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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
B S PORTS Section B Yoncalla holds on for win over North Douglas Wednesday, January 31, 2018 South Lane County Sports and Recreation Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com Sophomores setup Elks for success Late Eagles run proves to be too much By Zach Silva In a fi ght between two teams in the middle of the league standings, it was the Yoncalla boys coming away with a 61-51 home victo- ry on Friday night against North Douglas. As the Eagles led by as many as nine points in the fi rst half, the Warriors were always clawing their way back as they cut the lead to six by halftime. The lead got as close as two points in the third quarter before Yoncalla put together an 18-6 run that doomed the road team. “We came in with a game plan, we were ready and we capitalized on it. Now we’re super excited,” said Yoncalla head coach Jarred Eakin. “In previous games when- ever a small run would hap- pen to us and it would end up becoming a large run… The difference was just maturi- ty.” The other difference was also the play of Yoncalla’s Ted Wickman. The Warriors felt Wickman’s presence all game as he fi nished 20 points, nine rebounds and fi ve assists. “We were playing for each other tonight. We passed the ball a lot more, guys are the fl oor and we’re picking them up. It was just a lot of fun to- night,” said Wickman. Corbin Eichman added 12 points for the Eagles. “We just got to play bet- ter, I don’t know what else to say. We’ve got to play better,” said North Douglas head coach Tyler Vancil. “Every time we would try to take a good look at a shot it fell like it would go half- way in the basket and then come out.” Warriors down Eagles Yoncalla stays positive after loss to North Douglas By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com After a 27-point loss at home to North Douglas, the Yoncalla girls’ basketball team felt like champions. “We feel like we just won the Super Bowl, to be honest with you,” said Yon- calla head coach Nick Ede- ra. “Girls are really excited about what happened. We show signs of being a real- ly good team and stuff like that. We’re still at six people and the depth, we get a little tired but I was just, it was awesome how great they did in the second half there.” In the fi rst meeting be- tween the teams, the War- riors beat the Eagles by 52. On Friday night, it looked as if North Douglas was going to win by a similar amount when their defen- sive pressure overwhelmed the Eagles in the fi rst quarter as they went up 17-0. The second quarter saw a slow pace and just eight total points (North Douglas fi ve, Yoncalla three). After back-to-back losses to the top teams in the league last week, the Warriors came WARRIORS continued on B3 Elkton's sophomores (from left: Alexis Halstead, Kieryn Carnes, Samantha McCall, Aspyn Luzier and Sadie Olson) have had a meaningful impact on their season. The Elkton sophomores are an essential part of the the team's success this season By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com Entering the basketball season, there was a general unknown about the Elkton girls’ basketball team. After being one round away from the quarterfi nals – and a coveted trip to Baker City – a season ago, the Elks graduated their two senior guards and suddenly had holes in their roster. This is the very nature of high school athletics. With just two senior starters, no juniors and a group of untested sophomores on this year’s team, there was anything but a guarantee that this team would be able to win right away. “I don’t know, I don’t know what to think of what’s going to happen this year at all,” said senior Allison Swearingen on November 15, two weeks before the sea- son 2017-18 tipoff. “It’s honestly, it’s 100 percent a sur- prise,” added senior Hannah Maxwell. But that was then, before the season began. Before the Elks, as of this writing, have gone 17-3 (losing to the number three team in 2A and two top seven 1A teams) including a rare victory against rival North Douglas. Before the sopho- mores of Elkton became the key ingredi- ent to the team’s success on the season. “Must be something in the water. I don’t know, it just works so well this year,” said sophomore starter Kieryn Carnes. * Everything the Elks do fi rst begins with Maxwell. She leads the team in points and rebounds this season and is the engine that makes the team go. On any given night, she can go for 20 points and 20 rebounds with ease. The leader of the team, she instructs teammates on the court and – if she happens to come out of the game – from the bench. When sophomore Alexis Halstead was trying to describe what Maxwell brings to the team words failed her as she set- tled on encompassing the entirety of the senior’s importance and value into all that she does by saying “she’s Hannah Maxwell.” She’s Hannah Maxwell. After Maxwell, there is fellow senior Swearengin. Swearingen, a starter that hits threes and plays through the pain of her strained ACL, is the only other senior that gets regular minutes. Maise Cox is the third and fi nal senior on the roster. Cox also plays JV and generally gets into varsity games when the Elks are blowing teams out which this season has happened more often than not. That’s it for the Elkton upperclassmen. The rest of the team is carried by a wave of sophomores. “The fi rst day of practice [head coach Rob] Parker told them that you’re soph- omores but you’re going to have to start playing like you’re a senior because that’s what we need from them,” said Maxwell. This group that surrounds Maxwell has risen to the occasion, positioned the Elks at the top of the league and are pre- pared to make a postseason run. “They’ve completely exceeded my ex- pectations. Because I’ve been a sopho- more, I’ve been there. I started on varsity my sophomore year, too, and it was hec- tic. I was nervous all the time and stuff and it honestly probably showed in my play,” said Maxwell. “Watching them play they don’t ever seem nervous. It doesn’t ever get to them. I don’t think they ever think ‘Wow, I’m a sophomore playing for varsity this is crazy.’” * The six sophomores – Carnes, Saman- tha McCall, Alexis Halstead, Aspyn Lu- zier, Sadie Olson and Holly Garza – have varying roles on the team. “Alexis is a fantastic rebounder and Aspyn can obviously shoot threes amaz- ingly and Kieryn is really good all- around and Samantha has these moments where she just kind of does a bunch of really cool stuff and I think we’re all getting better at really fast pace,” said Olson. For Carnes, this is her second year starting on varsity. Midway through last PHOTOS BY BECY GERRARD AND ZACH SILVA season after a teammate got sick, Carnes fi lled in and has been starting ever since. She has gone from being “the freshman in the mix of all the older kids” to be- coming an oxymoron as she takes the role of a veteran sophomore. “It’s really cool to see everyone like step up, like fi ll their roles, and defi nite- ly like getting their own characteristic out on the court. It’s fun to see everyone adapt and fi nd their role, their specifi c doing on the court. It’s really cool,” she said. This season, McCall, Halstead and Lu- zier – until she fractured a growth plate in her leg – have all rotated through the starting lineup. Joining them in the line- up is then Olson who is fi rst off the bench for the Elks. While Carnes has consistent experi- ence at the varsity level, this next tier of players have been adapting to playing meaningful minutes in a varsity game compared to playing JV last season. “JV you’re in there, you’re going through it step-by-step slowly, it seems like, but when you get on varsity it steps up a whole new level,” said Halstead. The next level also includes a more physical game. “It’s a lot more aggressive. A lot more people can like push you around so I have to be more aggressive around peo- ple which I’ve always struggled with. So I’ve been working on it really hard,” said McCall. ELKS continued on B3 Lions host wrestling tournament PHOTOS BY CGHS PHOTOGRAPHERS Cottage Grove wrestlers wrestle at the Cottage Grove Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Lions took ninth of the eleven teams that competed. For more high school sports updates, turn to B3. Athlete of the Week This week's athlete of the week is Cottage Grove's Reilly Kelty. Last Tuesday against Sweet Home Kelty fi nished with 13 points and six blocks in the Lions 69-28 victory. Pick up next week's paper to read more on Kelty and how Cottage Grove has utilized its height this season. Kelty gets a lay-up to go earlier this season at home. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK zsilva@cgsentinel.com
