Sports
_ J ennifer S ittqn ___________
Staff Reporter
The Girls' Basketball Team
will greatly benefit from the
leadership of its five seniors.
From academic accolades to
ASB membership, they have
spent the last three years
juggling busy schedules and
Varsity teammates, but the
younger teams as well.
"Our seniors this year have
been around for quite a while
and they know what it takes to
be a Lion and their teammates
have followed suit. It started
last May (when the last
year's seniors were gone and
year's seniors include Ashley
Bruser, Sachie Hopkins, Avary
Kolasinski, Brittany May and
Hannah Schumaker.
"I've been in this program
for a long time and I'm excited
for this year. Our seniors
have very strong leadership
qualities that have shown
during tryouts and our first
few weeks of practice,"
Kolasinski said.
While heavily laden with
seniors, the team will also look
to underclassmen to step up
this year. Returning Varsity
sophomores Amy Christensen,
Andrea Maleike, Elise Miller
and Jennifer Sitton will
play a big role in this year's
anticipated success along with
Karly LeVeque, freshman.
As strong as the senior
and sophomore classes are,
the junior class is what Lee
calls a unique year. Morgan
Joscelyn is the only junior in
the program.
"Morgan has been carrying
herself well, representing her
class. She's a trooper and one
that also leads by example,"
Lee said. Many of the players
from her class have pursued
activities other than basketball.
Even though she’s the only
one, the lone junior will also
help lead the team this season.
"I'm excited about getting
back on the court," Lee said.
"This last off-season for me
has been brutal, watching (my
players) play in fall league,
not being able to coach. But
they really didn't need our
coaches' help, as they did
very well during fall league.
This particular Varsity group
is so coachable and it will
be exciting having younger,
newer players step up.
"This season will be great
for us to improve and become
more comfortable with one
another out on the court.
We have some tough teams
scheduled for the pre-season
and I think the challenge will
be good for us," Miller said.
The Lions began their
season with the Seventh
Annual WL Tip-off Classic
Tournament which included
Jesuit, St. Mary's and Benson.
After beating Benson 60-37,
they faced the number one
team in the state, the Jesuit
Crusaders. The Lions stayed
with them for a half, but ended
up losing 41-75.
Their first official pre
season game will be Tuesday,
Dec. 9, at Beaverton High
School and then they will take
on the four year defending
state champions, Southridge
Skyhawks, at West Linn on
Friday, Dec. 12.
"The character of this
team is phenomenal. They
perfectly exemplify our Gold
Paw Vision; a team/program
made up of players and
coaches dedicated to achieving
excellence. I'm excited for the
next four months and where
they could take us," Lee said.
teams were named right
after tryouts. Viuhkola also
believes that players who
started the season on JV can
work their way up to Varsity
throughout the course of the
seniors led the team. The
team also has a strong junior
class including Jeffrey Bush,
Tyler Weber, Michael Fay and
Micheál Underriner.
The team started out the
season.
season on a rough note,
"If I play on varsity I
will have more competition
and get a better chance at
improving. So knowing that
I can work my way up to
Varsity, drives me to work
harder and reach my goals,"
losing their first game 51-67
to Wilson. They had a bad
shooting night making only
20 out of 73 shots from the
field and two out of 30 three
pointers.
"We need to believe in
Viuhkola implements winning
attitude; team looks for wins
u
M ax H ays _________________
Staff Reporter
Brittany May, senior, drives to the basket during a game against number
one ranked Jesuit. The Lions took on the Crusaders during the second
game of the WL Invitational Tournament but lost 41-75.
Photo courtesy of Patti O’Mara
multiple Advance Placement
classes, and this is the year
that they will shine by helping
and instructing not only their
summer basketball officially
began) and has followed us
through this off-season," Glen
Lee, head coach, said. This
Wrestling Team in hunt to
reclaim Three Rivers title
D illon G eorge
Staff Reporter
Up until last year, The
Varsity Wrestling Team had
been on a hot streak of 11
District wins. However, at
last year's Districts they
suffered a loss to Oregon City.
A comeback is just what this
team needs to return to the top
of the Three Rivers League.
Practice started Nov.
10 and with many Varsity
wrestlers playing football,
the coaches were able to give
more attention to the younger
players. In order to reclaim
the District title, the team is
working on basic training
and tough conditioning every
practice.
"It's time for West Linn
to get back on top" Donald
Paulson, junior, said.
Paulson placed third in
State last year and is seen
as one of the team's leaders.
Balancing wrestling and golf,
he still makes time to run in
the mornings, attend extra
practices and lift weights as
»arly bird elective. Another
factor that gives Paulson the
edge is that he wrestles year
round.
Other key seniors include
Andrew Kim, who is a
returning three time District
champion and Mitchell
Gaulke who competed at
State. Sam Ihrig and Michael
MacClanathan, juniors, should
also be contributors after
making appearances at State
last year.
Oregon City has more
returning District place
winners, so the Lions will be
the underdogs at Districts.
"If we take each day as
it comes, if every wrestler
allows themselves to be
coachable, works hard and
brings desire, we can end
up on top again," Doug
Samarron, head coach, said.
He also said that practices
are getting harder every day
as they approach their first
meet. To bring the team back
to the top, conditioning will
be tough and focus will be key
during practices according to
Samarron.
The Boys' Varsity
Basketball Team has a new
coach and a new attitude
this season and looks to
improve upon last year's
disappointing 3-9 finish
in league and 8-16 overall
finish.
Eric Viuhkola, head coach,
is employing a hard-nosed
style of basketball, based
around always going hard
and making it very difficult
for opposing squads to run
their offense.
"Our number one goal
is to improve every day.
Our second goal is to be
more aggressive and tough-
minded while playing. Our
third goal is to be playing
well at the end of the season
so that we have a shot at the
State tournament," Viuhkola
said.
With high intensity
practices where there is an
emphasis on hustle and
getting up and down the
floor quickly, if the team
can continue to work hard,
improve on its basketball
skills and make things
difficult for other teams, it
should be able to reach this
goal, according to Viuhkola.
After three days of
tryouts, the Varsity and
JV teams were still not
formed; instead Viuhkola
named the top 24 players
in the program. This way,
instead of having to make
teams after only three days,
Viuhkola could take his
time in evaluating talent
and in putting together the
best possible team for the
upcoming season.
This is a big change
from last year where the
Ryan Bames, senior, goes for a lay up during the Lions 51-67 loss to
Wilson. Eric Viuhkola, new head coach, hopes to turn the program
around and implement a winning attitude. Photo by Zack Muelier
Zach Valentine, junior, said.
A great group of seniors
including Johnel Gray, senior
transfer, Josh Oltman, Austin
Banta, Ryan Bames, Bryce
Baker, and Jacob Fogle,
what we are doing, after
we started to struggle with
our shot, we reverted to
not trusting our teammates
and we gave up some easy
baskets," Viuhkola said.