat in 5A girls basketball after the first month of play.
The Comets, who lost to Silverton 61-60 in overtime in the state championship game last season, have opened the season 11-1 and are the unanimous No. 1 team in the OSAAtoday 5A coaches poll. The only blemish on their record is a 78-69 loss to St. Joseph's (Calif.) in the POA Holiday Classic.
The 5-foot-9 Young is flourishing with her new team after transferring from reigning 6A champion South Medford, where she averaged 16.0 points and was a second-team all-state selection. This season, she is averaging 20.4 points and 4.5 steals and is shooting 40 percent from three-point range (22 for 55).
Young grew up in the Crater district and is well acquainted with her teammates.
“It's been a really good adjustment and fit,” Comets coach Amber Lease said. “She enjoys playing with these girls. I really wish I could mic up her and Sage one day during practice, because the two of them together are pretty goofy. She fits in great. She's a winner, too, and she wants to win.”
The 5-8 Winslow was the Midwestern League co-player of the year and a 5A first-team pick last season, when she averaged 19.1 points. This season she is putting up 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 steals.
Winslow, the point guard last season, is playing more off ball with the addition of Young.
“Last year, if Sage wasn't scoring, we were hurting,” Lease said of Winslow, who has signed with Southern Oregon University. “This year, that's not the case, because we have Taylor. Sage's role is getting added to from what it was last year.
“Sage has been able to get out and run a lot more. And Taylor's been able to distribute to Sage on the run, which I feel like has been very helpful for us.”
Crater is loaded with experience, adding Taylor to four returning starters in Winslow, senior center Lydia Traore (6-4), senior forward Alexa Gugliotta (5-11) and senior guard Addison Dippel (5-9). The group has a wide range of skills, according to Lease.
“The really nice thing for us is everyone always expects the ball to be in the hands of Taylor or Sage, but the ball could be in anybody's hands in the last seconds,” Lease said. “And I feel very comfortable with them making a shot.”
Traore – signed with Westminster University of Salt Lake City, a Division II program – gives the team a dominant interior presence. She is contributing 12.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
“On defense, she alters so many shots,” Lease said. “Offensively, you have to pay attention to her. If you don't have somebody to guard her, then we're going to get her the ball. She's gotten a lot stronger. She's been in the weight room a lot.”
Crater rolled past three 5A ranked teams, beating No. 3 South Albany 69-47, No. 4 Corvallis 62-44 and No. 6 Redmond 61-43. The Comets handed 4A No. 3 Henley its only loss, winning 83-54 at home. They also defeated three 6A teams – Barlow 67-54, Beaverton 53-51 and North Medford 58-28.
The home win over South Albany on Dec. 10 was the team's best game, according to Lease.
“At the very beginning, in the coaches poll, they got the same amount of No. 1 votes as we did, and our kids took that personally,” Lease said.
Tied with Beaverton in the final minute at the POA Holiday Classic, the Comets got a stop to gain possession with 5.4 seconds left. They inbounded at half-court and Winslow found Gugliotta for the game-winning layup at the buzzer.
The Comets aren't short on motivation after the way last season ended.
“That's a big thing on our girls' mind,” Lease said. “My seniors are very hungry for the opportunity to get back there after last year. I think they're as good as anybody at our level.”
Lease, an assistant the last two seasons, was promoted to head coach after the resignation of Scott Dippel, who became the school's principal.
Lease played at Mazama, where as a freshman in 2013 the Vikings won the 4A title under her mother, Joy, now the coach at Oregon Tech. Lease's father, Vic, was Mazama's football coach for 11 seasons (2013-23).
“I'm very lucky to have my first year as a head coach with the group of kids that I'm with,” Lease said.
Crusader Classic
Amity and Vale – ranked first and third, respectively, in the OSAAtoday 3A coaches poll – won the two eight-team brackets in the Crusader Classic at Salem Academy last weekend.
Amity (10-0) stayed unbeaten by blitzing Nyssa 57-19, 1A No. 4 Crane 69-50 and 3A No. 6 Cascade Christian 62-35 in the bracket championship game Saturday.
Amity junior wing Alyssa McMullen scored 55 points in the three games. She hit 11 three-pointers in the last two games, seven against Crane, when she four in the first quarter to help the Warriors open a 28-12 lead.
Senior Saralynn Grove and junior Adie Nisley added 13 and 12 points, respectively, against Crane, the reigning 1A champion. Grove had a team-high 19 points against Cascade Christian, when Amity used an 11-1 run in the last two minutes of the first half to lead 30-19.
Vale (8-1) defeated Dayton 65-26 and 1A No. 1 Country Christian 51-31 to reach Saturday's bracket final, where it 2A No. 4 Salem Academy 63-34.
The Vikings, state semifinalists last year, dropped Dayton behind juniors Kesley Stepleton (16 points, five rebounds, three assists) and Izzy Maag (12 points, seven rebounds). Senior Brynlee Hartley scored 20 points against Country Christian, hitting 5 of 7 from three-point range.
Stepleton (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Maag (11 points, five rebounds) showed the way in the final against Salem Academy.
CV stops West Albany
No. 10 Crescent Valley got its biggest win of the season Friday, dispatching No. 5 West Albany 59-53 in the 5A Mid-Willamette Conference opener for both teams.
Sophomore guard Josie Mansfield made six three-pointers and scored 25 points to lead the host Raiders (4-4). Junior guard Emily Taunisila added 16 points.
West Albany sophomore guard Payton Starwalt, a transfer from Crescent Valley, finished with 20 points, seven assists and four steals in her first game against her former team. The Bulldogs fell to 6-2 for the season.
jerryu@osaa.org
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