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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
B S PORTS Section B South Lane County Sports and Recreation Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Lions place third at district tournament Allen, Bordeaux Brothers propel Lions into top three with fi rst-place fi nishes Athlete of the Week BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel In a strong performance at Elmira, the Cottage Grove wres- tling team showcased its ability to place well individually and as a team. This weekend, the Fal- cons hosted the 4A Special Dis- trict Two wrestling tournament, with Cottage Grove fi nishing third overall out of 13 attending teams. The Lions stole the spotlight with fi rst-place wins in three different weight classes. Bryce Allen dominated Brandon Gib- son of North Marion through all three rounds, winning by decision 7-0 in the 126-pound weight class. Alan Bordeaux snuck out a win in a 7-4 decision against Levi Hanson of Elmira in the fi rst-place match of the 170-pound weight class. His brother, Andrew Bordeaux, tri- umphed by pinning Hayes Van- DeHay of Cascade in the fi rst- place match of the 182-pound weight class. Bordeaux seemed to be in control the entire match, and in the second period, he was able to bring VanDeHay to the ground and pin him in the fi nal minute of the second period. By halfway through the second day, Cottage Grove was ranked fi fth. Allen and the Bordeaux broth- ers propelled their team into third with their wins. Although there were no other fi rst-place fi nishers, the Li- ons had many that came close, which helped with maintaining a place in the top fi ve. In the heavier weight classes, Elijah Farrell beat Chris Mar- tinez of Yamhill-Carlton High Andrew Bordeaux takes fi rst place in his weight class Photo by Sam Wright Andrew Bordeaux gains control of his opponenet on the mat in his semifi nal match. School in the quarterfi nals with a quick pin in the fi rst period of the 195-pound weight class matchup. However, Farrell was beaten in the semifi nals by Sutherlin’s Andrew Smalley, who pinned Farrell in the fi rst period. In the 285-pound weight class, Adam Lamb won his quarterfi nal match against Jo- seph Legrende of Junction City in a very close 9-8 decision. Lamb was seconds away from advancing to the fi nals until his semifi nal match was swept out from underneath him by Elmi- ra’s Dylan Porter. Lamb and Porter exchanged points consis- tently throughout three periods. As the third period was ending, Lamb found himself up 10-9 un- til Porter escaped his grasp and tied the match at 10 just as time expired. In overtime, Lamb was overwhelmed with exhaustion and succumbed to Porter, who escaped Lamb’s grasp and took the match 11-10. With a third-place fi nish, Cot- tage Grove now looks to the State Championship tourna- ment this weekend, where the team fi nished 12th overall last year. The Bordeaux brothers will try again for a fi rst-place fi nish after falling short (An- drew fi nished fourth and Alan fi nished sixth). Last year, An- drew Bordeaux lost to two state champions in the semifi nals and consolation fi nals rounds at 160 pounds. However, this year Bor- deaux has been competing at 180 pounds. Even more so, An- drew was just a junior last year. “Two state champions will have graduated, which puts Andrew in a good position this year,” Head Coach Kyle Temple said. The team’s overall goal last year was to place in the top 10. With the Bordeaux brothers having fair chances to place even higher than last year, the Lions may fi nd themselves in the top 10 at the state tournament. Aqua Lions swim at state Girls' basketball ends on an upside After a season full of struggles, the Lions end their season positively BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel The girls’ basketball team ended its season going 1-1 in their fi nal games, fi nishing 4-6 in the Sky-Em League and 7-17 overall. The fi nal win put the Lions at fourth in the Sky-Em League and ranked 30th in the state. It was not the season Cot- tage Grove had hoped for but a necessary season to begin build- ing a stronger program. It was Head Coach Kevin Yoss’s fi rst year coaching the girls’ basketball team, and while he has had coaching experience before, this was his fi rst time coaching the girls’ team. “It’s defi nitely a different game,” Yoss said at the begin- ning of the season. “There are different strengths and weak- nesses, and the pacing is differ- ent.” It’s a tough turnaround to go 7-17 after taking second place in the Sky-Em League last year, but the new coaching and loss of talent put the Lions in an awkward place. The team was riddled with injuries, totaling seven concussions, a broken nose and other various injuries. However, that is not to say that there weren’t any triumphant moments. Even with only seven wins, the Lions still dominated in the rebound game, came close to upsets, and shined