2B | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Sailors
from 1B
playing up to the standards
you can play,’” he recalled. “I
challenged them to come
back out and not give
Triangle Lake any hope of a
comeback — and I feel like
we did that.”
The biggest improvement
of the second half was that
the Sailors were able to get
inside more.
“Once we did that, every-
thing else opened up,”
Wolgamott said. “They were
a lot more patient. They lis-
tened better.”
Three-pointers started
connecting, “and once you
do that, it makes everything
a little bit easier,” Wolgamott
said. “We were able to do
that and extend Triangle
Lakes defense, where we
were then able to get it
inside. That helped us out,
gave us some easy layups
and increased the lead to
where it was never really in
doubt.”
Despite
the
win,
Wolgamott said there was
still room for improvement.
“We still need to put
MHS
together four quarters of
basketball,” he said. “We
played two really good quar-
ters, and two so-so quarters.
But hey, that’s why we prac-
tice. It’s still early in the year
and I still think we can get
better.”
Standouts of the game
included Justyce Wierichs,
who scored 19 points for the
Sailors.
“He’s the point guard
we’ve been needing,” said
Wolgamott. “He’s able to
calm everyone else down.
He makes everyone else
around him better, and his
motor is nonstop. He goes
110 percent.”
Sometimes, though, it can
get him into trouble — par-
ticularly at the beginning of
the game when, Thursday,
Wierichs quickly received
three fouls.
“But I would rather have
to calm a player down than
to try and rev him up,”
Wolgamott said. “He’s one of
the top point guards in the
league. He’s proven that
game in and game out.”
JJ Neece also made a
strong showing on Thursday,
also with 19 points against
The Lakers.
“He brings a whole differ-
ent level and look,”
Wolgamott said. “He can
play above the rim. He tried
to dunk it today. A little
unsuccessful, but he was
close. He got one last year,
and I’m sure he’ll get one
this year.”
And he’s a smart player.
“When he makes a mis-
take, he corrects it and
doesn’t make the same mis-
take,” Wolgamott said.
Nate Neece had six points
and was the lead rebounder.
“He still hasn’t had his
best game yet, and I’m say-
ing that as a positive,” said
Wolgamott. “When he is on,
I don’t know if there’s any-
one as physical as he is in the
league, and someone who
can just take it to the basket.
He has no fear.”
Other standouts of the
game included junior guard
AJ Moso, who is finding his
footing on offense becoming
an outside shooter.
“He’s taking pride in
rebounding as well. It’s not
the points that always mat-
ter, it’s getting the steals. He’s
starting to realize that, and
becoming a smarter player
because of it,” Wolgamott
said.
Also of note was Cody
Wierichs, who hit a 3-point-
er in the first quarter. He
missed a few as well, but
“You have to make the
defense respect you. That’s
not going to happen unless
you take them. He’s a fresh-
man, but his biggest thing all
year is his defense. I’ve been
really impressed with his
defense.”
The Sailors are finishing
up the first month of the
season, playing a total of
seven games since Dec. 4,
winning two of those match-
ups.
“It’s been a grind,”
Wolgamott said. “When
they come back, it’s the heart
of league play and we have to
keep on going if we want to
make noise. We’re a top-
three team in the league.
Where we fall in that top
three depends and how we
do coming back. I definitely
feel like we could be top
three if we give it everything
we’ve got.”
Wolgamotts believes that
Sailor basketball, and the
sports program in general,
has a reputation to look after
now that the football team
made it to the playoffs.
“Football has set a tone
that we don’t just want to be
mediocre. We want to strive
for greatness. We want to be
a team that’s looked at as an
elite town throughout the
playoffs and our league,” he
said. “I feel like football has
changed the perception of
what we can accomplish.
And now, getting wins, we
want to get more and more
in and not just be satisfied
with winning a few games.
We want to take this.”
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from 1B
points. “She made a couple
of back to back in there, got
some shots. But I think all
that starts with our defense.
When you play good
defense, it leads to good
offense.”
The energy in the
Mapleton gym was high as
the Sailors looked to extend
their lead in the fourth
quarter, but a couple of well-
placed shots at the begin-
ning followed by two free-
throws put the Lakers back
on top. The game seesawed
for a few minutes, but the
Lakers pulled away in the
final minutes, with the
Sailors were unable to
recover.
“We got a little tired and
things slacked off,” Gray
said. “But for the most part,
our defense was really solid.
We saw some really good
things out of the girls. A lit-
tle better court awareness,
bringing the ball up against
the press.”
As for things to work on,
the defensive rebounding
put the team in a hole on
Thursday.
“That was really the dif-
ference of the game. They
would get an offensive
rebound and would end up
either getting it back or we
would end up fouling them
and putting them on the
free throw line.”
The Sailors are finishing
up their seventh game in
three weeks, which Gray
called a “brutal” schedule.
“It’s going to slow down,
and the girls will be able to
catch their breath. We’ll be
able to have decent practic-
es,” Duffy said. “That’s been
an issue for us, because we
have one gym for all of the
middle school and high
school. When we have a
middle school game, we
can’t really practice here. So,
we don’t get as good as qual-
ity of practice time as we
need.”
But as the schedule nor-
malizes after the holiday
break, the practices will be
easier to schedule and Duffy
believes this will only
improve on what’s been a
season of progress of the
Sailors.
“To be honest, we don’t
have anywhere to go but up.
We will get better with every
game,” she said. “They’re
playing with more passion,
more heart. And I like to see
that.”
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JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Mapleton junior guard Briena Jensen takes it into the
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