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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 11, 2015 13A Polk County Sports CLASS 5A PREP BOYS BASKETBALL Arriving on point Junior learns to take risks; play takes off for Dragons By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — It was a sight Dallas boys basketball coach Trent Schwartz didn’t expect to see. Schwartz knew that jun- ior point guard Everett Mi- nahan was on a mission to improve his game. He didn’t know how committed he was. “I found him playing three-on-three in the morn- ing before school on a game day a few weeks ago,” Schwartz said. “He’s a gym rat that always stays after practice to work on his game. He has a ton of ener- gy and seemingly never tires.” Minahan may look confi- dent running the Dragons’ offense, but it wasn’t always that way. Minahan entered the sea- son knowing he was the team’s point guard, but it took time for him to fully embrace that role. “At the start of the season, I felt pretty timid and was really tentative with not wanting to make mistakes.” Minahan said. “As the sea- son has progressed, though, I have realized that mistakes are part of the game, and in order for our team to be playing at our best, I need to be aggressive and as- sertive, as well as get other players involved.” LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Much improved Dallas point guard Everett Minahan helps keep the Dragons’ offense flowing smoothly. Minahan is no longer afraid to be assertive on the court, and he’s turning himself into one of the Dragons’ most dependable players. “He has matured greatly from last season as a com- petitor, in his coachability a n d a s a t e a m m a t e ,” Schwartz said. That maturation has al- lowed him to not let one mistake affect future pos- sessions. “I think over the last year, my ball-handling has improved the most,” Mina- han said. “I have really been working at getting better handles.” The result is a more com- plete point guard. “He is a very good ball- handler who doesn’t let pressure phase him, and does a great job of getting u s i n t o o u r o f f e n s e,” Schwartz said. “He has the ability to create shots for himself around the rim with his patented floater, and will hit the open perimeter shot. He also does a great job finding the open man off dribble penetration.” In short, he’s become a dynamic offensive pres- ence. “I would call myself a playmaker whose strength is in the transition game and taking it to the basket,” Minahan said. Starting the final two weeks of the regular season, the Dragons will look to Mi- nahan to help lead them to a strong finish. Dallas en- tered the week fifth in the Mid-Willamette Conference at 4-4, one game behind Central, Crescent Valley and Corvallis, who are 5-3. If the Dragons are able to move up, Minahan will be a big reason why. “At this point in confer- ence, I would put Everett right up there with (Sam) Roth from Silverton and (Joe) Casey from Crescent Valley as the top point guards in the conference,” Schwartz said. Title: Olliff eyeing bigger prize Continued from Page 10A Dallas may have its eyes set on the Class 5A state tournament, but the Drag- ons are set up to compete for a sixth district team title in a row. Nolan Miller (120), Matt Hofenbredl (138), Tyson Janssen (170) and Kyle Sny- der (220) will lead a strong group of state tournament contenders. Others, like Bailey Hise (220), Matt Dindinger (138), Josh Naughton (182) and Matt Thorsted (220) should also be strong state qualifying contenders, Ol- liff said. “If they finish in the top four, I’m basically OK with that,” Olliff said. “I just need to get them to state to score some points and meet their goals.” If all eight wrestlers qual- ify for state, that will still leave the Dragons short of their goal. That’s where wrestlers such as Tanner Earhart (145), Treve Earhart (160), Jesse Stuhr (113), Sammy Chung (138) and others will have to shine. “In order to compete with Hillsboro, Redmond, Hermiston and the other top 5A teams, we’ll need to qualify at least 14,” Olliff said. “That will be tough, but doable.” Dallas knows the road only gets tougher from here, but Olliff said the Dragons are ready to tackle any chal- lenge. “I know some schools have hyped this up a lot,” Olliff said. “I’d like to think of this as a means to an end. We want to compete for state titles and this is one more step to take to get there.” SPORTS BRIEFS Polk Pedalers set to meet Saturday DALLAS — The Polk Pedalers Bicycle Club will hold its first meet- ing of the new year Saturday at 9 a.m. at Courtyard Coffee House, 156 SE Mill St., Dallas. The meeting will be used to plan this year’s ride schedule. All are welcome. The Polk Pedalers Bicycle Club is for riders of all levels who desire safe, comfortable and interesting cycling trips in a group setting. For more information: Dick Dye, 503-623-6533. Local golf tournament rescheduled DALLAS — The Brockway Memorial Open has been rescheduled for Feb. 21 at 9:30 a.m. Originally set for last Saturday, rain prevented the tournament from proceeding. The two-person scramble costs $45 per entry with funds going toward junior golf tournaments. For more information: Cross Creek Golf Course, 503-623-6666. Negrete: On a 26-match streak Continued from Page 10A That change has allowed Negrete, who wrestles at 182 pounds, to show his strength. “David has been one of our go-to guys this season,” Central coach Van Holstad said. “He has such raw ath- leticism and great strength. He has been able to do some things that I have never seen before. I am ex- cited to see how he does the next few weeks.” Negrete may lack the years of wrestling experience that others have, but he’s more than making up for it, going 34-4 this season. He is on a 26- match win streak dat- ing back to Jan. 9. Negrete won the 182 pound class at the Robert Paul Tuipulotu Invitational at Sandy High School on Sat- urday and enters the Mid- Willamette Conference Dis- trict Championships Friday and Saturday at Silverton High School as a contender to qualify