12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 21, 2015
Polk County Sports
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
Defense paves way for Panthers win
Central keeps Dragons’ offense in check during 51-36 victory on Friday
AARON YOST/for the Itemizer-Observer
Dallas post Eva Ronco (33) goes up for a layup as Central’s
Reba Hoffman (11) and Sai Tapasa (22) look on.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — En-
tering Friday night’s girls
basketball showdown, Dal-
las and Central looked to
make an early statement in
the Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence.
The Panthers answered
the call, earning a 51-36 vic-
tory.
“The girls have really
been working on both their
defensive game and the
mental aspect of the game,”
Central coach Julie McDon-
ald said. “I think our last
game (against Dallas) has
shown that
their hard
work is
paying off.
I thought
we took
care of the
ball and
we were
able to
Tapasa
control the
tempo of the game for the
most part.”
Kylie Nash scored a
game-high 19 points to lead
the Panthers, who held the
Dragons to 12 first-half
points.
Reba Hoffman added
nine points, while Sai
Tapasa scored eight points.
Taylor Fennell recorded
14 points to lead Dallas. But
Central held Dallas’ offense
largely in
c h e c k
through-
out the
contest.
The Dra-
gons (6-5
overall, 1-1
M i d -
Willamette
Fennell
Confer-
ence) opened league play
with a 51-32 win over Wood-
burn on Jan. 13.
Sarah Zwicker scored 17
points, while Sarah Mitchell
added 16 points, as Dallas
held Woodburn to fewer
than 10 points in each quar-
ter.
The Panthers (7-4 overall,
2-0 MWC) opened their
league season with a 59-25
win over South Albany on
Jan. 13. Central played Cres-
cent Valley Tuesday after
press time. The Panthers
host Lebanon Friday at 7:15
p.m. and Silverton on Tues-
day at 7 p.m.
T h e Dra g o n s p l a ye d
So u t h A l b a n y Tu e s d a y
after press time. Dallas
hosts Corvallis Friday at 7
p.m. before hitting the
road to play Crescent Val-
ley on Tuesday.
FALLS CITY DOWNS LIV-
INGSTONE: Falls City jumped
out to a 10-point lead over
Livingstone Adventist, and
the Mountaineers picked up
their second Casco League
victory of the season on
Thursday. Tierra Reynolds
scored a team-high 11 points,
while Allison Kidd added 10
points as Falls City earned a
46-25 win. The Mountaineers
( 5 - 1 0 ove r a l l, 2 - 1 Ca s co
League), who are second in
the league standings, held
the Lions to one field goal in
the first quarter as Falls City
built a 13-3 lead. The Moun-
taineers never relinquished
their lead. Falls Cit hosted
Jewell Tuesday after press
time. The Mountaineers con-
tinue their league campaign
at Willamette Valley Christian
on Friday.
P I R AT E S E X P E R E N C E
SHOOTING WOES: As Perry-
dale put the
finishing
touches on
a 41-38
come-from-
behind vic-
tory over
East Linn
Christian on
Jan. 13, Pi-
rates coach
Locke
Terry New-
ton had just one message:
“We must shoot better.” Perry-
dale’s offen-
sive strug-
gles, howev-
er, wouldn’t
go away in a
51-36 loss
to Western
Mennonite
on Friday
and a 35-25
Newton
setback to
North Eugene’s junior varsity
on Saturday. Things started
off well against East Linn
Christian. Senior Cheyenne
Locke scored a game-high 17
points, as the Pirates rallied
from a six point deficit enter-
ing the final quarter. Facing
the Tri-River Conference’s top
team, the Pioneers, the Pi-
rates struggled from the field,
shooting about 25 percent,
Newton said. “The speed of
the game is something I think
the girls are finally getting
used to,” Newton said. “We’re
getting the looks we want to,
but we just need to shoot
better.” Telaney Newton led
the Pirates against the Pio-
neers with 10 points. Perry-
dale finished its week with a
35-25 setback against North
Eugene’s junior varsity squad.
The Pirates (7-6 overall, 2-3
Tri-River Conference) hosted
Santiam Christian Tuesday
after press time. Perrydale
plays at rival St. Paul on Fri-
day and at Kennedy on Tues-
day.
PREP SWIMMING ROUNDUP
Short-handed Dallas boys earn win
Ludwig wins close race in 100 backstroke as boys squad earns 45-40 victory
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — As Dallas senior Nate
Ludwig finished the 100-yard
backstroke at the Dallas Aquatic
Center on Jan. 13, he immediately
looked up at the scoreboard.
