Lady Wolverines upset Valdez in conference playoffs, earn trip to State

DICK SHELLHORN

March 13, 2008 at 1:25PM AKST

For The Cordova Times

A stunning 45-42 upset of Valdez in the final game of Cordova’s last Aurora conference playoffs has the Cordova girls on the way back to the State 3A tournament for the second year in a row.

The magic of basketball is that there is always the potential for drama, and that was never more evident than Saturday, March 8, at Eielson High School.

A crushing pair of 15-point losses to the Bucs a week earlier in Valdez had left the Wolverines winless in four tries against Todd Wegner’s squad.

Five days later, the Wolverines were back in action, with Valdez as a major roadblock in their hopes of returning to the bright lights of Sullivan Arena.

After being stung by No. 6-seeded Glennallen 50-46 in their opening game Thursday, March 6, things couldn’t have looked darker for No. 3-seeded Wolverines.

One loss in the books, and one more would end the season.

Plus the defeat sent the CHS girls into the loser’s side of the bracket, a two-a-day basketball marathon test of skill and endurance on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, to earn the coveted second-place slot at State.

Cordova Coach Virginia Anderson, who has had considerable success in epic run-the-table, loser-side shootouts in the past, remained upbeat.

"I told the girls, this way we got to play everybody," said Anderson.

And so they did. At 12:30 p.m. Friday, they tackled Monroe, finishing a 48-30 winner at 2 p.m.

Four hours later it was Delta, with the Wolverines coming from behind to win 49-45.

On Saturday, the Cordova squad got payback against Glennallen, clobbering them 42-21 in another 12:30 p.m. game.

With Eielson already earning the District title and top slot at State by defeating Valdez 59-43 in a game that started after 10 p.m. Friday night, only Cordova and Valdez were left to battle it out.

So six hours after eliminating Glennallen, it was the longtime Prince William Sound rivals back at it again. Cordova’s three-point victory in a pressure-packed, season-ending battle for the loser did not come easily.

Valdez jumped to a 12-point advantage early in the contest; Cordova battled back to a 25-18 halftime deficit.

Down 32-28 going into the fourth quarter, the Lady Wolverines went on a 17-10 run to pull out the win. Kelsey Hawley scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in the final quarter, while Teal Webber’s second three-pointer of the game gave CHS its first lead in the contest midway through the last quarter.

Even Anderson, a veteran of many a Cordova comeback, had trouble comprehending the final numbers of the scoreboard, which listed the blue-clad Lady Wolverines as the visitors.

While her exhausted squad celebrated wildly in sweat-soaked uniforms in front of the Cordova bench, she glanced at the scoreboard repeatedly, while asking assistant Coach Brooke Johnson, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, can you believe this, can you really believe this?"

"We saved the best for last," Anderson said. "I told the girls before the game we had to have something special in the season to make unforgettable memories, and this was it."

Wegner, the Bucs coach, with a State 3A boy’s title on his resume, knew it would be a struggle.

"Beating the same team five times in a row is hard," Wegner said. "Plus Virginia once again displayed that ability to get her team playing their best basketball when it matters the most."

Hawley and Marissa Merritt were named to the All Conference team, and Emma Roemhildt was selected to the All-Sportsmanship team.

Individual scoring

Game 1

Glennallen: Sutherland 26, Pyle 3, Falkner 5, Gearheart 15. Cordova: Collins 6, Webber 3, Roemhildt, E. 3, Kelly 9, Merritt 3, Hawley 22.

Game 2

Collins 5, Roemhildt, V. 2, Webber 7, Roemhildt, E. 3, Kelly 6, Merritt 9, Hawley 14, Phillips 2. Monroe: Carpluk 4, DBano 15, Helmbrech 1, Ribar 8, Gilbertson 2.

Game 3

Collins 7, Webber 4, Roemhildt, E. 5, Kelly 12, Merritt 5, Hawley 16. Delta: Green 3, Zolman 2, Sorensen 15, Byam 2, Power 1, McClure 8, McClinton 14.

Game 4

Cordova: Collins 5, Roemhildt, V. 2, Webber 2, Roemhildt, E. 4, Kelly 9, Merritt 2, Hawley 16, Phillips 2. Glennallen: Sutherland 9, Pyle 5, Savel 5, Gearhart 2.

Game 5

Cordova: Collins 3, Roemhildt, V. 2, Webber 6, Kelly 4, Merritt 4, Hawley 26. Valdez: Wegner 7, Ellis 2, Beaudion 4, Kuchin 12, Masters 6, Adsitt 11.

Dick Shellhorn, who covers sports for The Cordova Times, can be reached at (907) 424-3543.