Champions! Springfield dominates Crescent Valley in redemption win for OSAA 5A state title
CORVALLIS — Top seeded Springfield had its day of redemption Friday after the Millers defeated defending champion No. 6 Crescent Valley 44-29 in an OSAA 5A girls basketball state championship rematch at Gill Coliseum.
Danaeja Romero-Ah Sam led Springfield with 17 points and four rebounds. J’Bionna Robinson followed with 16 points and three rebounds.
This is Springfield’s third state title in program history and first since 2012.
"I'm pretty happy for this school and the students came to watch,” Springfield head coach Joe Williamson said. "I can't wait to hang that banner in our gym.
"Everyone on this team has a role, and when one player has an off night another player steps up.”
Springfield shot 45% from the field and made 72% of its free throws (13-18). The Millers held the Raiders’ top scorer Haley Bland to nine points.
Springfield started out similar to their semifinal game, falling behind to the Raiders 7-1 in the first minutes of the game.
Romero-Ah Sam flipped the script minutes later on a three-pointer to give the Millers an 8-7 lead.
Romero-Ah Sam and Robinson displayed their offensive powers and each contributed a combined 11 points to give Springfield a 21-20 lead at halftime.
“We got to lock in on defense, we kind of saw what their game plan was early which was slipping their post,” Williamson said. “Once we knew what they were trying to do, we adjusted. The first half we didn't finish some shots, so we put ourselves in position where it was close.
“I told them at halftime, if we come out and play really good defense and start finishing that this is our game.”
Springfield and Crescent Valley battled for the lead in the first minute of the third quarter until the Millers went on an 11-0 run at the hands of Kayla Morris, Robinson and Romero-Ah-Sam.
From there, the Millers were on cruise control, while fatigue hindered the Raiders.
"It wasn't even just me, it was our whole team and our mentality just to win," Romero-Ah Sam said. "We are not losing this game especially after last year and we just decided to fight really hard."
Contact sports reporter Edith Noriega at ENoriega@gannett.com or on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Springfield girls basketball win Crescent Valley OSAA 5A state champs
