Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolverettes Take Championship At Saratoga (cont)

ch.

Still, the Wolves had their chances to win, or at least send the game into overtime, but missed three point shots on two occasions in the closing seconds.

The final nail in Prescott's coffin was put their by the Wolves themselves. With about a half-second left, trailing 53-50, Prescott had the ball out of bounds.

The inbounds pass hit a light display hanging from the ceiling, giving the ball and the game to Blevins.

This game was followed by the Prescott senior girls tangling with Mineral Springs' Lady Hornets.

The Wolverettes were all over the court defensively, but had a pathetic first half shooting.

Prescott came out in a 1-3-1 zone, with the Lady Hornets showing a man-to-man defense.

The Lady Hornets went up 4-0 early and saw Prescott go on a 9-2 run, but still managed to lead 11-9 at the end of one as the Wolverettes went cold.

While the game was starting to show signs of heating up in the second quarter, a couple of fans definitely got hot.

At the 7:43 mark, play was halted because two boys began fighting and had to be removed from the gym.

The delay didn't help scoring as the Lady Hornets led 20-19 at the break.

While it appeared to be anybody's game when the third quarter began, the Wolverettes decided they wanted it to be theirs.

Prescott's offense showed up, putting on a scoring clinic with a 31-8 showing in the period.

Mineral Springs managed to tie the game at 24-24 with 6:04 showing, but was stifled from then on.

The Wolverettes found their stroke inside and out, lighting up the scoreboard like a pinball machine, while defensively, they forced turnovers turning them into easy baskets.

Mineral Springs was punch drunk at the beginning of the fourth as they trailed 50- 28.

Coach Bill Cossey called off his Wolverettes, substituting full squads almost the entire fourth period. This allowed the Lady Hornets to make a more respectable showing than the final score should have been.

The Mineral Springs boys team found out they don't want to see Gurdon on a regular basis either, as the Devils scorched the Hornets 87-50.

Gurdon showed a lot of patience early as they worked the ball around the horn, looking for the open man to take the best possible shot.

However, Gurdon's patience is trying, as it's played at full speed with the ball flying through the air leaving contrails.

The Devils posted a 17-8 first quarter lead, utilizing their frenetic full court man- press to harass and harangue the Hornets. The press kept Mineral Spring off balance the entire game.

Gurdon lit it up in the second eight minutes, going up 27-10 with 6:02 showing. The Hornet players found themselves counting white jerseys to see how many players Gurdon had on the court as the Devils were all over the place, with hands everywhere.

Gurdon, as the Devils are wont to do, showed no mercy, as they put the ball up all over the court finding the bottom of the net and playing in-your-face defense. Halftime showed Gurdon leading 43-21.

Mineral Springs was confused. The Hornets had came to play basketball but found themselves embroiled in a track meet they couldn't handle, as the Devils sprinted all over the court running them ragged.

Any Mineral Springs player with the ball could ill afford to blink as it would result in a steal and basket for Gurdon.

By the end of three, the Hornets were down 70-37, and reeling against the ropes like a punch-drunk fighter.

The Devils worked like a fine Swiss watch, or a Mercedes-Benz, as they hit on all eight cylinders. While Coach John Ware didn't call his team off, he did slow the pace in the final eight minutes.

Thursday's games saw Saratoga's boys in a contest with no defense, but winning 96-86 against Bright Star.

The other game had Bright Star's senior girls beat Blevins 40-31, while Prescott's Wolverettes mauled Saratoga 71-44.

Friday, Saratoga's boys beat Nevada, while Gurdon whipped Blevins 76-60.

The other semi-final games saw Gurdon's Lady Devils demolish Bright Star.

Now, Saturday's finals were set. The Wolverettes and Lady Devils would meet for the third time this season, while the Go-Devils would take on Saratoga for the senior boys' title.

The girls hit the court first, with neither team shooting well at the start of the contest. There are times when two teams are simply too familiar with one another, and this appeared to be the case early.

Defense was the name of the game early as Prescott held a 2-0 lead with 4:41 to go in the first period.

However, the Wolverettes found their stroke late in the period, while the Lady Devils didn't. The frame ended with Prescott leading 13-4.

Gurdon came out in the second period with hands all over the place, blocking shots or aggravating shooters so the shots wouldn't fall, but still couldn't buy a basket themselves. It appeared as though a lid had been welded onto the basket at Gurdon's end.

The half closed with Traci Graham stealing the ball, winging it to Andrea Cossey at the other end, who canned a trey at the buzzer. Prescott led 33-10 at the half.

The Lady Devils did everything possible to win, with the exception of scoring. Their defense was solid and the offense did everything necessary to get a good shot, but couldn't find the hole.

On the other hand, the Cossey to Graham connection worked as well as the old Montana to Rice combine. Cossey would throw bombs to Graham, who cashed in for baskets instead of touchdowns at the other end.

Period three ended with Prescott up 56-23,on a three-pointer by Graham.

Still, the Lady Devils fought on, never giving up and never showing signs of surrendering not to Prescott.

The final eight minutes were much the same for the two teams involved. The Lady Devils were cold, while the Wolverettes were deadly.

Cossey had kept his top three players in the game from the beginning to the 5:34 mark of the fourth. At this point, he subbed entire squads, as did Sandra Hatley for Gurdon.

When the smoke cleared, though, the Wolverettes were at center court taking home the hardware with a 73-32 win.

Saratoga's boys found they could play with Gurdon's for one quarter and one quarter only.

The Devils showed why they are one of the top 10 teams in their division in the state as they humiliated the Bulldogs 95-60.

The Devils came out loose and relaxed, starting the game at their usual pace of 110 miles per hour.

Saratoga's boys weren't used to this and turned the ball over time and again.

Fouls allowed the 'Dogs to hang with the Devils in the first, which ended with Gurdon leading 17-12.

Terry Cornish was hit with a technical with 3:46 left in the opening period after being called for a foul, then sayin