for state. The top four wrestlers in each weight class earn berths to the Class 5A state championships scheduled Feb. 27-28 in Portland. “I just want to go as hard as I can without quitting,” Negrete said. “(If I make it to state), it’ll feel really great that I made my family, teammates and coach- es proud.” But he’s not the only one. “We are expecting C. Swinehart all of our wrestlers to wrestle their best at the two most important tournaments of the season,” Holstad said. The Panthers expect to have multiple wre-stlers compete for district titles, particularly in the higher weights, including Collin Swinehart (145), Tanner Swinehart (170), Alberto Meza (195) and Marlon Tu- ipulotu (285). “I think everyone is ready to take that next step,” Ne- grete said. “Marlon can be a district champ. Alberto can be a district champ. I think we all can.” Central will face a tough road to qualifying wrestlers for state in a league that includes Dallas, winner of five straight district team titles. But the Panthers will be focused and ready for the challenge, Holstad said. “We are looking to stay healthy for the last few practices,” he said. “Our job this week is to qualify wrestlers to the state tour- nament. If we do our job, our team finish should be competitive.” PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP Dallas hopes to down league’s best teams Dragons are 0-3 against Mid-Willamette Conference’s top three squads Itemizer-Observer staff report DALLAS — The Dallas girls basketball team looks to prove it belongs near the top of the M i d - Willamette Confer- e n c e standings. Dallas Mitchell enters the week in fourth place in the MWC and with losses to each of the league’s top three teams: Corvallis, Sil- verton and Central. The Dragons defeated Woodburn 51-40 on Friday after falling to Silverton 44- 38 on Feb. 3. Sarah Mitchell scored 12 points and Eva Ronco and Sarah Zwicker added nine each against the Bulldogs. The Dragons can tie Cen- tral for third place when the two foes square off Wednes- day (tonight) at 7 p.m. in Dallas. The Dragons host South Albany Friday at 7 p.m. NASH LEADS CENTRAL: A week after falling to the Mid- Willamette Conference’s top two squads, Silverton and Cor- vallis, Central’s girls basketball team picked up a pair of league wins over the bottom two teams. The Panthers de- feated Woodburn 59-44 on Feb. 3 and South Albany 61-26 on Friday. Kylie Nash led the way for Central, scoring 20 points against the Bulldogs and 21 points against the R e b e l s. R y a n n e H u ff m a n added eight points and 10 points, respectively, during the two contests. The Panthers im- proved to 6-2 in MWC play and have sole possession of third place. Central plays at Dallas Wednesday (today) at 7 p.m. before hosting Crescent Valley Friday at 7 p.m. PIRATES CLINCH LEAGUE PLAYOFF BERTH: Perrydale clinched a spot in the Tri-River Conference playoffs after split- ting a pair of games last week. The Pirates defeated East Linn Christian 45-40 on Feb. 4 be- fore falling to No. 1-ranked Western Mennonite 54-16 on Friday. No details were provid- ed. Perrydale entered Tuesday’s game at Santiam in fourth place at 6-6. The Pirates host St. Paul Friday at 7 p.m. If the Pi- rates retain the fourth seed, they will host the winner of the fifth/sixth seed matchup on Feb. 19. If they fall to the fifth/sixth position, they will play on Feb. 17. The winner of the fourth seed-fifth/sixth seed matchup will face the loser of the second/third seed game for the league’s final state berth. VARNEY, REYNOLDS HAVE BIG GAMES: Brittany Varney and Tierra Reynolds scored 21 points each as Falls City’s girls basketball team defeated Ore- gon School for the Deaf 54-24 on Thursday. The Mountaineers entered Tuesday’s matchup against Livingstone Adventist second in the Casco League at 4-2. Falls City closes out the regular season at Jewell on Fri- day. The C a s c o League play- o ff s b e g i n Feb. 18, Varney when the fourth and fifth seeds and sec- ond and third seeds face off. The Mountaineers can clinch the second seed with a win on Friday. The playoffs run until Feb. 20. The Casco League will send three teams to the Class 1A state playoffs. NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT Van Steenberge officially signs with Ducks Itemizer-Observer staff report PERRYDALE — It’s been a long time coming, but Perry- dale senior Sydney Van Steenberge made it official on Feb. 4. She will be a Duck. Van Steenberge signed her national letter of intent to play soccer at the University of Oregon. The senior originally com- mitted to Oregon during her sophomore year. Now, she’s officially a member of the team. “It’s exciting,” Van Steen- berge said. “I think it’ll be a blast. My family is excited. They’re all Duck fans.” Van Steenberge is a three- time Special District 3 Player of the Year from 2011-13. As a midfielder, she led Western Mennonite/Perrydale to three consecutive league ti- tles. She sat out most of her senior campaign to recover from a right knee injury suf- fered during the first game of the season. The Ducks went 7-10-2 overall in 2014. — Dallas senior Hayden Broadus accepted an offer to play football for Eastern Oregon University. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound tight end/linebacker helped the Dragons to a 3-6 record during the 2014 season. Eastern Oregon went 8-3 in 2014, the most since the 2011 season. Broadus joins a 47-mem- ber signing class. — Dallas senior Spencer Mc- Carron announced his inten- tion to attend Linfield Col- lege. The running back/line- backer was an integral part of the Dragons’ offense. Mc C a r - ron also earned first team all- M i d - Willamette Confer- ence hon- ors on de- fense in McCarron 2014. The Wildcats went 11-2 in 2014, falling to the Universi- ty of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the Division III national semifinals. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Perrydale senior Sydney Van Steenberge prepares to sign her committment letter to play soccer at the University of Oregon on Feb. 4.