Schumacher spurs Whips to a big win
It's been a long road back to the basketball court for Hampshire junior Christine Schumacher.
The Whip-Purs and coach Sue Ellett sure are glad that long road is at an end and Schumacher is back in uniform and playing after missing much of the season recovering from an ACL injury.
Schumacher scored all 15 of her points in the second half -- 10 of them in the fourth quarter -- to lead the Whips (15-7) to a come-from-behind 52-48 win over Oregon in a key nonconference girls basketball game Thursday night at the Purple Palace.
"We started moving the ball better in the second half and I was getting some great passes from my teammates," said Schumacher, who hit three 3-pointers and sealed the win with 2 free throws with 8 seconds to play.
"I'm just trying to help the team out and be a leader. It feels good to be back."
The win, Hampshire's ninth in its last 10 games, was especially significant for the Whip-Purs' confidence as the postseason looms. Oregon is the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Class 2A Hampshire regional and Hampshire the No. 3 seed. The two could meet on the same floor for a regional title on Feb. 7.
"I hope we're here in the same situation in two weeks and we come out on top," said Oregon coach Pat Donahue, whose 19-7 team lost for the first time this season after holding a halftime lead.
"You come into Hampshire and you just want to be competitive. "I thought we played one of our better games tonight and we hope we get another shot at them."
On a night when Hampshire honored its present and past state qualifying girls athletes and teams as the Purple Palace Farewell Tour begins, it was visiting Hawks that owned most of the game.
After a helter-skelter first quarter ended in a 16-16 tie, the Hawks outscored Hampshire 10-4 in the second quarter to take a 26-20 lead into the break.
Early in the fourth quarter Oregon opened up a 37-29 lead and looked to be on the brink of putting the game away.
"We were close to pushing the panic button there for a minute," said Ellett. "If it gets to 12 or 15 it's a tougher mountain to climb. But we kept the flag at the top of the mountain in reach and snuck up and got it in the end."
Hampshire did so by getting white hot. The Whips hit 8 of 9 shots in the fourth quarter, including 8 straight. Down 40-33, senior Mallory Koster (10 points) started the comeback with a 3-pointer at the 4:44 mark. After Oregon's Lauren Fane (14 points) made it 42-36, Kelsey Watson scored for the Whips and after an Oregon turnover, Schuamcher drilled a 3 to make it a 42-41 game with 3:55 to play.
Oregon, though, scored the next 4 points and led 46-41 after a Fane basket with 2:47 left.
But Koster hit at the 2:28 mark and then, after another Oregon turnover, Schumacher buried a 3 from the top of the circle to tie the game at 46 with 1:59 left.
"The hidden secret here is Schumacher," Ellett said. "Her coming back adds scoring punch and she has that varsity experience. That's been a nice jolt to our offense."
Sophomore Chrissy Heine, whose sister and former Hampshire star Jackie attended the game, gave the Whips the lead for good, scoring on a baseline drive with 1:34 left. Oregon had a chance to tie with 1:07 to go but Carissa Oelke's shot rimmed out. Heine then made 2 free throws with 19 seconds to go to give the Whips a 4-point lead. Erin Pederson scored for Oregon with 10 seconds left but when Schumacher hit 2 from the linewith 8 ticks left, it sealed the win for Hampshire.
"We've got some kids who listened to us in that locker room at halftime and we adjusted well," said Ellett. "We got them out of some things that were making them comfortable and we found some things that worked against them."
Cassie Dumoulin added 8 points for Hampshire and Oelke had 12 for Oregon.
Girls basketball
Luther North 49, Westminster Christian 23:: Westminster Christain (2-15, 0-8) was unable to pull out the win against Luther North in th Private School League. Sarah Rodgers led the Warriors offensively scoring 12 points. Rachel Doby added an additional 6 points for Westminster Christian.
Women's basketball
ECC 75, Morton 36: Elgin Community College (10-9, 3-3) held Morton off and was able to come out on type and take the ISCC win. Karin Herrera and Jessica Turnag each had 16 points apiece to lead ECC to the victory. Ariana Topps also added 10 points.