Girls basketball: Camryn Veltrop’s 28 points power Morrison over Oregon

OREGON – Working the ball inside. That was a big point of emphasis for Morrison throughout Wednesday night’s 46-16 win over Oregon at the Blackhawk Center.

Going into the game, the Fillies knew they had a clear height advantage, and with that knowledge, they immediately worked to leverage it.

[ Photos: Morrison vs Oregon girls basketball ]

Camryn Veltrop, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 10 of her game-high 28 points in the first quarter as Morrison (16-8) took a 17-4 lead. All 10 of those points came on post layups as senior guard Emery Brewer and junior guard Kaylee Pruis kept the lob passes coming, and Veltrop kept scoring.

“It’s definitely a big help, especially when my team is so good at getting passes in,” Veltrop said about her height advantage. “And [my teammates] really help – I wouldn’t be able to get the ball without them. The height helps a lot, but they’re a big part of it.”

Oregon (4-17) got some momentum going in the first 1:30 of the game with back-to-back baskets from sophomore guard Sarah Eckardt and sophomore guard-forward Aniyah Sarver.

Eckardt answered a Veltrop layup in the first eight seconds with a short-range jumper with 6:30 on the clock – and drew a foul on the shot. After the free throw rimmed out, Sarver scooped up the rebound and put it back in for a 4-2 Oregon lead.

But it didn’t last long.

Morrison senior Sarah Weston and Veltrop sparked a 15-0 run with consecutive baskets less than a minute later. That surge stretched the Fillies’ lead to 17-4 at the end of the first quarter.

“The size is definitely an advantage for them, something that we did struggle with, but for the most part we did what we could on defense,” Oregon coach Olyvia Donahue said. “And on offense, our shots just weren’t falling. I think we were running our offense well, but tonight just wasn’t our night for shots.”

Oregon junior guard-forward Alease McLain nailed a left-wing 3 only 11 seconds into the second quarter, drawing the Hawks within 17-7, but the Fillies had an answer for everything.

Pruis hit a right-wing 3 just 24 seconds later, and an 11-0 Morrison run ensued. Veltrop scored three straight post layups and Weston hit another as the lead ballooned to 28-7 with just over two minutes left.

“I think that we passed the ball a lot, which is really helpful in getting people open,” Pruis said about keys to establishing the first half lead. “We do kind of a 2-3, and I feel like it helps a lot because they are outside shooters. They don’t really get layups, either, because there’s three people in there, so I feel like that’s helpful, too.”

The Hawks got within 28-11 by halftime with a mid-range jumper by junior guard Ava Carreno and a short-range jumper from Eckardt, but the Fillies kept the pressure on in the third and extended their lead with an 11-4 run.

Veltrop scored six more points on a pair of free throws, a post layup and a putback, and senior Jordan Eads drilled a right-corner 3 followed by a short-range jumper for a 39-15 lead at the end of three quarters.

“We really wanted to come in and not play down to their level because we are a strong team, but we struggle with playing down to team’s level, so we just came out very tough,” Veltrop said. “I think [we limited them by] playing aggressive, and our defense has improved a lot throughout the season. We found a new defense, and we were just really aggressive.”

Veltrop finished with game highs of 28 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks, and Pruis and Eads chipped in six points each. Pruis had three rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Eads had four rebounds and two steals. Brewer dished seven assists and grabbed three steals, and freshman Avery White added seven rebounds off the bench.

Eckardt, McLain and Sarver led Oregon with four points each. Sarver grabbed five rebounds and Eckardt added four.