La Salle girls basketball is this week's winner of the Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.
Courtesy photo
Sometimes a loss isn’t such a bad thing. It evidently woke up a strong
La Salle (Milwaukie) girls basketball team after it started the season 6-0.
Following a 58-46 loss to Henley, the Falcons have rattled off six more wins without a loss, including wins by margins of 75, 61, 40, 28 and 28.
For their strong start, the Falcons have been selected as the MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.
Led by second-year coach Kelli Wedin, La Salle went 24-4 last year, losing in the state 5A quarterfinals.
"We have a great group of kids back from last year," she said. "We lost to a good team — Henley is very good, but it was a humbling loss. We're thankful that we experienced that loss early because it made us hungry and made us stronger as a team. The girls know they don't want to feel that again."
This season, led by a balanced squad that is blessed with both experience and talented younger players, the Falcons hope to repeat the trend of the 1981 and 1985 teams that went a combined 50-1 and won two state titles.
La Salle was 28-0 in 2010-11, but fell in the state finals to Cascade, 58-56. It doesn’t get much more painful than that.
Senior
Sterling Swift was on that team and now leads the Falcons with a 13.6 scoring average.
"She is my one player who is a four-year varsity starter," said Wedin. "She has the experience, dedication, and leadership. She knows what it takes to win that state title and how close she was and knows that she can get there again. She has her eyes on the prize and this drive keeps her motivated and hungry to get there."
Four others average between 8.0 and 8.9 points per game, including freshman
Aleah Goodman (8.6) and sophomore
Alexandra Jansen (8.2).
Ranked ninth in the state, according to the
MaxPreps computer rankings, the Falcons are scheduled to play Madras this week.
"Our motto this season has been 'no regrets.' We know that no matter who we
play, we have to come out and be ready," said Wedin. "This year we have a huge target
on our backs every game, so we need to be ready to mentally play and
play really good every night."
If they continue to play defense like they have thus far, allowing just 37.9 points per game, the Falcons should be in a good shape to make a state-title run.
That’s because they lead the state in scoring — by a wide margin (more than 10 points per game) — by averaging 70.5 per outing. The Falcons shoot a superb 46 percent from the floor as a team, they average 20 assists a night led by Goodman (5.6 per game) and 18.6 steals per game.
That leads to some easy transition buckets.
"We went on a beach retreat early on this season and the girls set their goals and we are in pursuit of a state championship," said Wedin. "What's great about our team is that we don't rely on just one person and we share the ball really well. Any player can step up on any given night. We are a talented team, but we take pride in being the hardest working team.
"We want to put in that effort and if we can truly outwork the other team, we will be able to meet our ultimate goal."
MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.Do you know a team that deserves
consideration for Oregon Team of the Week? Email us with your
nominations at ORteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.
