International Sports Invitational Sports Daily - June 9
United States def. Australia, 3-1 (Volleyball)
The USA Men's National Volleyball Team overcame another slow start and walked away with their first win in the men's volleyball competition at the International Sports Invitational on the University of San Diego campus Thursday night.
Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) scored a match-high tying 19 points as Team USA earned a 3-1 win over Australia in pool play at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Salmon, a 2004 Olympian, blasted 18 kills and ripped one service ace in the 19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-17 victory one night after dropping the first two sets in a 3-2 loss to the Netherlands.
Jim Polster (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) added 17 points on 16 kills and one block, while Dave McKienzie (Littleton, Colo.) posted 12 points on 12 kills as the United States improved to 1-1 so far in pool play.
Benjamin Hardy scored 19 points, Daniel Howard added 15 and Hidde Van Beest tallied 10 points for the Aussies, who dropped to 0-2 in the tournament.
Hardy had 15 kills, three blocks and one ace, while Howard added 11 kills, three blocks and one ace. Van Beest had 10 kills.
Netherlands def. China, 3-0
Kay van Dijk and Rob Bontje each scored a team-high 12 points as the Netherlands defeated China, 3-0, in men's volleyball competition at the International Sports Invitational on the University of San Diego campus Thursday night.
Van Dijk had 12 kills and Bontje added seven kills, a match-high four blocks and one service ace in the 25-15, 25-20, 25-20 victory for the Dutch at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
With the win, Holland improved to 2-0 in pool play. China dropped to 1-1 in the tournament.
Jeroen Trommel scored nine points on eight kills and one block, while teammates Wytze Kooistra and Marko Klok chipped in with eight points apiece for the Netherlands, which edged the United States, 3-2, on Wednesday night.
Shengsheng Sui scored a match-high 15 points on 13 kills, one block and one ace to lead China, which defeated Australia in four sets on Wednesday night. Miao Tang added seven points in the loss.
USA White, Blue Remain Undefeated, Canada Secures First Victory (Basketball)
USA White 103, USA Blue 83
In Thursday's final game the USA White Team (3-0) remained undefeated as Greg Oden (Lawrence North H.S. / Indianapolis, Ind.) posted a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds in leading his squad past the USA Red Team (2-1) 103-83.
Paul Harris (Niagara Falls H.S. / Niagara Falls, N.Y.) hit a layup four seconds into the game and forced a shot clock violation on USA Red's first possession to set the tone for the White squad early.
Two free throws and a 3-pointer from Stanley Robinson (Huffman H.S. / Birmingham, Ala.) brought the Red Team within one, 6-5, but USA White responded with a 13-2 run to put its lead at 21-9 with 5:10 left in the first frame. Darrell Arthur (South Oak Cliff H.S. / Dallas, Texas) capped the run with two straight baskets, a dunk off an Oden feed and a layup.
An 11-4 run to start the second quarter put the White Team comfortably ahead 44-24 with 6:38 left in the half, with Arthur and Oden contributing four points apiece in the run. Isaiah Dahlman (Braham Area S.S. / Braham, Minn.) grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a basket with seconds remaining to hold up the 20-point margin, 61-41, at the half.
"Our main goal was to be strong defensively and they did that," said USA White head coach Pat Fitterer (Eisenhower H.S. / Seattle, Wash). "We really challenged Billy (Walker) (North College Hill H.S. / Cincinnati, Ohio) and Paul (Harris) to play great defense. They're allowed to play such great defense because they have Greg behind them. The second goal was making everybody else better and we did that. We passed the ball great tonight, we had a couple turnovers because we over-passed, but I'll take that."
After the White team increased its lead to 69-43 with 7:30 left in the third, the Red Team ran off a 20-2 run in which six players scored to cut its deficit to eight, 71-63 with 8.1 seconds in the third. Two free throws by Harris with under a second left in the stanza and two straight baskets to open the fourth by Oden and Walker brought the White lead back to 77-63 and ended the Red Team's run.
Oden recorded White team highs in points and rebounds after posting a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Arthur notched 20 points and had steals and Walker scored 17 points. Also in double figures were Kyle Singler (South Medford H.S. / Medford, Ore.) with 14, and Harris with 13.
Gerald Henderson, Jr. (Epipsocal Academy / Blue Bell, Pa.) scored 23 points on 10-14 shooting from the field to lead USA Red. Robinson grabbed a team-best seven boards and D.J. Augustin (Brother Martin H.S. / New Orleans, La.) dished out four assists.
