Irish top Thurston to clinch tie for title.

Byline: Paula Lincoln The Register-Guard

Sheldon's Jenn Wassom scored a career-high 25 points - which included four three-pointers - to lead the Irish to a 60-36 victory over Thurston in a Midwestern League girls basketball game Monday night at Sheldon.

"I've been getting a lot more confident lately," said Wassom, whose previous career high was 20 points. "Once you get shooting, you get confident. We do a really good job moving the ball, and my teammates have done a good job finding me."

The Irish, who improved to 19-2 overall and 13-0 in league, assured themselves of at least a share of the league title and need to win just one of their final league games (Marshfield, South Eugene and Willamette) in order to earn the title outright. They'd have to lose all three for Willamette to have a chance at a co-title. The Irish and Wolverines (11-3) face each other in the final game of the league season Feb. 19.

"This was a really important game. We knew if we won it we'd be looking good for the league championship," said Wassom, whose team had a season-low seven turnovers.

The Colts fell to 11-10 overall and 9-4, good for third place in the Midwestern, and will finish the league season with games against South Eugene, Springfield and Marshfield.

Wassom, a 5-foot-11 junior wing, scored the first three baskets of the game - off passes from Jacquie Lipp and Lauren Melevin - to help Sheldon take a 6-0 lead.

"Coach (Luke Roth) told me to come out confident, work hard and be aggressive," Wassom said.

Sheldon picked off four steals in the first eight minutes of the game and limited Thurston to two field goals and a free throw to take a 15-5 lead into the second quarter. Wassom added eight more points in the second period, including back-to-back three-pointers, and the Irish led 25-15 at the half.

Sheldon, which outshot Thurston 38 percent to 27.7 percent in the first half, went 7-of-12 from the field in the third period. The Colts, meanwhile, made just 4-of-12 - including a three-point play by Haley Rogers and a three-point shot by Katy Campbell - and trailed 44-26 after three.

Campbell hit another three-pointer and freshman Angela Webster came off the bench to hit a three as part of a 7-0 Thurston run to pull the Colts to within 46-33, but that was as close as it got before the Irish ran off 12 straight points.

Sheldon, which also got 14 points from Lauren McCauley and 10 from Keri Bellotti, shot 48 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 44.7 for the game with 19 of Sheldon's 21 baskets coming off assists. Five of those were from Lipp, who also had two steals. The Irish made just 6-of-12 from the free-throw line in the first half but made all six attempts in the second half.

Thurston, which missed a lot of layups early in the game, shot 28.6 percent from the floor. Campbell led the Colts with 16 points.

The Colts committed 15 turnovers.

Willamette 58, North Eugene 46

Shelby Stephens made six of her 10 field-goal attempts en route to a team-high 16 points, and Stephanie Stephens had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds to lead the Wolverines over the Highlanders.

Shelby Stephens also had six rebounds for Willamette. The Wolverines limited the Highlanders to a single field goal in the fourth period to seal the victory.

Willamette had the advantage at the free-throw line, where the Wolverines converted 22-of-35 to the Highlanders' 12-of-18. Ashley Ficek scored 21 points to lead North Eugene.

Churchill 47, South Eugene 37

Jessica Steigleman came back from a third-quarter ankle injury to score 13 points, leading the Lancers to the victory on the Axemen's home court.

Churchill, which hit 9-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter, led by only one point, at 25-24, when Steigleman was injured but increased the lead to seven by the time she returned.

Callie McVicker scored 13 points to lead South Eugene, which shot just 29 percent from the field and never led in the second half.

Mountain West girls

Mohawk 63, OSD 19

MARCOLA - Stacy Todd scored 15 points and Whitney Bigbee added 13 to help the Indians remain unbeaten in the Mountain West League.

Kayla Hanson added eight points and 12 rebounds for Mohawk (18-3, 14-0 Mountain West). Megan Smith led Oregon School for the Deaf with six points.

Mountain West boys

Mohawk 78, OSD 50

MARCOLA - Tyler Ludwig scored 23 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had five assists and four steals to lead the Indians past the Panthers.

Derek Robinson added 16 points and seven rebounds for league-leading Mohawk (17-3, 11-1 Mountain West), and Tim Yokum scored 12 points. Nathan Yerkes led Oregon School for the Deaf with 19 points.

CAPTION(S):

Sheldon's Laura McCauley, who scored 14 points, shoots over Thurston's Haley Rogers (left) and Amber Rogers. Wayne Eastburn / The Register-Guard Sheldon's Jenn Wassom (left), Jillian Roehl and Jacquie Lipp stop Thurston's Ashlee Girard.