By Sophia Cossette
EUGENE, Ore. –The Bushnell women’s basketball team came out on top over Evergreen Saturday night with a 68-48 win, marking the Beacon’s fifth straight win over eight days.
“Boy, that was hard, wasn’t it,” Head Coach Chad Meadors said, laughing as he entered the press conference, “we've played five games in eight days, so in this situation, we're just happy to get out with wins, to have five games in a row where we've won four of them by 21 and then the other by ten, we've done well.”
Despite the end result, the Beacons struggled to get started as well as coming out of halftime into the third quarter. It was a quieter night from their season top scorers, Bella Pedrojetti and Aspen Slifka, and the Beacons were being outpaced and beat on transition by Evergreen to begin the game.
However, other players on the Beacon’s stepped up when needed. Forward Kalina Rojas made her season-high of 17 points just in the first half to put the Beacons up 39-27 at the break. Rojas was eventually bogged down by double teams in the second half but still made positive contributions on the boards ending the game with six rebounds.
“We did an okay job in the first half but lost the momentum in the third quarter,” Meadors said. “We then re-found our momentum, settled down and found something that worked for us. Kalina's 17 points really solidified our first half and created our momentum.”
In addition to Rojas, Aly Mirabile also had a standout contribution to help the Beacons win the game. Mirabile put up 13 points and six assists in the game and facilitated the offense for the second half. Mirabile willed her team to win with hustle and scrap plays that were essential to pulling the Beacons out of a slower third quarter.
“I'm hard on our point guards. We need them to organize, structure, and lead, and then tonight, I need them to score, so it isn't just playmaking,” Meadors said. “So what Aly is able to do is she's grown into the role, and she's really starting to thrive. She's starting to realize people have a hard time staying in front of her, and she's starting to really play well.”
However, the second team for the Beacons was ultimately the final difference in the win, as Bushnell’s bench outscored the Geoducks 19-5. This effort was led by an all-around performance from Kaylen Kamelamela. Kamelamela was previously a starter and all-conference performer for the Beacons but was sidelined last season due to a prolonged ankle injury.
“To see her go from playing all the time to accepting this role is so tough. It's so hard,” Meadors said. “She's been working her way back for a long time now. And we just keep seeing her get better and better.”
Kamelamela ended the game with eight points and five assists and maintained energy and rhythm while being plugged in sporadically throughout the game. Despite having to adjust to her new role off the bench, both Kamelamela and Meadors were happy with her play.
“It's obviously tough coming off as a starter for two years in this program and now fighting for minutes,” Kamelamela said. “But at the end of the day, I love my teammates. I love playing for them, and sometimes I have to put myself aside and be selfless and do what we got to do to win.”