USA Blue 86, Russia 65
In the 2005 International Sports Invitational's final day of preliminary round games, the USA Blue Team (2-0) received 25 points from O.J. Mayo (North College Hill H.S. / North College Hill, Ohio) as it defeated Russia (1-1) 86-65 on Thursday afternoon to take the top spot in Group B.
Russia and the U.S. were evenly matched through the opening minutes of the game and at 6:56 Russia trailed 6-5. However, a steal and dunk by Derrick Jasper (Paso Robles H.S. / Paso Robles, Calif.) at 6:50 began the procession of the USA's slow and steady march to a 22-10 first quarter advantage. Behind the play of Wayne Ellington (The Episcopal Academy / Wynnewood, Pa.), Mayo and Mike Washington (Heritage Christian Academy (Texas) / McGehee, Ark.), all of whom had 10 points by halftime, the United States continued to pull away and owned a 40-20 lead at the break.
The Blue maintained its cushion, held a 61-42 advantage at the end of three periods and finished with the 21-point victory after Corey Stokes (St. Benedict's H.S. / Bayonne, N.J.) pulled up for a long-range jumper at the buzzer.
In addition to Mayo's game-high 25 points, Ellington and Washington each pitched in 16 points, as well as nine and eight rebounds, respectively. Mayo passed off for a team-high of four assists and had six steals, while Robin Lopez (San Joaquin Memorial H.S. / Fresno, Calif.) had five blocked shots.
Russia's Maxim Sheleketo scored 17 points and Anatoly Kashirov had 14 to go with eight rebounds.
USA Blue Team member Thaddeus Young (Mitchell H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.) suffered a second degree (moderate) ankle sprain in his squad's 118-57 victory over New Zealand on June 8. Listed as day-to-day, Young was evaluated by the U.S. Olympic Committee medical staff, who will continue to treat Young while he is in San Diego.
Canada 83, China 76
Canada (1-2) had five players in double figures as it notched its first win of the tournament by defeating China (0-3) 83-76.
The first half of the game was tightly contested and China entered the locker room with a three-point, 40-37, edge over Canada. However, Canada blew the game open with a 28-8 third quarter to go up 65-48 with 10 minutes to play.
Over the first 5:17 of the third Canada sprinted out to a 14-2 run, thanks in part to seven points from Junior Cadougan, and owned a 10-point, 52-42, lead at 4:43.
With the scoreboard showing 67-49 at the 8:17 mark, China mounted what it hoped would be a comeback. Duan Chenglong hit a 3-pointer at 8:01 to reinvigorate his squad and at 4:56 China had cut the deficit to single digits, 69-60. Continuing to chip away at the hole, China forced four turnovers while shooting 9-of-14, including six 3-pointers, and at 1:29 trailed by just 75-72. However, that was as close as the Chinese would get as Canada held its opponents at bay for the final 83-76 victory.
Olu Ashaolou led Canada's balanced scoring attack with 14 points, Scott Brittain and Cadougan each tallied 13, Robert Sacre notched 12 and Calvin Westbrook scored 10 points. Brittain and Max Craig-Zyderhoff pulled down 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
China was paced by Chen Jianghua's 18 points and 12 rebounds, Han Shou had 17 points and Chenglong was credited for 15 points.
USA Women Fight Off Australia 82-74 and Improve to 2-0
USA forward Crystal Langhorne (Maryland / Willingboro, N.J.) posted a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds to help lead the USA (2-0) women to an 82-74 win over Australia (1-1) Thursday evening at the 2005 International Sports Invitational. The win improved the U.S. to 2-0 and insured the Americans of a spot in Saturday's gold medal game. In Thursday's first women's game, Russia (1-1) claimed its first win after out gunning China (0-2) 81-64.
Although the U.S. led the majority of the game, the two teams battled from start to finish in a game that saw them just two points apart with 3:06 remaining. But an 8-0 American run in the game's final three minutes earned the United States the 82-74 win.
With the USA clinging to a 74-72 lead after Australia's guard Renae Camino made one free throw to complete a three-point play, U.S. guard Candice Wiggins (Stanford / Poway, Calif.) pushed the U.S. cushion to four following a drive to the basket with 2:51 left. Langhorne made two free throws at 2:08 to up the U.S. advantage to six, and Quianna Chaney (LSU / Baton Rouge, La.) added a jumper at 1:45 to make it 80-72 and end any doubt there was on the outcome of the game. The U.S. held Australia two just two free throws in the game's final 3:06.
