The Observer., November 06, 2019, Page 6, Image 6

6A
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
The Observer
La Grande roars past Molalla
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
A hat trick from their lead-
ing scorer, a stellar second half
from their goalkeeper and strong
defensive play in general helped
send the La Grande High School
girls soccer team back to the
state quarterfi nals.
The Tigers didn’t even have
to go to a shootout as they did in
the past two years.
Audrey Garlitz scored three
goals, Alexyss Chamberlain
had fi ve of her eight saves in
the second half, and the Tigers
topped the Molalla Indians, 3-1,
Tuesday night in a fi rst-round
playoff match at Community
Stadium.
“Super strong, super hard,
super aggressive,” La Grande
head coach Sam Brown said of
his team’s play. “It was a dogfi ght
for 80 minutes. It wasn’t pretty,
but we’ll take it.”
Garlitz’s fi rst-half goals — the
sophomore scored after taking a
crossing pass, dribbling in and
connecting from 11 yards in the
ninth minute, and off a rebound
in the 32nd minute — gave La
Grande all it needed on offense.
Chamberlain and the rest of the
La Grande defense made sure
of that.
“Overall our center backs were
solid. Our defense was solid,”
Brown said. “Lexy came through
and made some critical saves at
critical moments.”
Most of Chamberlain’s
second-half saves came with La
Grande clinging precariously
to a 2-1 lead. The senior turned
away shots from Molalla’s Holly
Rae, Madeline Lisac and Ashlee
Albright in a four-minute span
early in the second half and
corralled a handful of other
dangerous passes in the goalbox.
She also stopped Albright from
scoring midway through the
See Tigers / Page 8A
Ronald Bond/The Observer
La Grande soccer players, from right, Audrey Garlitz, Katie Perry and
Cecelia Aguilera celebrate after Garlitz’s goal in the ninth minute of the
Tigers’ 3-1 win over Molalla Tuesday.
Beavers
open with
win over
Northridge
By Gary Horowitz
The Associated Press
Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
La Grande running back Nathan Reed (25) takes a handoff from quarterback Parker Robinson (1) during the La Grande Tigers’ 34-0
win over the Baker Bulldogs on Oct. 26.
A primary catalyst
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
To this point, Nathan Reed’s se-
nior season has been everything a
player could want.
The running back and line-
backer has been a major catalyst
in helping the La Grande Tigers
to an undefeated regular season.
The Tigers enter the Class 4A
playoffs as one of the favorites for
a state title — which would be
the program’s fi rst since 1974.
“We couldn’t ask for a better
season so far,” Reed said. “It’s
been such a fun year.”
And while the team has moved
past it, last year’s state quar-
terfi nal loss to Gladstone on a
last-second fi eld goal still serves
as motivation for the Tigers and
for Reed.
It’s possible, too, the teams
could meet this postseason. If
Gladstone and La Grande each
win their fi rst-round games,
they would have a quarterfi nal
rematch at Community Stadium.
“We can’t let it come down to
that fi eld goal,” Reed said when
asked about the Tigers and Gladi-
ators potentially meeting again.
“We can’t give them that chance.
We can’t let it come down to being
that close. We gotta put every-
thing in our own hands.”
Reed will have a major say in
what happen in the playoffs, just
as he has throughout the season.
Reed has rushed for 1,108 yards,
averaging 138.5 yards per game
for the 8-0 Tigers. The number
is impressive enough, but more
so when considering Reed has
often been an observer during the
second half of games with them
often well in hand by halftime.
Only one of La Grande’s games
this season has been decided
by less than 21 points, and the
Tigers are winning by a margin
of 38 points per game on average.
La Grande head coach Rich
McIlmoil said Reed came in
determined to meet or surpass in
yardage the 1,261 he rushed for a
year ago.
“He’s coming off a season
where he fi nished with (more
than) 1,200 yards. We haven’t
had a running back for a long
time rush for over 1,000 yards
in a season,” McIlmoil said. “The
expectation was to match or
exceed that.”
The numbers are impressive,
too, since Reed is coming off an
injury that cost him the majority
of his wrestling and track seasons
as a junior, and one that had
him entering the fall with some
doubts of the level of play he
could bring to the fi eld.