with high- scoring runs from time to time. But the fi rst game of this past week wasn’t so triumphant. The Lions traveled to Sutherlin, where they were routed 55-18, the worst loss of the season. Cot- tage Grove was without sopho- more Keara Murphy, who had surgery due to a broken nose. Melissa Thielman returned from a concussion and led the team with six points. Hanna Al- brecht had four, Delia Nichols- The senior star wrestler gained momentum this past weekend by winning the 180-pound weight class at the district tournament in Elmira. Bordeaux will take this momentum to the state tournament this weekend to try and win a state title, something he fell just short of do- ing last year, losing in the semifi nals. Ferguson had three, Hannah Ar- nold and Sierra Blomquist both had two, and freshman Tara Child appeared on the board with one point. Cottage Grove held its ground throughout the fi rst quarter but trailed 23-12 at the half after Sutherlin managed to hit a half- court buzzer-beater. After being outscored 15-1 in the third quar- ter, the game was out of reach. Please see Girls' Ball, Page 3B BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Last week, eight swimmers from the Cottage Grove swim team earned a bid to compete at the state championship meet at Mt. Hood Community College. While the Lions did well at their district meet, the competition proved to be much thicker at the state meet. Cottage Grove consistently found themselves excluded from the fi nal rounds and were unable to place any of their strong swimmers in the top fi ve of any event. The participants were made up of Sophia Edel- bute, Tori Raade, Rose Witt and Clover Rudicel for the girls. The boys competing were Johnny Witt, Seth Chambers, Ethan Burleson and Ian Dukes. Last week, Head Coach Ty- son Pilling said that the district meeting is not a good indication for what could happen at state. “Anything could happen,” he said. And the results refl ected that statement, although not in the way Pilling would have hoped. The best performance of the weekend was Johnny Witt, who placed eighth in the 200- yard individual medley race. The lack of strong results does not deter the Lions, how- ever. Pilling says he is proud of the entire team this season and has consistently taught his team to bring a “good culture” atti- tude to the sport. Boys' Basketball secures Sky-Em with two wins; playoffs in sight The JC win made it clear, but it wasn't until the victory over Sutherlin that the Lions would be the Sky-Em League winners BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Regardless of how the up- coming playoffs turn out, the boys’ basketball team has done a complete 180-degree turn- around from last year. In the 2014-2015 season, Head Coach Donn Pollard and the Lions went 5-19 and did not have a prayer for making the playoffs. Now, the team just fi nished its regular season with an almost- reversed record at 18-5 and has placed as the fourth ranked team in the state and the winners of the Sky-Em League. The Sky-Em League was pret- ty much sealed after the Lions beat Junction City after another nail-biter that came down to the last second. It was the second win over the Tigers for Cottage Grove, and after two wins in a row against Sutherlin and Sweet Home, they fi nished with a 9-1 league record. Although the Li- ons had defeated Junction City twice, there was still a possibil- ity of having to share the league title had they lost their fi nal two games and Junction City won theirs. But Cottage Grove need- ed only one win. “It’s right there, we just have to go get it against Sutherlin,” Pollard said after the Junction City game. And get it they did. Cottage Grove went into Suther- lin and came out victorious on Feb. 16, sealing their league title with a 63-53 victory. The win didn’t come as easy as Lions fans might have ex- pected. The fi rst time these two teams met, the Lions handled Sutherlin with a 14-point win. But the Bulldogs didn’t want a repeat defeat and managed to stay competitive until Cottage Grove slowly pulled away. By the end of the fi rst quarter, it was only a one-point game (18-17). However, the Lions stayed consistent and with a few much needed three-pointers and managed to barely outscore the Bulldogs 15-11 in both the sec- ond and third quarters. In the fourth quarter, Cottage Grove scored another 15 points to fi ght off a Sutherlin come- back and fi nally sealed their fate as winners of the game and the Sky-Em League. Junior Kory Parent had a team-high of 20 points, 12 of which came from beyond the three-point line. Overall he was seven for 12 on fi eld goals and four for six on three-point shots, one of his best long-range per- formances this season. The team made seven out of 13 three-point shots in total. Please see BASKETBALL, Page 3B Photo courtesy of Gary Ordway Chance Hopkins embraces his teammates after downing Junction City, making the path to the Sky-Em title clear.
