Determined Crater girls seize first state championship in program history

Published 4:12 pm Sunday, March 16, 2025

By KRIS HENRY / Rogue Valley Times

No. 1-seeded Comets rally to force overtime with gritty effort and ease past South Albany for program’s first state title in five tries

A year after seeing a Class 5A state championship slip through their fingers, the Crater girls basketball team was not going to allow that to happen one more time Saturday night.

Trailing by eight points with just 3 ½ minutes remaining in a game where nothing seemed to be going the Comets’ way, they went back to their basics of playing stifling defense and using that to set up scoring opportunities — and, oh boy, did that pay off.

Crater closed the fourth quarter with a 13-5 run — tying the contest at 55-all with 33 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by senior Addi Dippel — and then totally dominated the four-minute overtime session to clinch the first state title in program history with a 64-58 win over South Albany in McMinnville.

Crater head coach Amber Lease raises the net to the applause of her girls basketball team to wrap up Saturday’s net-cutting ceremony following a championship win by the Comets in McMinnville. (Eduardo Ibarra / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“It means everything to all of us,” said a jubilant Sage Winslow. “After last year, we’ve worked so hard this season just to get to that moment in the state championship, and to change it from last year and get the ‘W’ afterwards. It was a hard game, but we came through — especially in overtime, we really just pulled away.”

Last year, Crater held an 18-point lead in the third quarter before seeing Silverton rally and eventually win in overtime after foul troubles hindered the Comets.

This time around, Crater dealt with similar foul troubles throughout the contest and never seemed to be able to put its best foot forward, but still didn’t let it matter at Linfield University.

“Our girls played so hard there at the end to get us into overtime, and then to get the win and finish it out,” said first-year head coach Amber Lease. “They were so awesome. At any point in time, I didn’t feel like there was any doubt. I didn’t see any doubt in their eyes that we could lose, and as a coach that was so awesome to see.”

The moment was also a bit surreal, with Winslow pounding down the clock with the basketball in the waning seconds as Crater players, coaches and fans finally seemed to have the accomplishment sink in.

Saturday marked the fifth time the Comets have reached a championship final (1998, 2000, 2001, 2024 and 2025), and first gold-medal showing.

“It was crazy and it felt unreal,” said Winslow. “I’m just dribbling and I’m looking at Addi and I’m like, ‘Is this real? This doesn’t feel real.’ I almost started crying, I just couldn’t believe it. It was insane.”

The comeback manner in which top-seeded Crater (28-1) was able to break through also made it a little more special for those on the court, who were able to persevere through all their adversity in an emotion-wrenching final.

“My coach always said this year that it doesn’t matter the stats, it doesn’t matter the turnover you make or shots you miss or the shots you do make,” said Winslow, “it just matters about getting the ‘W’ and getting  a state championship with your best friends. That’s exactly what we did, and I’m going to have this memory forever. I’m just so excited and happy.”

Crater senior Sage Winslow shoots over South Albany’s Kaylee Cordle during the Class 5A girls basketball championship final against South Albany in McMinnville. (Eduardo Ibarra / for the Rogue Valley Times)

South Albany’s hopes at a victory lap down the stretch after everything seemed to be going the way of the RedHawks (24-5) began to diminish when junior guard Taylor Young attacked the rim for a basket and then the Comets forced an immediate turnover.

Young drove to the left for a basket and ultimate three-point play after she was fouled hanging in the air to make it 50-47 in short order. Momentum continued to swing Crater’s way with another quick turnover by South Albany and an ensuing reverse layup by Young, who finished with a game-highs of 25 points and six steals.

South Albany barely avoided another turnover on a 10-second backcourt violation due to Winslow’s hounding pressure, but a timeout bailed the RedHawks out for the moment. When play resumed, however, Young picked the pocket of South Albany junior Phara Dickson and that led to senior Lydia Traore being fouled with 2:14 to play in regulation.

Traore made the first foul shot to tie the game at 50-all, and from that point it was just a battle of wills.

Dickson hit an unlikely corner 3-pointer — her first basket of the game — with only seconds later, but Winslow worked into the paint and was fouled on a shot to set up two free throws of her own to trim the deficit.

Winslow then held back South Albany junior Kaylee Cordle and Dickson from getting across halfcourt in time for a 10-second violation, but the Comets failed to convert on another driving effort by Young.

Crater was caught scrambling on defense and Neveah Ukaoma was left alone under the basket for an easy layin with 49 seconds to play to put South Albany in a prime spot up 55-52.

