Prep hoops: Depth gives Houston girls a boost in win over SVHS

Feb. 25, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

HOUSTON - Depth was the deciding factor Thursday night as the Houston girls ran away with a 68-36 Southcentral Conference win over Susitna Valley at Houston High School.

The Hawks went to the locker room at half time clinging to a 24-22 lead, but outscored the Rams 44-14 in the second half to pull away.

&#8220That's always been a problem for us this year,” Su Valley coach James Sickler said following the game.

Jen Mason led all scorers with 22 points for Houston, while Caylee Redford added 18. Emily Hundley had a strong overall game as well, stuffing the stat sheet with eight rebounds, nine assists and eight steals.

Houston got scoring from 10 different players, and forced 40 Su Valley turnovers, 25 coming in the second half.

&#8220We've been blessed with a lot of depth,” Houston coach Jason Spakowski said.

Su Valley actually took a 29-28 lead in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Amber Wigen before the Hawks ripped off a 12-2 run to close out the quarter.

Megan Ostermick led all Ram scorers with 14 points, while Wigen added eight.

Caitlin Hunt and Sara Bartel each had five points and Amanda Crosby had four. But no other Su Valley players managed to crack the scoring column.

&#8220The effort was there, but we're not conditioned enough so our five starters can stay out there the whole game,” Sickler said.

Spakowski said he wanted to bring an up-tempo style into Thursday's game to take advantage of Houston's superior numbers. Early on, however, the Hawks had trouble finding their rhythm against the scrappy Rams.

&#8220I was hoping to make it a run-and-gun game,” Spakowski said. &#8220They fought me on that a little bit early.”

Once Houston hit its stride there was no looking back. Mason and Redford took over down the stretch, with Redford getting 16 points and Mason 14 over the final 16 minutes. Houston really turned things on late, outscoring Su Valley 28-5 in the fourth quarter.

Ariel Katzenberger added seven points for the Hawks, Lynessa VanKirk scored six and Laura Herman added five.

The Hawks were solid both inside and out, nailing three of the four three-pointers they tried, including two from Redford and one from Bailey Fray.

Spakowski said he's pleased with his team's performance - especially in the second half - and said the Hawks are beginning to come together as the season nears the home

stretch.

&#8220It's just got to click,” he said. &#8220When it does we can be a very dangerous team.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com