The USA enjoyed a seven-point lead late in the first quarter but only led 22-20 after one quarter, and after Wiggins scored the last two points of the second quarter, the USA had a 43-39 lead at half.
Ahead 53-51 with 3:37 to play in the third quarter, the U.S. repeatedly went inside to Langhorne and she responded by scoring the USA's final 10 points of the stanza as the U.S. led 63-56 after three periods.
Langhorne enjoyed a remarkable night, sinking all nine of her shots from the field, while converting on 3-of-4 free throws. Grabbing six offensive rebounds, she added three assists and two steals in just 19 minutes of action.
Also aiding the U.S. victorious cause was forward Erlana Larkins (North Carolina / Riviera Beach, Fla.) who finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Wiggins contributed 13 points and Courtney Paris (Piedmont H.S. / Piedmont, Calif.) tossed in 10 points and added eight rebounds.
"We continue to learn about ourselves as a team. Our post game was very, very good. In particular Crystal Langhorne just took over in the third quarter and her teammates did a great job helping her, getting her the ball in the right places. We're getting better each game which is important," said U.S. and Duke University mentor Gail Goestenkors.
Australia was led by Kathleen MacLeod's 14 points, and Camino finished with 13 points.
Russia 81, China 64
A 10-2 Russian run to open the game proved to be insurmountable for the Chinese as Russia picked up the victory 81-64 on day two of the 2005 International Sports Invitational.
Russia used its early momentum to open up a double-digit lead (16-5) halfway through the first quarter and never looked back, eventually taking a 14 point, 47-33, cushion into the half.
China fell behind by as many as 20 points, 53-33 with 6:57 left in the third quarter. China did not quit, however, cutting the Russian lead to just eight points, 57-49 at the 3:10 mark of the third quarter on the heels of a 14-4 run that was highlighted by 12 points by Zhang Wei. Russia thwarted China's comeback dream with a 10-4 run of their own to start the fourth quarter that featured eight straight points by forward Victoriya Kulomzina.
Five Russian players finished in double figures led by Evgenia Belyakova and Natalia Bogdanova who both finished with 14. Elena Danilotchkina finished with 13 points while Elizaveta Rusakova and Kulomzina finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
China's Guan Xin led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-13 from the field. Wei posted 17 points (5-11) in the losing effort.
U.S. Opens 2005 International Sports Invitational with a 3-1 win over Canada (Softball)
The USA Softball Women's National Team opened the 2005 International Sports Invitational with a 3-1 win over Canada. This is the first time the USA squad has competed together since winning its third consecutive gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Led by pitching ace Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.) from the circle, the U.S. used a three-run fifth inning to seal the victory.
A round robin format, Team USA will continue play on Friday, June 10 at 4 p.m. against China.
"It's nice to come out and take home a win early," said head coach Mike Candrea. "Obviously this is a process that we go through and this team has only been together for four days so it's nice to come out on top. Right now we are missing our 2, 3, and 4 hitters from Athens so it changes the complexion, but I think this team, given time, will do fine."
The USA put runners in scoring position in two of the first three innings but was unable to capitalize. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Red, White and Blue broke open the game with help from the Canadian pitching staff. Three walks coupled with a hit batsman put the USA up 1-0 and left the bases loaded for catcher Jenny Topping (Whittier, Calif.). A two RBI single plated two runners and gave the USA a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Finch allowed only a single to Sheena Lawrick (Calgary, AB) in the first inning while striking out nine to pick up the win. Leah Ann Ellis (Barboursville, WV) was perfect in her national team debut striking out the side in an inning of relief.
Dana Sorenson (San Diego, Calif.) entered the game in the seventh and collected the save for Team USA allowing one unearned run and collecting all three outs via the strikeout.
Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.) was the only U.S. player with multiple hits going 2-for-3 from the plate. Besides Toppings single in the fifth, Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) and Vicky Galindo (Union City, Calif.) were the only other USA players with a hit in the game.
Australia 8, China 0
In game one, the 2004 silver medal Australian (1-0) team took the field in full force with an 8-0 mercy rule victory against China (0-1). Winning pitcher Catherine Bishop went the distance for the Australians with six strikeouts in the shutout while Stacey Porter went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI.
Australia jumped on board in the second inning with a single from Natalie Ward before three consecutive walks from Chinese pitcher Lu Wei plated the first run. A solo home run from Porter in the second pushed the lead before a six-run break out inning in the fifth sealed the win for the Aussies. The inning was highlighted by Porter's second dinger of the game, an RBI double from Natalie Ward and four Aussie base hits.
**Reprinted with permission from the United States Olympic Committee
