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Davies duo douses Panthers' party
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An experience Saturday may leave Imbler dealing with these nightmare symptoms for quite some time. Crane set the sleep-depriving wheels in motion with a 77-66 win against the Panthers in the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs. How does the going-to-school-naked scenario translate into the basketball world? How abouth an 11-0 deficit and five turnovers after two minutes and thirty five seconds — all on your home court. The Mustangs turned the table on Imbler, using constant pressure to grab a quick lead. “We came in very calm,” Crane junior Dallen Davies said. “The team hung out the night before and got some good rest. We knew the opening minutes could set the tempo for the whole game. Imbler likes to use pressure to set up their offense. We were just a little quicker early on.” A duo of Davies — Dallen and Baxter — did the damage in the first half. Dallen scored 10 points in the opening quarter, and the Mustangs jumped out to a 27-6 lead. “It was pretty amazing,” Davies said. “We played as a team, and didn’t let our surroundings bother us. Our struggles come when we play one-on-one. It’s obvious we played as a team tonight.” The Davies — no relation to one another — continued to roll in the second quarter. Dallen finished with 21 points in the first half. Baxter tallied 16 points, who’s Mustangs entered the playoff game with a 22-3 record. Imbler finished the season 18-5, but found themselves rated higher in the final preseason poll. “We didn’t even think about that stuff,” Davies said. “It’s out of our control. Our goal was to let the game decide who the better team was.” Comeback hope Crane coach Stub Davis pinched Imbler in the fourth quarter, waking up the sleeping giant. The Panthers’ jolt came when Dallen fouled out with 6:56 left to play. Davies picked up his fourth foul 30 seconds before. “It’s the first game (Dallen) has fouled out in,” Davis said. “He’s used to playing with fouls, but this time it got to him. (Imbler) went at him, and got Dallen out of the game.”
 BOARD BATTLE: The Panthers’ Bryan Mills battles Crane post Baxter Davies for a rebound in the first half. He drilled back-to-back 3-point field goals cutting the lead to 59-49. Following a solid start, Crane looked lost without its leader on the floor. Dallen sat watching from the bench squeezing a towel. “I knew we could do it,” Davies said. “The guys just needed to believe they could.” The Panthers continued their barrage with Dalton McDaniel. Imbler spread the floor time and time again, dumping the ball in to McDaniel for an easy or contested lay-up — either way it usually fell. The 6-foot-4-inch post cut the lead to single digits, 63-54, with 4:28 left in the game. Still, the Mustangs stuck to their guns. Crane stayed in the man-to-man defense allowing the play to repeat itself. “It was pretty amazing,” Imbler head coach Jarod Teeter said. “That play was there for us all night. You can’t just dig a hole like we did and expect to get out.” Conoway’s call Crane called a time out as the lead dwindled. Davis looked all around the huddle for someone to call on. His eyes fixed on junior Jordan Conoway. Call it intuition or maybe a prayer. Whatever it was it worked. “Coach (Davis) pulled me over and told me to believe I could do it,” Conoway said. “I’ve never had to lead the team before. Without a doubt I was nervous.” Conoway scored two points in the opening three quarters of play — making two free throw attempts. After a basket by Royal Henricks, Conoway had a LeBron James type moment. He scored the final 12 points for his team. Consecutive 3-point attempts pushed the lead back to 17 points with 2:54 left on the clock. All Imbler could do was hoist up frantic shots as time and the dream of moving on in the playoffs slipped away. McDaniel paced Imbler with 24 points. Mills scored all of his 21 points in the second half. Dallen and Baxter Davies finished with 23 and 22 points, respectively. Conoway scored 20 points. Nick Thompson, Coleman Bridge, Sean Peterson and Taylor McIntosh finished their basketball careers in orange in and black. McIntosh finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
D. Davies 9 1-1 23, B. Davies 10 2-5 22, Conoway 7 4-4 20, Henricks 3 0-0 6, Stevens 2 0-0 4, C. Henricks 1 0-1 2, Hawley 0 0-0 0, Crisp 0 0-0 0, Cody 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 7-11 77. IMBLER (66) McDaniel 11 2-7 24, Mills 7 3-5 21, McIntosh 4 1-2 9, West 2 2-2 6, Thompson 2 0-0 4, Peterson 0 1-2 1, Ricker 0 1-2 1, Bridge 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 10-20 66. Crane 27 17 13 20 - 77 Imbler 6 16 19 25 - 66 3-point goals: Crane, D. Davies 4, Conoway 2; Imbler, Mills 4.
Eagles shot down by Country ChristianMOLALLA — The Eagles swooped into unfriendly territory and couldn’t get airborne again. Country Christian bounced Joseph from the state playoffs with a 74-56 win. “We knew coming in what we needed to do,” Eagles head coach Larry Nall said. “(Country Christian) has two exceptional players. They made the difference in the game.” Isaac McKinley and Paul Carter shared Player of the Year honors in the Casco Conference. McKinley scored a game-high 37 points, while Carter finished with 20. Senior Corby Makin paced Joseph with 14 points. Classmates Devin Patton and Fayira Touray reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Chris Harshman and Wyatt Shetler fill in a senior class that will leave a large void to fill. “We’re losing some great athletes,” Nall said. “We’ll let next year take care of itself.”
Garrett 0 0-0 0, Harshman 3 0-0 7, Watson 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, Lathrop 1 0-0 2, Shetler 1 0-2 2, Steen 0 0-0 0, Touray 4 2-3 10, Makin 4 3-6 14, Patton 5 1-3 11, Hurley 4 0-0 8, Baynes 1 0-1 2. Totals 23 6-15 56. COUNTRY CHRISTIAN (74) Robinson 1 2-3 4, Harden 0 0-0 0, Henderson 3 0-0 6, Nofziger 1 0-0 2, McKinley 13 7-10 37, Syphard 0 1-2 1, Parker 1 2-2 4, Carter 7 6-8 20, Monroe 0 0-0 0, Huesrik 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 14-24 74. Joseph 10 15 9 22 – 56 County Christian 14 28 19 13 – 74 3-point goals: Joseph, Harshman, Makin 3; CC, McKinley 2, Carter 2.
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