1998-99 GIRL'S BASKETBALL RECAPS

February 5, 1999  

Duo gets even 

Garms, Anderson fuel Raiders' OT win over Huskies  .. North Boxscore

By Steve Beaudry Leader-Telegram staff 

Ask Katie Garms and Melissa Anderson to define "absolute zero," and they won't crack open a dictionary or leaf through a meteorological guidebook. 

The Hudson basketball teammates simply will refer to their collective mood after the Raiders' game against Eau Claire North on Jan. 5. 

That night, their spirit was as low as it could go after the Huskies dealt the Raiders their first Big Rivers Conference loss since 1994. 

"After how we both played that night, we owed it to the team to step it up big-time," said the 6-foot Garms, who shot an arctic 1-for-12 from the field and 1-for-6 from the free-throw line in the eight-point loss to North. 

Garms and Anderson had their shots at redemption Friday night at the Doghouse. And they didn't miss. 

Anderson scored a season-high 18 points, Garms poured in 17 points and grabbed a game-best 12 rebounds, and Hudson handed the Huskies an emotional 67-61 overtime setback. 

"North beat us in our house," said Anderson, who didn't score in the Jan. 5 game. "We figured we should turn around and beat them in theirs." 

Friday's victory, the Raiders' seventh straight, gave Hudson (9-1, 12-4) a 1 1/2-game lead over North (8-3, 12-4) atop the Big Rivers standings. The Raiders, the defending WIAA Division 1 state champions, have won the last four BRC crowns. 

"This was a state-tournament-caliber game tonight," said North coach Chico LaBarbera, whose team has lost three of its last four games -- two in overtime and the other by two points. "Jill Berg, my assistant, said we played better tonight then we did in most of our losses. She's so right." 

North took a 26-22 lead into halftime. But Anderson and Garms took charge in the third quarter. Both converted three-point plays. Garms had nine points and Anderson seven in the quarter, and the Raiders went ahead 45-43 entering the fourth. 

The lead swelled to 50-45 after Anderson assisted a Randi Miller 3-pointer 1 minute, 17 seconds into the quarter. 

The Huskies, though, forged a 55-all tie with 29 seconds left in regulation on a Kristi Gehring 3-pointer. 

Kristi Gehring

"Our whole team was playing so well. It just sort of rubbed off on me," said Gehring, who scored a game- and season-high 22 points -- 12.4 better than her average. 

Miller was assessed a controversial charging foul with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but North failed to cash in. 

Miller found redemption in overtime by scoring six of her 17 points -- including what proved to be the game-winning bucket with 1:06 remaining. 

Larissa Parr scored 10 of her 17 points after halftime for North, and Chandra Johnson had 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Huskies. 

"We knew this would be a tough game, but we weren't worried," said Anderson, who had four assists and five steals. "We knew this was a game we had to have, and we got it."