NORTH BEND, Ore. — Freshman guard Lauryn Garrigus scored 19 points as the North Bend Bulldogs (16–3, 5–1 in 4A) defeated the Cottage Grove Lions (11–8, 3–5 in 4A) by a final score of 54–48 on Tuesday evening.
It was not an earned win, not an easy task by any means, as the Bulldogs only held onto a four-point lead going into the halftime locker room. But a 16–8 scoring run in the third quarter, headlined by seven Garrigus points, helped North Bend hold on.
“[Garrigus] is awesome offensively and defensively,” North Bend head coach Doug Miles said. “We put so much pressure on her for a freshman. She’s pretty special, and she always does what she does.”
Senior Makya Alsup led the Lions in scoring with 20 points, and senior Mariah Bailey added 18 more to the total in a losing effort. Instead of looking at the negatives, Cottage Grove head coach Kim Beer saw the way his team played as a positive.
“North Bend’s a good team, they’re a ranked team,” Kim said. “The fact that we lost by six is really kind of a victory. I’m happy with how the kids played.”
Cottage Grove has now strung together two consecutive losses, but they will have a week off to regroup and prepare for Marist Catholic, whom they play on Tuesday.
“We need to learn how to break a press a little bit better and deal with pressure,” Beer said. “[Marist] pressures you a lot, and they have more height than [North Bend] does. We need to learn how to deal with that.”
What’s Next
Cottage Grove: @ Marist Catholic Tuesday 2/10
North Bend: vs. Marist Catholic Friday 2/6