B
S PORTS
Section B
Alaska trip
a success
for Lions
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove hangs on for overtime victory
By Zach Silva
There was a journey on a crab
boat, a constant view of the
mountains and enough turbu-
lence to worry an inexperienced
fl ier.
“A few of our teammates
hadn’t been on a plane [and] it
was funny to watch them, their
reaction,” said Cottage Grove’s
Markus Julien, a senior on the
basketball team. “It was kind of
funny because any turbulence
they’d look around and look a
little scared.”
This was all part of the Cot-
tage Grove boys’ basketball
team’s journey to Alaska over
winter break.
After a spot opened up in the
51st annual Joe Floyd basketball
tournament in Kodiak, Alas-
ka, Cottage Grove’s fi rst year
head coach Nick Finley, who
previously coached in Alaska,
received a call to see if his new
team wanted to join. The trip
was approved by the Cottage
Grove High School administra-
tion and the South Lane school
board and the team was off.
What sweetened the deal for
the Lions was that through do-
nated air miles from commu-
nity members in Kodiak, the
bill dropped from an estimated
$12,000 to around $3,000 ac-
cording to Finley. The trip was
paid for through the CGHS
basketball account which earns
money through fundraising
throughout the year.
The Lions enjoyed their time
in Alaska both on and off the
court.
On the court, the team went
3-0 including a win against
the host school, Kodiak High
School, in front of a standing
room only crowd and the trip
was capped by an Erick Giffen
buzzer beater to defeat Lathrop
in their fi nal game.
While in Kodiak, the team
stayed in the home of Kodiak
High School’s athletic director
Debbie Rohrer.
“The house right on the wa-
terfront, giant house that housed
all of us…. One of her rules, you
better make yourself at home or
you’re not allowed here. So we
get in there and make ourselves
at home and every day her mom
would deliver three giant things
of cookies, muffi ns, pastries,
whatever. And her rule was that
by the end of the day they had
to be eaten so she could load
it back up and she could make
more,” said head coach Nick
Finley.
“These kids were treated like
royalty for a week.”
The team was also treated to
a seafood banquet with the oth-
er teams at the tournament and
were instructed by Rohrer that
they had to sit by people that
they did not know.
“Me and a couple of the guys
on my team went and sat next to
the kids from Nikiski and there
were a couple from Eagle River
which is north of Anchorage. So
we got to talk to a whole bunch
of new people and meet them.
And even now I’m still talking
to them. I got some of their
numbers and we’re keeping in
touch,” said senior Gabe Glenn.
Glenn, who fell in love with
the state, will be joining the
Air National Guard after high
school and is now planning to
be stationed in Alaska next year.
“I have never met friendlier
people. More welcoming peo-
ple in my whole life. That was
one of the big things for me, just
the atmosphere for everything,”
said Glenn.
“I’m already talking to my re-
cruiter about transferring my air
force base. Today, this morning
in fi rst and second period I was
taking notes on cost of living
there.”
Cottage Grove's Erick Giffen draws a foul to earn a trip to the foul line at the end of regulation on Friday night.
Lions overcome spotty free throw
shooting to earn win in home
opener
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Eagles took over the game. A dunk by Stayton’s 6’8"
post Kaleb Anundi sparked a 14-2 run that was capped
by a pair of Jordan Butler three-pointers to give the
team a 28-26 lead at halftime.
Behind the post presence of Anundi and the 6’7
Riley Nichol, who fi nished with 21 and 17 points re-
spectively, the Eagles got their lead up to as many as
nine in the third quarter before the Lions were able to
respond.
“Ideally we counter their height with our speed and
our athleticism,” said Finley about his undersized
If it ain’t broke, don’t fi x it, as the saying goes, but
for Cottage Grove, Friday night’s game revealed that it
may be time to fi x its free throw shooting.
“Right now, I know I got to work on my free throws
because I was broke,” said Cottage Grove’s Erick Giff-
en.
But despite Giffen going six-of-15 from the free
throw line – with all of them coming in the fourth
quarter and overtime – he was able to lead the way
for the Lions (8-4) to get an overtime victory against
Stayton (4-9) in their home opener on Friday night.
“We could have put that game away or we could
have brought ourselves out of a hole but the thing I
was happy about the free throws – not the missed ones,
I didn’t like the missed ones – that we were getting to
the line,” said Cottage Grove head coach Nick Finley.
“We shot zero free throws in the fi rst half and 33 in the
second and overtime.”
