Chassell's size too much for Wakefield-Marenisco

WAKEFIELD - Chassell used its big edge in size and quickness to overcome Wakefield-Marenisco 63-44 in a Copper Mountain Conference match-up in the Cardinal Gym on Friday night.

"We had an advantage with our height and our guard's quickness," Chassell coach Brandi Hainault said. "Our guards did a good job of moving the ball and our post players really pounded the boards. Our defense really helped the offense with turnovers. I'm a big defensive person. I believe it's the only way to win in the end. But we're still not where we need to be with turnovers and fouls."

"We came out strong in the first quarter," W-M coach Bruce Mahler said. "The third quarter was the difference. They got a lot of open shots and they made a lot. We'd go on a mini-run and they'd answer right back. We also struggled with turnovers.

"They played with three 6-footers and our biggest girl is 5-9. That's the hand we're dealt. We need to execute better and have to block out well against players 6-2, 6-0 inside."

W-M was an energized team to start the game. Saundra Libertoski intercepted a pass and went in for an early lay-up. Darienne Korpi followed with two free throws and a baseline-corner shot that allowed the Cardinals to go up 6-2 with 4:09 left in the quarter.

After Libertoski scored again from short range, W-M went ahead 8-5. Chassell knotted up the game at 8-8, but W-M finished the quarter on a high note as Ebanie Delich made a sharp pass to Libertoski running down the lane for a score and Korpi added two more free throws to increase W-M's lead to 12-8.

"We've been working on the start of our games," Hainault said. "We're not coming out the way we want. The first quarter wasn't good, but the second and third quarters were good."

Hainault was right about that.

At the 7:41 mark of the second quarter, Milly Allen took a long pass from downcourt and went in for two and Sophia Huhta sank a put-back to tie the game at 12-12.

The scores seemed to ignite the Panther offense and Chassell went on to out-score W-M 15-4 in the quarter and take a 23-16 advantage into halftime.

The only scoring for W-M in the quarter came from Libertoski and Melissa Wanink.

Momentum had definitely switched over to Chassell's side and the biggest question was whether the Cardinals could get it back.

W-M had been using a full court press and Korpi used her quick hands and feet to come up with a steal and drill a shot from the lane.

It was a good sign, but Chassell was ready to roll. The Panthers had little trouble with W-M's press and went on a 13-0 run. They led 36-19 with 4:34 left and finished the quarter with a 39-23 advantage.

"We could have pressurized them better, but we didn't finish," Mahler said. "Even when we got a steal, we didn't get any scoring out of it. We've also got to get more scoring out of our starters."

Hainault saw it a little differently.

"They have one of the toughest presses we've faced," Hainault said. "But our girls did a good overall job with the press."

W-M freshman Cloe Bachand started the final quarter by sinking a shot from near the free throw line, but Lela Rautiola answered by rolling home a shot.

Korpi made both ends of 1 and 1 to make it 43-27 and she was about to have a sizzling fourth quarter. She scored 19 points in the quarter and that included 7-7 from the free throw line.

Chassell's lead shrunk at times, but the dagger was inserted with 2:11 in the game when Allen splashed a 3 from the right wing to make it 58-38.

Allen topped Chassell's scoring with 18 points, while Sydney Danison reached double figures with 14.

Korpi threw down 23 points and sank a perfect 11-11 on free throws, while Libertoski notched 8 points.

Chassell won the junior varsity game 42-36.

Chassell is now 7-2.

The Cardinals (2-6, 2-3 CMC) travel to play an improving Ewen-Trout Creek team on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Chassell - Jenna Pietila 8, Meg Hokenson 6, Sophia Huhta 8, Milly Allen 18, Sydney Danison 14, Rebecca Markham 4, Lela Rautiola 5. FT's: 7-16, Fouls:19, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: Allen 2.

W-M - Ebanie Delich 4, Saundra Libertoski 8, Darienne Korpi 23, Alexa Jilek 1, Rachel Obradovich 3, Melissa Wanink 3. FT's: 14-26, Fouls: 16, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: none.

Chassell 8 23 49 63

W-M 12 16 23 44