Following a timeout, Crater got the ball in Winslow’s hands and she drove into the right side of the paint before kicking the ball out to a waiting Dippel, who didn’t hesitate from the corner for a pure 3-pointer to tie the contest.

Crater senior Addi Dippel holds her follow through on a game-tying 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining in regulation against South Albany in Saturday’s Class 5A girls basketball state championship final. (Eduardo Ibarra / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“We just had to go out there and play our game,” Winslow said of the mindset entering that fateful possession. “Addi is a 3-point shooter and she had the confidence to take that shot and she made it. She’s a great shooter, and I had the confidence that if I passed it to her she would make that shot, so just having trust in your teammates and moving forward together was super important.”

Crater actually got a defensive stop and had a chance to win with 11 seconds to go in regulation, but Young’s dribble clipped off Dickson and soon went the other way as time expired.

As the Comets walked back out on the floor for the four-minute extra session, Winslow said there was no doubt that the game would be won.

“Going into overtime, I told my teammates that I’m betting on our team in overtime every single time, like, we’ve got this and we were made for this moment,” she said. “We’ve practiced so hard ever since last year in that locker room when we decided we were going to change and get better just so we can go and get that win. We just went out there with confidence and got the ‘W.’”

Saddled with four fouls just three minutes into the second half, Traore was able to return to the court for the final fourth-quarter run, but really set the tone for Crater in OT with a nice spin to her left in the paint for a basket before making a pair of free throws for a quick 4-0 run out of the gate.

Winslow then came up with a steal and threw the ball ahead to junior Jazmine Fernandez, who missed a contested shot at the basket, but Traore never gave up on the play and trailed for an easy rebound basket to put Crater in the driver’s seat.

Traore finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Winslow had 16 points, three assists and three steals as each successfully navigated playing with four fouls in the stretch run to victory.

“Being able to overcome that foul trouble and still be aggressive on offense and get buckets that our team needs was super important for all of us,” said Winslow. “When you have your time on the court, just going in and doing your thing — no matter what — was important for all of us. I think everyone had very key plays in that game and everyone that went on that court did really great, so I’m proud of my whole team.”

Crater senior Lydia Traore scores over South Albany’s Taelyn Bentley during the Class 5A girls basketball championship final against South Albany in McMinnville. (Eduardo Ibarra / for the Rogue Valley Times)

Lease echoed that sentiment, with Crater having to extend minutes to several players due to foul woes seemingly from the start.

“That’s been the best thing about this group is that you can call on anyone and they would step up to the plate,” said Lease. “Maddie Kitchen had hardly played — maybe a total of six minutes in the last two games — and today she played for almost an entire quarter and was just fantastic defensively (to go with five rebounds).”

Young finished as a unanimous first-team all-tournament selection, and Winslow also earned first-team honors for Crater. Traore was selected to the all-tourney second team.

SOUTH ALBANY (24-5)

Taelyn Bentley 5-5 7-9 17, Kaylee Cordle 4-12 3-3 12, Taylor Donaldson 4-19 0-0 10, Neveah Ukaoma 3-6 0-4 6, Phara Dickson 2-3 0-0 6, Maddie Angel 2-5 0-0 5, Hannah Patten 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Bailey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-52 10-16 58.

CRATER (28-1)

Taylor Young 9-23 7-10 25, Sage Winslow 6-14 4-7 16, Lydia Traore 6-8 3-4 15, Addison Dippel 2-5 1-2 6, Madison Kitchen 0-0 2-2 2, Haley Plankenhorn 0-2 0-0 0, Addison Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Jazmine Fernandez 0-6 0-0 0, Autumn Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Alexa Gugliotta 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-58 17-25 64.

South Albany 10 10 17 18  3 — 58

Crater 10 7 18 20  9 — 64

3-point goals—South Albany 6-21 (Phara Dickson 2-2, Taylor Donaldson 2-9, Kaylee Cordle 1-6, Maddie Angel 1-2, Hannah Patten 0-1, Neveah Ukaoma 0-1), Crater 1-10 (Addison Dippel 1-3, Jazmine Fernandez 0-3, Taylor Young 0-4). Fouled out—Taelyn Bentley. Rebounds—South Albany 37 (Taelyn Bentley 10), Crater 36 (Lydia Traore 10). Assists—South Albany 18 (Maddie Angel 7), Crater 8 (Sage Winslow 3). Total fouls—South Albany 20, Crater 16.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at khenry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035

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