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.