No. 7 St. Mary's Academy went through a roller coaster of emotions in its 69-45 win over No. 6 Sheldon in the OSAA 6A state semifinals on Friday night at the Chiles Center.
The first half was a wild offensive ride that couldn't be stopped. The Blues shot 82 percent, 18 of 22, and scored 48 points in the first half.
"As a coach, you gameplan stuff and you're like 'Oh man, it's going to work just like this.' Rarely does it ever happen that way," St. Mary's head coach Dewey Taylor III said. "Tonight, there were some times it worked better than I thought."
They did so without team leader Martina McCowan, who sat out after picking up three quick fouls in the opening minutes with the Blues leading 11-10.
That gave guard Bendu Yeaney an opportunity to fill McCowan's role as the floor general.
Sheldon put on full-court pressure the entire first half. It didn't faze Yeaney. The sophomore was unguardable. She drove to the basket at will. When the defense collapsed, she smartly found an open teammate in the paint, which was usually forward Tyschal Blake.
"Bendu showed the freak athlete she is. We took advantage of that," Taylor said. "All the girls just got to the paint. Our shot percentage was the way it was because of how high percentage the shots were."
St. Mary's went on a 22-7 run to take a 33-17 lead midway through the second quarter. Sheldon was forced to bring their top scorer, Autumn Baumgartner, back into the game to keep up with St. Mary's even though she had three fouls. The Willamette transfer was 2 of 16 and scored just ten points.
The Blues built a 48-28 halftime lead, a night after scoring just 44 points on 14 of 55 (25 percent) in their quarterfinal win over Southridge. Blake scored 17 points in the first half, with Yeaney adding 16.
"St. Mary's hasn't advanced in a quarterfinal in so long. I think the pressure of it all was tough to overcome," Taylor said. "We found a way to get that victory. You saw a more relaxed St. Mary's tonight."
"It was way better than last night," Blake said. "We were calm, we were ready for it."
That relaxed St. Mary's team suffered a tense moment as the wild offensive ride came to a sudden and frightening halt.
With 1:46 left in the third quarter and the Blues leading 57-33, McCowan fought for a loose ball before being spun to the floor and slamming her head. Play immediately stopped and the Long Beach State-bound guard received medical attention for 15 minutes before being taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. The obvious focus of concern was the head and neck area.
A festive atmosphere suddenly turned to sorrow.
"The tears in the eyes that you saw is just the love they have for her," Taylor said of McCowan's teammates. "I talked to them about how to channel that, how to finish this. She got hurt because of how much cares about this program and our goals. We got to finish it out."
The Blues did just that building a lead as large as 27 in the fourth quarter. Blake finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Yeaney matched the Three Rivers League Player of the Year with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and had six assists to boot.
Still, everyone's mind was on the health of the Blues' leader. Chants of "For Martina" echoed throughout the Chiles Center as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Injuries are nothing knew to the Blues this season. This one couldn't have come at a worst time.
"We're here today because of her. We had two players who played in every single game. She was one of them." Taylor said. "It's hard to fathom not seeing a Martina McCowan coming out and playing tomorrow. That's hard to grasp my mind around it."
Taylor might not have to grasp his mind around it. The St. Mary's girls basketball Twitter account had this to say about McCowan's condition after the game.
The Blues will play for the state championship for the first time since 1999 on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. St. Mary's will face South Salem, who has a lethal backcourt combo in Oregon State-bound Katie McWilliams and Evina Westbrook. Having McCowan available, the Three Rivers League defensive player of the year, would be a huge boost.
Hope Green-Brooks led Sheldon with 17 points. The Irish will square off against Roseburg in the third/fifth place game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
