BY THOMAS RANSON
Appeal News Service
RENO - It didn't take long for the Galena girls basketball team to respond after a poor-scoring second quarter.
"I thought the beginning of the third quarter was OK," Galena coach Karen Friel said. "We picked it up at the end and took control of the game."
After being held to three points in the second frame, the Grizzles bounced back in the third with 23 points as they eliminated the Panthers, 55-32, Wednesday night at the Cave.
Galena, the High Desert League's second seed, advances to Friday night's semifinal game against the Reno Huskies at 7 p.m. at Spanish Springs. The winner plays in Saturday's championship game with next week's state tournament bid on the line.
Langley Iverson led three Grizzlies in double figures as she posted a game-high 15 points, including a 3-pointer. Colleen Kern buried two 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, and Emily Burns added 10.
Iverson, Kern and Burns each contributed most of Galena's 16 first-quarter points, but Kern's 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the second quarter was all the Grizzlies could manage.
"We kind of decided if we were going to win this game, it was going to be on the defensive end," Friel said. "We were going to pick up the pace and get turnovers."
The Panthers scored the quarter's last six points and trailed 19-12 at halftime. Kourtney Squire and Dorothy O'Mealia helped North Valleys climb back in the game after trailing by 14 points in the first quarter. O'Meallia led the Panthers with nine points and Shakia Walker had their only basket in the first quarter.
"We were up and knew we didn't have to score," Friel said about the second quarter. "We held the ball and tried to pull them out of their zone. Apparently, (the North Valleys' coach) wanted to stay in it."
Friel said Galena's scoring was inconsistent but was pleased with the defense. Galena held North Valleys to single digits in the first and last quarters.
"We played OK in the first quarter," Friel said. "The defense was pretty solid. We got pretty stagnant at times on offense. We held the ball and stood out there. When we moved the ball, I was pleased."
The Grizzlies held onto the ball after Friel called a timeout with 2:47 left in the first half. The Panthers didn't score again until two minutes into the third quarter after the Grizzlies scored seven unanswered points for a 26-14 lead. Galena ended the quarter on a 12-2 run and shut down North Valleys for a 3:46 stretch midway through the quarter.
"I didn't think that they shot the ball as well as they can," Friel said about North Valleys. "They do make a lot 3s in the game."
The Grizzlies will have a tougher opponent on Friday when they play the Huskies. Galena lost to Reno, 55-50, on Dec. 8 at Reno.
"Reno plays an up-tempo game," Friel said.