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About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2009)
Lacrosse teams have big talent, bigger expectations a T y C larke __________________ Staff Reporter Both the Girls' and Boys' Varsity Lacrosse coaches expect successful seasons. Allister Bunch, girls' coach, expects his team to be in the top three in league if they perform well, even though he calls their league the "toughest league in state." Karina Dewart, senior, echoed that sentiment. "We have good players," Dewart said "We will go as far as we want. Boys' Head Coach Mark Flood said the team's goal is to win first in league, and this seems realistic with such a talented team that started off the season with a tough tournament in Seattle. Bunch said it is pivotal for the new Varsity players to mesh well with the returning athletes because almost half the team is composed of players who are new. If they bond as a team and develop good chemistry, he thinks his team can do great things. O ne player thinks the chemistry is good. . "Everyone is really good friends," Dewart said. "We are all really accepting of each other." Captains are Kelly Bocciolatt and Jenna Steele, seniors, but he wants every girl to be a leader. He has high expectations for Kristen Brown, Bocciolatt, Dewart and Steele, seniors. Although he only has six underclassmen, Bunch believes they can also play a big role. "Some will start. What it comes down to is how hard they are willing to work," he said. Connie Swanson, sophomore, is another contributor that Bunch expects to step up big. Although this is not her first year on Varsity, she suffered an injury last year, and this will be her first full year with the Lions. Other top teams in the league are Lake Oswego, Oregon City and Lakeridge. "If we come along as I expect, we will be in the top Kyle Lair, junior, anticipates a move in a recent gam e against Lincoln on M arch 18. The Lions were defeated by the defending State cham pions 12-8. Photo by Linda MacClanathan three in the league," Bunch said. The Boys' Varsity has another tough schedule, beginning with a trip to Washington to face some of the state's fiercest competition in Mercer Island and Skyline. The Lions had a tough first game against Mercer Island, falling to them 13-8 on March 14. There were still positive things to pull out of this defeat, though. "We outplayed and outworked them in the second half," Flood said of the game against Mercer Island. Later that day, the Lions took down Timberline High School of Boise, Idaho, 12-8. The next day, the Lions came out victorious in a close 6-5 game against Skyline High School, of Sammamish, Wash. Overall, it was a good trip according to Flood. "We saw lots of rain, wind, sleet, hail, wind, and snow so we are ready for anything," Flood said. Also on their schedule is Oregon Episcopal School and Casa Grande from California. The Lions will bring in some international competition when they face Claremont of Canada. OES took second at State, losing to Lincoln, another team the Lions will face this year. "We hope to be competitive with a chance to win every game even though we have a tough schedule," Flood said. The Lions are returning Michael Fay, junior, who was a First Team All-State midfielder. Anthony Engel, junior, was also an Honorable Mention for long stick midfield. Flood expects his top performers to be Ryan Squires and Drew Forseth, senior, along with Fay and Engel. The team is very well rounded and most of the team is returning from last year he said. "Very steady and deep defense, great goal tending, and more scorers on offense," Flood said of his team's strengths. Even though the team has many returning players, Flood expects the underclassmen and newcomers to play a huge role. He anticipates juniors Jakob Gardner and Hayden McClellan to be "major contributors on defense" as well as strong contributions from Ethan Bays, junior attackman, and Eric Pitassi, sophomore goalie. Flood called the development of his underclassmen fantastic. The team has strong playoff hopes. The tough schedule is sure to prepare this team for the tough teams they will face in postseason play. "We look to advance to the final four," Flood said. The final four refers to the last four teams in the state playoffs. On March 18, the Lions Boys', Girls' basketball advance to State^, both teams eliminated in second round ^ ■ T y C larke & S ean P ebler Staff Reporters The Boys' Basketball Team achieved both individual and team success, advancing to the State playoffs. The Lions first game was against a fast and athletic Sunset team. It was a back and forth game in which Bryce Baker, senior, scored the winning basket with under ten seconds remaining. Boys Snowboard Team brings home first in State Halfpipe competition , M ax H ays __________________ Staff Reporter After winning the Halfpipe Competition on Jan. 31, the Lions had high hopes going into the State Halfpipe Competition. Tanner Kewley, senior, Joseph McMillen and Thomas Pittenger, juniors^ and Nick McMillen, sophomore, all had great runs were in contention for the State title. "I knew before the competition that we would be in the top three, but after watching all the runs, I didn't even need to see the scores to know we would win," Joseph said. Kewley led the Lions with a best score of 211, finishing third overall, Joseph was close behind Kewley, finishing fourth with a best score of 20. Nick ended the competition in 11th with a score of 169 points and Pittenger finished 19th with a score of 153. According to Joseph, it was a great, exciting experience and he can't wait to do it again next year. With three fourths of the team returning, the team will attempt to defend its State title next year and repeat as State champions. faced Lincoln. The Lions stayed close to one of the top teams in the state, but could not pull out a win, falling to the defending state champion 8 - 12 . "We were really frustrated we didn't win," Engel said "Lincoln was a team we thought we could beat." On March 31, the Lions beat Rex Putnam 17-4. The Lions are 2 -2 overall, and it is hard to be disappointed with that when the Lions battled with some of the top teams that the Northwest has to offer. The girls' team started off the season with two quick victories. First, they came out victorious against Hillsboro, winning 14-6 on March 18 . The next day, the Lions pulled out a close one, defeating St. Mary's Academy 9-8. The Boy's next home game is on April 9 against Riverdale. The Girls will face off against Lakeridge on April 10 . Austin Banda, senior, box outs a defender in a first round home playoff win against Sunset, 64-63. The Lions advanced to the second round w here they fell to South M edford, 73-61 Photo by Tracie Kreliwitz, Stop Action Memories After winning that game, the Lions traveled five hours to face South Medford. They fell, 73-61, to the Panthers who had a very strong showing from E.J. Singler, brother of Duke basketball star Kyle Singler. First year head coach Eric Viuhkola was named co-Coach of the Year for the Three Rivers League, sharing the honor with M ark Shoff of Lake Oswego. Johnel Gray, senior, was drafted as Player of the Year for the league, and was named to First Team All- League. Gray dropped 29 points against Sunset. The girls' team also had a great year, both on the individual and team level. Head Coach Glen Lee was named TRL Coach of the Year. Andrea Maleike, sophomore, was named First Team All-League, and Brittany May, senior, and Elise Miller, sophomore, both received Honorable Mentions. The Lions won a great home victory in the first round of the playoffs, 44-29, taking down the Generals of Grant. Three days later, the team faced the Axemen of South Eugene. The Lions battled valiantly, but were defeated 68-44 to the t e a i r ^ - which eventually took second in State, falling only to powerhouse Oregon City.