Finley noted that his team has “no business miss-
ing free throws” and that each day at practice the team
shoots anywhere from 75 to 100 free throws.
“I would guess that we would shoot more free throws
than any team in the state in practice,” said Finley.
While the Lions weren’t getting to the line early, the
Lions went up 24-14 in the second quarter before the Cottage Grove's DeJean Alonzo pulls up from deep.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
team.
The combination of Cottage Grove’s guards apply-
ing pressure to Stayton’s backcourt and Lions’ 6’5"
Jordan Hagewood and 6’6" Austin Cardwell disrupt-
ing Stayton’s bigs, the Lions were able to force turn-
overs. The Lions ended with 14 steals on the game,
including fi ve from Jesse Ellingworth.
Shooting 17 free throws in the fourth quarter, in-
cluding DeJean Alonzo going four-for-four from the
line, the Lions were down three with 40 seconds left.
After Giffen missed a pair at the line, a Lions' rebound
set him up for a three pointer that tied the game. Giffen
fi nished fi ve-of-11 from three-point range.
After Stayton hit a pair of free throws to take a lead,
Giffen drove to the lane where he missed two more
shots from the line. Another Cottage Grove rebound
led to Giffen yet again drawing a foul and this time
hitting two free throws with 10 seconds left to send the
game to overtime.
The overtime opened with Cottage Grove’s Trenton
Grover splashing home a three which would be the Li-
ons only fi eld goal during the extra four minutes of
play. In overtime the Lions went nine-of-fourteen from
the line with Jordan Hagewood leading the way going
four-for-six. The Eagles didn’t go away easy as they
hit two threes in overtime, but it was not enough and
the Lions locked in a home win.
“We’ve got a lot to work on but I just – the kids
are great. They just fi ght. They just keep fi ghting, they
don’t want to quit,” said Finley.
After playing Gladstone yesterday, the Lions now
prepare for the start of league-play which begins Fri-
day with Sisters (7-6) at home.
Lions rally late, fall in overtime to Eagles
Cottage Grove can't fi nish after a
frantic last-minute comeback
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove's Ema Gardner works her way to the basket
on Friday night.
Athlete of
the Week
Continuing what has been a season-long trend, Cot-
tage Grove lost to another top team Friday night in
overtime as they fell to Stayton at home. The Lions (4-
6) have now lost to fi ve teams that are currently ranked
in the top-10 at the 4A level and to an undefeated team
from Washington.
“We’re just so close, we just got to get over the
hump. We’re so close,” said Cottage Grove head coach
Kevin Yoss.
Having led by as many as 11 points in the fi rst half,
the Lions found themselves down six with 1:03 left in
regulation; it was the perfect time for a fi ve-point pos-
session.
Lions post Reilly Kelty was fouled as she made a
lay-up. After missing the free throw, it was teammate
Ema Gardner recovering the rebound and putting up a
lay-up and getting fouled in the process. After a made
free throw, the Lions were down one with just under a
minute to play.
Kelty fi nished the game with a team-high 14 and
This week's athlete of the week
is Elkton's Brad Doudna who
recently had a triple-double
against McKenzie. Doudna
accounted for 30 points, 22
rebounds and 11 steals in the
65-61 victory.
Gardner added 10.
“I was just happy that we weren’t just going to lay
down and give them the game. We just kept fi ghting
and I think that showed the whole time,” said Yoss.
As Stayton worked the ball down court, Cottage
Grove’s Tara Child looked to be attempting to foul but
in the process cleanly poked the ball away to start a
Lions fast break. Child found teammate Keara Murphy
sprinting down the court and Murphy wildly threw up a
shot from fi ve feet out that dropped in to put the Lions
up one. After a Stayton turnover, Kelty was back at the
free throw line where she made one of two. Out of a
timeout with 10 seconds on the clock, the Eagles were
able to get a wide-open lay-up off of a backdoor cut to
send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, an Eagles’ reverse lay-up, a pair
of missed free throws by Kelty and a pair of made
Stayton free throws put the Lions down four in the ear-
ly goings.
With two minutes to play, Kelty battled down low
and to get Cottage Grove’s fi rst bucket of the extra
session. The Lions defensive pressure then created a
10-second call to give them the ball back. But on of-
fense Kelty was called for a foul, her fi fth of the game,
and a pair of Stayton free throws put the Eagles back
up four. Child then cut the lane for a lay-up to get back
to a one-possession game.
LIONS continued on B3
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
zsilva@cgsentinel.com