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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2015)
B Section B S PORTS South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Bowling teams have eyes on state-tournament podiums Both boys and girls could fi nish among the top fi ve BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel With four returning players, the Cot- tage Grove High School boys’ bowling team brought a lot of experience back for the 2015 season. And with that ex- perience came motivation to atone for their two-games-and-out performance at the state tournament. “Part of that was nerves and the other part was preparation,” said seventh-year coach Ernie Owen. “So, this year we changed some of our practice routines to make us better prepared.” Those adjustments — combined with another year of seasoning — have re- warded the Lions with return trip to the state tournament, which will be held this weekend in Salem. Having placed in the top four at each of its regular season tournaments and come up just short of beating Marsh- fi eld at the District 4 championships on Jan. 25, Cottage Grove fi gures to fi nish in the top fi ve and could become the highest placing team in school history. Current-senior Austin Renfro was a freshman on that 2012 third-place team. With four seniors and a junior in the lineup, he was hardly expected to be the Lions’ X-factor. But that is exactly what happened. When Owen noticed his upperclassmen were off their games, he moved Renfro into the anchor position. “Not only did he help hold everyone together but he cleane up in the 10th frames,” Owen said. Though he may have appeared com- posed, Renfro recalled feeling much differently. “It was really nerve-wracking, actu- ally. It was hard to be the only fresh- man on the team, and being the anchor at that,” he said. “But I just relaxed and bowled my game.” Renfro — who has bowled since a very young age — experienced a rela- tive slump during his sophomore and junior seasons, but this year he has been lights-out. Renfro was named district MVP and he will compete at the state’s All-Star Tournament, Please see Bowling, Page 2B photo by Matt Hollander Cottage Grove's Austin Renfro was this season's District 4 MVP. The senior also qualifi ed for his third state tournament. Athlete of the Week: Andrew Bordeaux The Brothers Bordeaux Twins are regional champions; six Lions qualify for state BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel photos by Matt Hollander Top: Alan Bordeux defeated Sweet Home's Justin Miller for the regional championship at 152 pounds. Bottom: Andrew Bordeaux pinned Elmira's Ethan Agnes in the 160-pound semifi nals en route to the championship. There was a collective gasp in the Cascade High School gymnasium when Cottage Grove’s Alan Bor- deux slammed his head on the hardwood fl oor after having been driven off the mat by Sweet Home’s Justin Miller in the District 2 fi nal at 152 pounds. Two holdouts, however, thought the crash would be a helpful jolt: Lion coach Kyle Temple and Bor- deaux’s twin brother, Andrew. “Before that happened I thought he was relaxing,” said Temple. “But maybe it lit his fi re because he responded.” “I defi nitely thought that he’d get more into the match,” agreed Andrew, who was on deck for his bout at 160 pounds. At that point, the match was tied 2-2 in the second period. Bordeaux scored a reversal and a takedown in the fi nal 29 seconds to win by decision, 5-2. It was a sweet victory for Bordeaux, who missed Lions place fi fth at swim districts Jarett and Tori Raade qualify for state BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he Cottage Grove boys' and girls' swim teams both placed fi fth at this past weekend's Distrct 4 Champi- onships in North Bend. The host Bulldogs claimed the girls' title, while Phoenix won the boys' championship. Lion Tyson Pilling said that it was a very good meet for Cottage Grove, pointing to the fact that every entrant quali- fi ed for fi nals and saw signifi cant time drops from the pre- lims. Lions Jarett and Tori Raade qualifi ed for the state meet, which begins Friday at Mount Hood Community College. Only district-race winners were guaranteed a ticket to the state meet, with the remaining spots to be decided based on times after the conclusion of all the district meets. Despite placing fourth in both the 200 and 500 frees, Jarett made his second consecutive trip to state by posting times of 2:04.31 and 5:31.18, respectively. He is seeded 12th in the 200 and eighth in the 500. Tori, who placed 11th in the 500 at last year's state meet, fi nished in fi fth at the district meet in 5:47.70. She is seeded 10th at the state meet. Pilling said that the freestyle events are loaded this year and it will be diffi cult for either Jarett or Tori to advance to the fi nals on Saturday. Ian Miller, who placed second in the 100 fl y with a time of 1:02.32, and Josh Ireland, who clocked 56.27 in the 100 free, were close to qualifying, according to Pilling. He was also hoping that some of the relay teams could make it in on time: The boys 200 medley relay fi nished second in 2:01.45, and they were third in the 400 free with a time of 3:56.00. Given that so many swimmers on this year's team are un- derclassman, Pilling said he was proud of what they accom- plished this year and that the future looks very bright. "If I look ahead to next year I get very excited because this group is only going to get stronger," he said. Pilling also said that there are some strong swimmers who will be moving into high school next year who could provide a big lift for the program. Jarrett Raade and Christi Willits are the only seniors for the Lions. half the season while recovering from surgery for a hernia. “I had never made it that far in the tournament, so I just wanted to make my team proud,” he said. To be clear, there was no malice behind Miller’s move; the wrestlers had been moving closer and closer to the sideline. “Occasionally something like that happens,” said Temple, “where someone gets in a good shot and keeps driving. It’s really not the referee’s job to catch a pair of wrestlers that weigh 300 lbs combined.” There was very little drama in Andrew Bordeaux’s match with Philomath’s Nate Burks. The junior scored takedowns in the closing seconds of the fi rst two periods before winning by decision, 4-1. By virtue of their regional victories, the Bor- deauxs will be seeded in the top four of their respec- tive brackets at that state tournament, which will be held Feb. 27-28 at Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Lions Bryce Allen (120 lbs.), Shawn Farrell (220 lbs.), Tanner Herbert (195 lbs.) and Adam Lamb (285 lbs.) also qualifi ed for state. Please see Wrestling, Page 2B Cottage Grove roars in the face of adversity Lions shake off a chal- lenging weekend to win 47-32 at Junction City BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel C ottage Grove coach Kerrry Clawson had some big question marks about her team as they prepared to face Junction City last Tuesday. She didn’t know how they would respond to a one-point loss at Sisters the previ- ous Friday and a serious car accident involving two players on Sunday. The Lions answered defi nitively with perhaps their best game of the season in a 47-32 victory over the Tigers. “Considering everything that hap- pened last weekend, this game could have been a dagger,” Clawson said. “But our kids were patient. They played team ball. They had an answer on offense and defense. They were awesome.” Cottage Grove (12-9, 5-2 Sky-Em) raced out to a 12-5 fi rst quarter lead as Melissa Thielman took advantage of the Tigers' soft zone defense for eight points on shots from outside the key. Given that Junction City (10-11, 3-4 Sky-Em) mostly played zone in their previous game — a 46-34 win by the Lions on Jan. 20 — Thielman said Cottage Grove expected to see the Ti- gers open in that defense. Please see Girls Basketball, Page 3B