Ludwig, who finished the race in
1 minute, 15.54 seconds, won in a
photo finish.
“One of the closest races I’ve
ever seen was Nate (Ludwig) edg-
ing out a Crescent Valley swimmer
in the backstroke,” Dragons coach
Jeff Bemrose said.
Ludwig’s performance helped
Dallas’ boys swimming team de-
feat Crescent Valley 45-40 in a
matchup of short-handed teams
on Jan. 13. Lucas
Diaz won the 50
freestyle (24.97)
and took second
in the 100
breaststroke
(1:14.68).
The girls team
lost 67-27. Soph-
omore Jolie-Rae
Ford
Ford won the 50
freestyle and was part of the win-
ning 200- and 400-freestyle relay
teams.
“We had great performances by
Jolie-Rae Ford, Lucas Diaz and
Nate Ludwig,” Bemrose said. “… A
fun race to watch was the girls 400
free relay. Dallas was behind half
the length of the pool to the other
three relay teams and Jolie-Rae
caught them all to get first place
for the relay.”
The Dragons competed at South
Albany Tuesday after press time.
Dallas co-hosts the Dallas/Cen-
tral Invitational Thursday at 3 p.m.
at the Dallas Aquatic Center.
CENTRAL FALLS TO CORVALLIS:
Central’s boys and girls swim teams
lost a Mid-
Willamette in Con-
ference dual Cor-
vallis on Jan. 13.
The boys fell 172-
99, while the girls
lost 179-92. Cen-
tral ’s boys 200
medley relay team
of Daniel Glade,
N. Glade
Nathan Glade,
Ryan Rosas and August Thornton
placed first with a time of 1:58.98,
while Nathan Glade won the 100
breaststroke (1:04.99). On the girls
side, the 200 medley relay squad of
Annie Taylor, Catie Miller, Julissa
Amador and Kate Taylor placed sec-
ond (2:16.5), while the 200 freestyle
relay team of Annie Taylor, Kate Tay-
lor, Amador and Miller also finished
second in 1:58.6. “Nathan (Glade’s)
breaststroke is finally getting back to
where it was last year,” Central coach
Shawn Martin said. “He seems to be
relaxing his stroke more. Our girls re-
lays are also looking consistently
strong. They are looking to be com-
petitive in this district, despite hav-
ing to move up and compete with
some tough competition.” Central co-
hosts the Dallas/Central Invitational
Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Dallas
Aquatic Center.
PREP WRESTLING ROUNDUP
Driver: Nash
Central trio excels at Redmond
finds success
Panthers finish third in pool at Oregon Wrestling Classic
Itemizer-Observer staff report
REDMOND — Central’s
wrestling team took third
place in its five-team pool at
the Oregon Wrestling Clas-
sic on Friday and Saturday.
The Panthers went 2-3 at
the duals, falling to Pendle-
ton 44-30, Hillsboro 55-17
and Churchill 39-31, but de-
feating Ridgeview 45-25 and
Silverton 39-34.
Central was part of one of
four Class
5A pools
at
the
Classic.
David
Negrete
(186 pou-
nds), Al-
b e r t o
M e z a
Negrete
(199) and
Tanner Swinehart (174)
went 4-0.
The Panthers opened
their week by falling to
South Albany 42-28 in a
Mid-Willamette Conference
dual meet on Jan. 14.
Central Coach Van Hol-
stad said that loss will help
keep Central’s wrestlers mo-
tivated and provide some
important lessons.
“Last
week was
a learning
experi-
ence for
us,” Hol-
stad said.
“At South
A l b a n y,
w e l e t T. Swinehart
s o m e
matches get away from us
and it was the same deal in
our first meet at the classic
against Pendleton.
“After those duals, we
started to compete very
strong against some very
strong teams and finished
a tough tournament a bet-
ter team.”
Tim Blair (126), Collin
Swinehart (145), Tanner
Swinehart (170), David Ne-
grete (182), Beto Meza (195)
and Marlon Tuipulotu (285)
earned wins for the Pan-
thers against South Albany.
Central hosts Silverton
Wednesday (today) at 6 p.m.
and the Central Duals Satur-
day at noon against Elmira,
Rex Putnam, Sheldon, Glad-
stone and Jefferson.
