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