Deschampe’s 42 Points Are Too Much For Carlton To Overcome

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Mar 1, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

ESKO- When the Carlton Bulldogs took the floor Thursday night against the Cook County Vikings, the Bulldogs had just watched the Cromwell Cardinals knock off the higher seeded McGregor Mercuries and hope was there for the Bulldogs to do the same. For 30 of the 36 minutes of this battle, the Bulldogs fought to stay with the Vikings; but in the end is was Cook County senior Ashley Deschampe who scored 42 points to lead the Vikings to an 82-64 win Thursday night.

The second seeded Vikings came out fast Thursday night as they would build an early 12 point lead. Many thought the game would end quickly, but nobody told the Bulldogs and they never quit and continued to battle. The Vikings used a full court press that created several turnovers early, which led to the Vikings lead. Carlton however regained their composure following a time out and slowly managed to break down the Cook County press and create some easy points off the Vikings press.

As time was winding down in the first half, it was Carlton who cut into the huge Vikings lead and cut the lead down to five points late in the half at 33-28. The Vikings responded quickly to the Carlton momentum when Deschampe, who hit four consecutive 3-pointers in the first half added two field goals late and led an 8-2 run over the last two minutes of the half to give the Vikings a 41-30 lead at halftime.

Carlton came out strong in the second half as the Bulldogs went on a 10-3 run to cut the Vikings lead to 44-40 early in the second half; but Carlton foul trouble saw the Vikings stretch their lead back to 12 points. Deschampe continued her offensive assault on the Bulldogs, not only shooting the ball and passing to open team mates but at the charity stripe also. She found herself at the free throw line eight times in the second half, and connected on seven of the eight trips; for the game she was 10 for 11.

Carlton staged another late rally in the second half as they cut a 14 point lead down to seven points, at 65-58 with six minutes remaining. The Bulldogs however ran out of gas as the Vikings went on a 17-6 run over the last couple minutes to ensure the win and move on to Saturday’s quarterfinal against Cromwell at Duluth Denfeld. Deschampe finished with 42 points, leading all scorers. Lily Gruber-Schulz added 19, Bekah Laky finished with 7, while Leah Utities and Theresa Morrin each finished with 6 for the Vikings who improve to 17-8.

Carlton was led by Clarissa Nelson who finished with 24 points, Lindsey Dahl-Holm added 14, Brooke Camps chipped in with 12, Taylor Klassen 10, and it was Myranda Papesh who finished with 3 points for the Bulldogs, whose season ends with a 9-15 record on the season.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northloandsportsonline.com