Reed was injured 15 seconds
into his fi rst match at the Rollie
Lane Invitational in early Janu-
ary, suffering a broken left leg. He
knew right away, too.
“I caught it wrong on the mat
and I felt it break. I knew it was
broken,” he said.
Reed at fi rst hoped he would
be able to be back by the Tigers’
district wrestling tournament,
but the injury proved to be too se-
vere. He later learned he also had
torn ligaments in his left ankle. It
meant the junior wouldn’t have
an opportunity to build upon his
second-place individual fi nish
at state in wrestling, and would
be limited in his chance to get
back in condition for track, where
he had taken second in state in
the 110-meter hurdles and 300
hurdles as a sophomore.
“That was heartbreaking,” he
said.
But Reed was determined to
do what he could to get back into
competition quickly.
“I thought I could make it back
CORVALLIS — It was just a typical
game of fi lling the stat sheet for Oregon
State’s Tres Tinkle.
Tinkle scored 25 points, grabbed 10
rebounds and had seven assists, leading
the Beavers to an 87-67 victory over Cal
State Northridge on Tuesday night in
the season opener for both teams.
The 6-foot-7 forward was an all-
Pac-12 selection last season and con-
templated an early entry into the NBA
Draft, but opted to return for his senior
year. That decision could translate into
the Beavers’ fi rst NCAA Tournament
appearance since the 2015-16 season.
For now, there’s much work ahead.
“I think everyone’s excited to fi nally
play someone different and it fi nally
counts,” said Tinkle, who was 10 of 17
from the fi eld. “But obviously I think
there was some nerves in there, even
from me.”
CSUN coach Mark Gottfried called
Tinkle a diffi cult matchup “because not
a lot of teams will have a guy that big
that can defend him on the perimeter.”
“He’s got a chance to play at the next
See Beavers / Page 7A
Ducks get
by Fresno
State, 71-57
The Associated Press
Darcy Blackman photo
La Grande running back Nathan Reed breaks loose during the
Tigers’ game against Baker Oct. 26.
by the end of the track season,
and I wanted to be back as soon
as I could,” he said.
Reed returned for the fi nal two
regular-season meets before the
district track meet and went on
to win the district title in the 300
hurdles on May 11. A week later,
he took third in the state in the
event.
“He worked really hard com-
ing off that injury in wrestling,”
McIlmoil said. “That was huge for
him to come back. It’s a testa-
ment to his hard work and dedi-
cation not to just sports, but his
integrity. He wants to work hard.
He wants to fi nish and be the
best he can be. It’s not just about
him, it’s about the team.”
The injury did limit what he
could do on the track. He didn’t
compete in the 110 hurdles be-
cause his still-recovering left leg
is his landing leg on the hurdles.
“That’s a big reason I didn’t do
the 110 hurdles last year,” Reed
said. “That’s a lot more pounding
than the 300s.”
The injury also gave him some
concern entering the football
season, even though he had fully
recovered.
See Reed / Page 8A
EUGENE — Oregon’s roster is
almost completely made over from last
season’s Sweet 16 team.
As the No. 15 Ducks’ most experi-
enced player, Payton Pritchard stepped
up Tuesday night. He had 24 points
with seven rebounds and seven assists
in a 71-57 victory over Fresno State in
the season opener for both teams. It
was his 110th consecutive start.
“He’s one of the best point guards
in the country, obviously,” said An-
thony Mathis, a senior transfer for the
Ducks who played with Pritchard in
high school. “We have no worries with
Payton.”
Chris Duarte, a junior college trans-
fer and one of nine additions to the
roster, added 16 points in his fi rst game
with Oregon, and Francis Okoro added
12 points and 10 rebounds for his fi rst
career double-double as the Ducks out-
rebounded the Bulldogs 45-31. Okoro is
one of three returning players from last
year’s team.
“I thought Francis set a good tone for
us (on rebounds),” Oregon coach Dana
Altman said. “He did a very good job.”
Nate Grimes led the Bulldogs with
13 points.
Oregon took control with a 21-6 run
to end the fi rst half at a 38-27 advan-
tage. Duarte had eight points as the
Ducks broke away.
After Fresno State scored the
See Ducks / Page 7A