DALLAS TAKES FIRST AT
PARKROSE: The Dallas High
wrestling team shut out
Woodburn 76-0 on Jan. 14 be-
fore taking first place out of
five schools at the Parkrose
Mega Match Throwdown on
Saturday. “The Woodburn dual
was a good opportunity for
our guys to get out there and
get a win in front of the home
crowd,” Dallas coach Tony Olliff
s a i d .
“ Pa r k r o s e
was a good
brush up.
Sunset had
a bunch of
tough kids
and Jeffer-
son always
has a cou-
Miller
ple tough
o n e s .” R y a n B i b l e r ( 1 0 6
pounds), Jesse Stuhr (113),
Nolan Miller (120), Matt Hofen-
bredl (138), Jeff Dunagan
(160), Tyson Janssen (170) and
Joshua Naughton (182) earned
first-place victories for the
Dragons at Parkrose. Dallas
travels to Crescent Valley
Wednesday (today) before
competing at the Reser’s Tour-
nament of Champions on Sat-
urday. “Our wrestlers will get
to experience a 32-man brack-
et,” Olliff said. “This two-day
tournament combines the top
schools from every classifica-
tion. It ought to be fun.”
Continued from Page 10A
“She’s an intense gamer,”
McDonald said. “She is one
who I know will always give
me 100 percent in practice
and in games.”
Nash’s emergence has
helped spark Central’s of-
fense, which entered the
week as the lone team in the
MWC averaging more than
50 points per game.
But the Panthers aren’t
satisfied with a 7-4 overall
record and 2-0 start in
league play.
“We just need to contin-
ue to grow and focus on
not plateauing and not set-
tling for rushed shots,”
N a s h s a i d . “ We h a v e
gamers on our team and I
think we have more of a full
package.”
As Central hopes to com-
pete for a league title, Nash
will likely play a big role in
the Panthers’ success this
Scoring Spree
• Central guard Kylie
Nash scored 19 points
against Dallas on Friday
night and 11 points
against South Albany on
Jan. 13.
• Nash averages more
than 12 points and five
assists per game.
• The Panthers entered
the week on a six-game
winning streak.
s e a s o n . Fo r a s m u c h
progress as she’s made so
f a r , N a s h s a i d s h e ’s
nowhere near where she
wants to be.
“I need to keep develop-
ing getting the assists going,”
Nash said. “I have to get bet-
ter at hitting the open player,
knowing when to drive it in
and finish myself or kick it
out.”
Meza: Senior went undefeated at Classic
Continued from Page 10A
While he may not be the
loudest or the most vocal on
the team, Meza hopes to let
his wrestling do the talking
this season.
Meza entered the year
with great expectations, with
an eye toward placing at dis-
trict and state.
He appears to be making
progress toward those
goals.
Meza went undefeated at
the Oregon Wrestling Classic
in Redmond on Friday and
Saturday.
“I feel like I have made
some progress in my
wrestling just by being
more offensive and getting
the first takedowns,” Meza
said.
Meza’s success on the
mat doesn’t surprise Cen-
tral coach Van Holstad,
who has seen Meza’s im-
pact on his teammates
grow with each passing day
as he keeps his focus on his
ultimate
goal.
“He’s the
guy who
puts his
head down
and goes to
work,” Hol-
stad said.
Meza
“He doesn’t
say much. He’s a quiet
leader and an extremely
hard worker. That’s conta-
gious. It bleeds through the
whole team.”
Meza is hoping his hard
work leads to bigger and
better things as the season
goes on, though he’s not
looking too far ahead.
Instead, he’s more fo-
cused on winning each
match one at a time and
proving what he can do
every time he steps onto the
mat.
“I try not to get too
worked up about it,” Meza
said. “I just want to go out
there and try to dominate
and get the first takedown. I
want to set the tone and
pace.”
It’s been more than a
decade since those days
Meza watched WWE on TV.
And while high school
wrestling wasn’t quite the
same as he first imagined,
it’s something he’s grown to
love.
“The amount of work you
have to put in makes this
sport unique,” Meza said. “It
changes you. And it teaches
you about life.”
Just how far Meza can
help lead the Panthers re-
mains a mystery. But Meza
knows he’s ready to do
whatever he can to make
his final season a successful
one.
“I want to go out with a
bang,” Meza said. “I want
to finish strong my senior
year. I just need to get my
conditioning better so I
am peaking at the right
time.”