Great Comeback
Friday night was Brittney Freeman’s time to shine in The Furnace.
With Class 6A McMinnville trailing for much of the evening against an opportunistic Class 5A Wilsonville squad, Freeman, a 6-foot post, came through in the clutch. The Grizzlies led 48-47 against the Wildcats when McMinnville broke a Wilsonville press and Audrey McMillan dished the basketball to Freeman for a short basket.
On the Wildcats’ ensuing position, forward Katie Trese missed a jumper and Freeman secured the rebound. She passed the ball to Elizabeth Logsdon, who drained the penultimate free throws in a 54-47 victory for the Grizzlies.
“Sometimes she comes out and she hurries,” Grizzlies coach Sean Coste said of Freeman, who scored a team-high 16 points. “When she settles down and takes her time, she really does a nice job.”
McMillan continued her strong nonleague season with 14 points, and Hannah Smith scored eight points. Wilsonvile’s Sophie Bynum, a 6-foot-1 post, led all scorers with 17 points.
The Wildcats (2-2) employed backcourt pressure as often as they could against the Grizzlies and McMinnville’s offense was slow to develop as a result. Wilsonville held Mac (3-1) without a field goal in the final 6 minutes, 52 seconds of the first half in building a 27-17 halftime lead.
“It’s hard to play against teams that are constantly trapping,” Coste said. “The more we get the ball and look down the floor first, better things are happening.”
Freshman post Alix Williams started McMinnville’s second half on a positive note with a basket-and-the-foul, sinking the free throw. Smith scored five points and Freeman scored four points in the third quarter as the Grizzlies cut their deficit to 36-35.
Wilsonville scored seven points in the first minute of the fourth quarter, boosting its lead to eight, but scored just four points the rest of the way. McMinnville limited the Wildcats to a single offensive rebound, controlling the game from the inside thanks to the efforts of Freeman, McMillan and Logsdon.
The Grizzlies play their first Class 6A Greater Valley Conference game of the season tonight at Forest Grove. Tipoff is at 6:45 p.m.
