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