Alabama Crimson Tide |  Alabama Crimson Tide |  South Carolina Gamecocks |  Vanderbilt Commodores |  Florida Gators

Alabama Crimson Tide

Monday, December 26, 2005

Crimson Tide finishes 2nd at Northwest sectionals

The Carson Valley Crimson Tide U12 girls' AYSO soccer team returned from Foster City, Calif., with medals and plenty of memories from the Great Eight Section 2 Championships.Carson Valley finished second place in the elite tournament after qualifying to be in the eight-team field representing five states. The Crimson Tide won the region tournament and the area championship earlier this season.The girls began the tournament with a 4-0 win over Saratoga, Calif., in which Holly Downer had two goals. Tiffany Thomas and Tia Lyons each added one goal.They finished the afternoon round by beating Pacifica, Calif., in a very physical 2-1 game. In that game, Downer again scored along with Katie Dry. Those games set up the semifinal round against defending champion Redwood City, Calif., a team that hadn't lost a game in two years.The Crimson Tide scored early with another goal from Downer, and then Dry added an insurace goal in the second half. The Tide's defense held on and the team won 2-0 to earn a berth into the championship game."We really have an outstanding offensive group on the front lines with Holly, Tiffany, Tia and Kelsey Walsh," Coach Steve Walsh said. "But our defense has been our biggest strength throughout the regular season and into the tournaments."Walsh noted the play of Cara Dunkelman, Megan Filbin, Elizabeth Morton, Taylor Killion, Brittney Lathrop, Allison Kraten, Erica Macias, Krystal Vargas and Dry on defense. "The leader of the group is our goalie, Jenna Geyer," Walsh said. "Together, this group has compiled a tournament record of 7-0 with three ties while allowing just four goals in 10 games and scoring 23 of their own."Before the championship game began, tournament officials awarded the Crimson Tide with the outstanding sportsmanship medal for the tournament."We have an exceptional group of young ladies on this team," Walsh said. "They play hard and tough on the field, but before and after the game and off the field, they are very respectful and mature players."The championship game against Millbrae, Calif., began with the Tide giving up an early goal. The team never let up and soon tied the game with Downer's fifth goal of the tournament.The Tide then pushed the score to 3-1 with two quick goals by Lyons to take the lead at the half.The second half began with Millbrae coming out and using its size and strength advantage to take the lead at 4-3. Again the Tide defense reached deep inside and took a stand.Down one goal with time running out, the Crimson Tide turned on the pressure and with a relentless effort, they scored the game-tying goal on a perfect crossing pass from Downer to Lyons in front of the net.The game ended with a 4-4 tie and went to a shootout to determine the winner."We would have much rather had the game played out on the field in an overtime period," Walsh said. "Shootouts are so tough because of the added pressure to the girls and they are so unpredictable."When the shootout ended, Millbrae had a one-goal advantage and was awarded the championship."It's been an incredible season," Walsh said. "The parents and the coaches of this team are so proud of these young ladies. We want to thank all those who helped us reach our goal."We wanted to thank Carson Valley AYSO for all their support financially and with equipment and also a big thanks to the parks department for letting us use the lgihts at Stodick Park to practice and prepare for the tournament."

Crimson Tide too hot, burn Green Knights 72-55

The Crimson Tide boys basketball team is on fire. Returning from their brief hiatus they have hit the court running as evidenced by Thursday's 72-55 thumping of Rice.Despite trailing 17-11 to Rice after the first quarter, Spaulding adjusted its defense and changed the pitch in its aggressive offensive attack. It worked."Rice came out strong. They led 17-11 after the first," said Tide coach Mike Mislak. "We changed the defense in the second quarter and went on a 18-6 run."The Tide posted a commanding 29-23 lead at the half. Mislak said that both Rice and Spaulding were trading baskets for a bit after the return from the halftime break, but it was short lived. Chrispatrick Cox took matters into his own hands, demanding on-court respect from his Rice opponents by tallying a game-high 29 points and 18 rebounds."He (Cox) was scoring at will," said Mislak. "That was hard to defend to. They tried to pressure us, but we ran through their press."Jon Chaloux chipped in an additional 17 points and collected eight rebounds while teammates (and brothers) Justin and Jeff Rouleau notched 10 and nine points, respectively."Our running game had a good flow tonight," said Mislak. "I'm tremendously proud of how well we have rebounded after having the time off (from the district-wide teacher's strike). Rice was third in the state and to have beat a caliber team like them like we did is huge."Ben Brooks paced Rice with 17 points and both Pat Bergmann and Andrew Preston added 11 points apiece for Rice. Rice is now 3-2.The win improves Spaulding's unbeaten record to 3-0. They'll face Montpelier next Tuesday.

No. 21 N.C. State Handles Struggling Crimson Tide

Ilian Evtimov and Engin Atsur each scored 15 points as the 21st-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack beat the Alabama Crimson Tide, 68-64, at Coleman Coliseum.
Cameron Bennerman added 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting for the Wolfpack (9-1), who have won four straight games.
Chuck Davis scored 18 points and Ronald Steele netted 14 for the Crimson Tide (5-4), who have lost three of their last four games.
The Wolfpack opened up the game by scoring the first nine points, as Evtimov netted five early on a three-pointer and a layup.
The Crimson Tide fired back with a 14-5 run and tied the game on Davis' layup with almost 12 minutes to go in the half.
North Carolina State went on an 8-1 run to take the lead at 22-15, highlighted by three-pointers from Evtimov and Gavin Grant.
Alabama countered with an 11-4 burst, as Steele scored five points and Davis added four, to tie the game 26-26 with about three minutes left in the half.
However, the Tide could not jump in front and the Wolfpack closed out the opening 20 minutes up 33-28, as Andrew Brackman scored on consecutive layups and Atsur hit a shot from beyond the arc.
North Carolina State jumped out to a 39-32 lead early in the second half on a Bennerman three, but Alabama came back with a 9-0 run. Steele connected on a three-point play and also hit a layup which tied the score at 41-41.
The Wolfpack came right back and took a 51-41 advantage with about 11 minutes to go in the game, with a Grant layup capping a 10-0 spurt.
The Crimson Tide closed the lead to 56-53 after going on a 12-5 run, as Alonzo Gee grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the basket under the hoop.
With the score 65-57 with under two minutes to play, Alabama went on its final run and scored five straight points to get back in the game.
The Tide was then forced to foul and put North Carolina State on the line for its first attempts of the game with 19.4 seconds left. Atsur hit both to make the lead 67-62.
Alabama had the chance to cut the deficit to two with under 10 seconds left, but Steele's three-point shot bounced off the rim and Davis could not score on the rebound.
Game Notes
Gee fell just short of a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds...The Wolfpack shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and 46.6 percent for the game...Alabama shot 46.9 percent from the field, including 1-for-10 from the beyond the arc...North Carolina State took just four shots from the charity stripe, sinking three of them.