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.