B
S PORTS
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
2015: T HE YEAR IN SPORTS
2015 marks a year of upward mobility for Cottage Grove sports
A list of the best
stories in Cottage
Grove sports for
2015
1. Girls’ Soc-
cer wins Sky
Em League
The 2015 girls’ soccer team
was a great one. The team won
the Sky Em League for the fi rst
time in CGHS history but had
to share the win with Sisters,
although shortly after it was an-
nounced, the Lions beat Sisters
3-0 after losing to them a few
weeks earlier. Cottage Grove
boasted fi ve out of the 11 fi rst-
team all-league players, and ju-
nior Kiana Hemenway was vot-
ed player of the year and put on
fi rst-team all-state. The Lions
ended their season with a loss in
their fi rst playoff match against
Gladstone.
2.Stewart
wins Coach of
the Year
The 2015 girls' soccer team was quintessential in Cottage Grove's trend of athletic improvement.
1995 to 2006 and was then of- tion of head coach for the Lions the semifi nals and consola- ent and Sentman traded off at
fered a position to start up and girls’ team, approached him. It tion fi nals. At 152 pounds, his the quarterback position, but
Girls’ soccer Head Coach coach the women’s soccer team was a special season for Stewart brother Alan placed sixth. The the job was eventually given to
Vern Stewart was awarded at Northwest Christian Univer- as he started coaching when the Lions placed 12th overall at the Sentman, as Parent proved to be
the Sky Em Coach of the Year sity in Eugene, where he was seniors fi rst starting playing as state tournament, just two spots extremely useful elsewhere on
award. It was Stewart’s fourth able to coach his daughter. After freshman and they fi nally were away from their goal of making the fi eld.
year has the head coach and has coaching at NCU for three years, able to win the league.
There were many triumphs
the top 10. This year, with a few
helped turn the program around. Stewart took a two-year break
state champions gone to gradu- over the course of this season.
Stewart coached the boys’ soc- from coaching until Krista Par-
ation, Andrew Bordeaux is eye- The victory against Junction
cer team at Cottage Grove from ent, who offered him the posi-
City was one to remember dur-
ing a state title in 2016.
ing CGHS's homecoming cel-
ebration. There was also the
The Oregon Ducks got a bid
blowout at Elmira, where the
in the fi rst ever College Football
Lions won 55-28, and that was
Playoff, where they ran over
The bowling team saw an with Head Coach Gary Rob-
Florida State 59-20 in the Rose
Bowl on the fi rst day of the year. outstanding season by fi nish- erts taking his foot off of the
It was an historic moment for ing fi rst out of 14 all-star teams. gas pedal. The Lions will have
Oregon football, as they moved The team was led by freshman a lot of returning talent in 2016,
on to the national championship (at the time) Kim Smith who and it will be interesting to see
game in Arlington on Jan. 12. consistently bowled in the 190s. how some of the current juniors
But the Ducks were beaten by a Smith placed fourth at districts will step up as seniors and also
much more forceful Ohio State to qualify for state, where she see some of the younger play-
ers begin to be put into Roberts'
team, 42-20. In the champion- helped her team win it all.
system.
ship, Oregon was held to a total
of 132 rushing yards compared
to Ohio State's 296. The Buck-
eyes managed to dominate even
with their third-string quarter-
After a rough 2-7 season in
Girls’ basketball had a great
back Cardale Jones (who racked 2014, the Cottage Grove Lions
up 1460 pass yards this season). improved their record this year, 2014-2015 season but lost their
Entering the New Year, Oregon going 4-5, losing to Baker in play-in match against Junction
will face TCU in the Alamo their play-in match. The team City in an overtime heartbreak-
Bowl on Jan. 2.
lost key seniors in Daniel Rome- er.
Trailing by two with 14 sec-
ro and Johnny Conrad, and also
lost their starting center, Austin onds to play, Cottage Grove
Gordon, who transferred from inbounded from its own base-
Cottage Grove. The team saw line and pushed the ball past
juniors Kory Parent and Blake midcourt, only to have it stolen
Sentman step up to assist se- away by Junction City. But Tay-
Andrew Bordeaux was ex- niors Brynden Howell, Michael lor Sayles somehow forced a
tremely close to winning state Tharpe and Reily Boyce in their Tiger turnover, dribbled the ball
early in the year, placing fourth offensive production. At the to just outside of the 3-point line
overall at 160 pounds and los- beginning of the season, Par- and launched a would-be game
ing to two state champions in
winner that rattled off the rim
Andrew Bordeaux will look for a state championship in
Please see STORIES OF THE YEAR,
2016 after coming very close this past year.
Page 2B
3. Ducks fall
in Natty
5.Bowling
team to state
6. Football
rebuilds
Athlete of
the Week
Hopkins rebounds all
night long
7. Bball ends
in heartbreaker
4. Bordeaux
brothers at the
state fi nals
Chance Hopkins domi-
nated the boards on
rebounds with 10 on the
night. The senior also
scored nine points.
Blanchet sneaks
away in fourth quarter
Penalties prove costly in Lions' second loss
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The basketball team traveled
to Salem on Tuesday, Dec. 22 to
face the Blanchet Catholic High
School Cavaliers, where the
boys lost a close game 56-50.
On the bright side, it’s only the
second loss of the season.
The biggest differentiator in
the game was free throws. The
Lions outscored Blanchet on
fi eld goals with 20 out of 44
shots made (45 percent) com-
pared to 16 of 37 shots made (43
percent) by Blanchet, but the
Cavaliers shot 29 free throws
(making 19, a 65 percent rate)
and Cottage Grove only shot
eight (shooting 100 percent
from the line). Even though the
Lions were more accurate in
scoring during play and during
free throws, penalties (or per-
haps the offi ciating) proved to
be costly. Cottage Grove also
out-rebounded the Cavaliers
25-22, but that wasn’t enough
to stop 19 (potentially 29) free
points.
The Lions had the lead 20-19
going into the second half, and
maintained a 41-39 lead going
into the fourth quarter, but were
outscored in the fi nal minutes
17-9.
Junior Kory Parent led the
Lions in scoring with 17 points,
four rebounds and four assists.
Blake Sentman was behind
parent with 11 points, four re-
bounds, two assists and one
steal. A particularly outstanding
performance came from Chance
Hopkins. The senior had seven
points but totaled 10 rebounds
(three offensive, seven defen-
sive), the most out of anyone on
either side of the court. Other
scorers were Jayden Tucker
who racked up nine points,
two rebounds and a steal, while
Hunter Gipson was held to four
points, but had two steals on the
game. Tucker Porter had two
points with one block and one
assist.
The Lions moved to 4-2 on
the season, which isn’t a bad
start considering the their 5-19
season last year. Cottage Grove
hosts a holiday tournament
this week, where the Lions are
hopeful to get another shot at
Blanchet. They will then face
Santiam Christian on Jan. 2,
and kick off league play against
Elmira on Jan. 15.
Photo courtesy of Krista Parent
Kory Parent looks to pass in the Lions' game against Blanchet Catholic.