Lion girls trounce Cascade, can't overcome Elmira

It was a tale of two very different games last week for the Cottage Grove Lion girls, as they split with Cascade and Elmira. On Tuesday, (Jan. 8) after building a huge first-half lead, they survived a big comeback effort by Cascade to win 63-50 and end the preseason with an 8-5 record. In the home opener in the late game on Friday night, this time it was the Lions who fell way behind to begin the game, but scratched their way back before falling 54-46.

In one of the best dominating offensive performances in many years, the CG girls raced out of the starting blocks, building a 17-5 first quarter lead against the Cougars. Sylvia Dean and Ashley Portier each scored five points in the first period. In the second quarter Kaitlyn Erner chipped in seven points and Alanna Borrelli also added seven to help the Lions achieve an incredible 30-point advantage with two minutes to play. The half ended with the CG girls leading the Cougars 37-9.

"We were just relentless from everywhere," said Lions’ head coach Kerry Clawson. Cascade made a run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 21 points at 50-29, but the game still appeared to be well in hand starting the last period. There were some very anxious moments for the Lions, however, when Cascade opened the first two minutes by going on a 14-0 run to make it 50-43 with 5:42 left in the game.

For the complete article see the 01-16-2013 issue.

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