B
S PORTS
Section B
Lions
fall to
Bulldogs
in play-in
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Yamhill-Carlton contains Cottage Grove
Free throws guide
Baker to a victoy
over Cottage Grove
By Zach Silva
The road trip that was the
Cottage Grove boys’ basket-
ball season came to its fi nal
stop last weekend.
A season that saw the Li-
ons play just six home games
all year – and play the fi rst 11
games on the road including
in Alaska – ended prema-
turely from Cottage Grove’s
point of view as they lost to
Baker 77-68 in a state play-
in game on Saturday night.
“The last two years I’ve
been fortunate enough to end
my season on a win,” said
fi rst year Cottage Grove head
coach Nick Finley who had
most recently won back-to-
back state titles while coach-
ing at Ninilchik High School
in Alaska.
The Lions – who began the
seven-hour trip to Baker on
Friday morning and returned
on Sunday night – were the
third-place fi nishers in the
Sky-Em league and faced the
Bulldogs who fi nished sec-
ond in the four-team confer-
ence of the Greater Oregon
league.
Things looked promising
for the Lions as the Bulldogs
had just seven players suited
up to play and rcently dis-
missed the tallest player on
their team.
The Lions trailed after
the fi rst quarter but behind
an 11-0 run in the second
quarter, the team took a 38-
28 lead with two minutes to
play in the half.
“They were winded. They
had to call timeout – I re-
member looking down the
sideline at their bench and
they had a kid down almost
on all fours, he was that
tired,” said Finley.
“I was thinking at that
point, we’re running. We got
them right where we want
them. We’re playing this
game at our pace, keep run-
ning them. And then [Baker
head coach Brent Gyllen-
berg] called two or three tim-
eouts in the second quarter
and the momentum changed.
He killed what we had going,
which was great on their part,
it was great coaching. And
then the rest of the game they
dictated the pace we played.”
Buoyed by four missed
Cottage Grove free throws
in the fi nal minutes of play
in the fi rst half, Baker was
able to cut their defi cit to just
three points going into half-
time.
“We had 11 missed free
throws in the game. We were
eight-of-19. Not to mention
a few of them were one-and-
ones so you could say 14, 15
missed opportunities. If we
make our free throws in the
fi rst half, we’re up 15,” said
Finley. “But, we didn’t and
we gave them life and they
took advantage of that and
they played tough.”
The Lions got a lead by
as many as fi ve in the third
quarter but a Bulldogs 9-0
run gave the Bulldogs a lead
that they never squandered.
The Lions momentarily tied
the game behind a Jesse El-
lingworth lay-up but Bak-
er continued to turn up the
pressure and the team took
a six-point lead heading into
the fourth.
“I had a number of fans,
their AD, other coaches from
LIONS continued on B3
A group of Yamhill-Carlton defenders swarms Cottage Grove's Ema Gardner as she pulls down a rebound.
Strong second-half performance leads
the Tigers to a play-in victory
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
While Cottage Grove has relied on their height – and
the many benefi ts related to height on a basketball court
– throughout the year, Yamhill-Carlton was prepared to
combat the Lions.
“We have height in our league. We’re going against
6-foot-3, 6-foot-2 girls all season long. So, nothing new.
But going into tonight we were well prepared,” said
Yamhill-Carlton coach Nile Seibil whose Tigers are in a
league that features four of the top 12 teams in the state.
“We’ve had 12 straight playoff games already.”
The preparation was apparent as Yamhill-Carlton
came into Cottage Grove and beat the Lions 49-39, in-
cluding 35 second-half points, in a state play-in game
on Friday night.
After losing to Junction City last Tuesday (see page
B3 for the game recap) in a game to determine the top
seed in the Sky-Em league, the Lions became the two-
seed out of the league. Eighteenth ranked Yamhill-Carl-
ton, who lost nine of their last 11 games, fi nished fi fth
in the especially competitive Oregon West Conference
and made it into the play-in round via their ranking.
Cottage Grove misses at the rim and Yamhill-Carlton
turnovers kept the game close throughout the fi rst half
and the teams were tied 14-14 at halftime in a game that
was a display of missed opportunities.
“I’m disappointed… we had an opportunity to go
ahead in the fi rst half if we would have rebounded and
they just completely outrebounded us the fi rst half and
led to the tie score,” said Cottage Grove coach Kevin
Yoss. “Otherwise I think we would have been up six
to eight and I think that would have changed the whole
complexion of the game and you know, I think that was
the difference.”
In the second-half, the Tigers continued to crowd the
lane defensively and not allow Cottage Grove to get
comfortable.
“Last night when we were preparing the biggest thing
was pack the paint. We knew they weren’t great outside
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Reilly Kelty grabs a rebound in the fourth
quarter on Friday night.
PHOTO BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
shooters, we were going to give them those if they took
them,” said Seibil.
Despite defensive pressure, the Lions continued to
fi nd ways to score – primarily at the basket led by guard
Tara Child who fi nished with 11 points – and trailed by
three points going into the fourth quarter.
After a three pointer brought the Yamhill-Carlton
lead to eight points in the opening minutes of the fourth
quarter, the Lions worked to rally back. As the game
sped up, the teams began trading baskets and the Lions
clawed their way back behind a pair of baskets from
Keara Murphy with just over two minutes to play that
cut the defi cit down to four. Murphy fi nished the game
with 10 points.
On the offensive possession after Yamhill-Carlton
made a pair of free throws, Cottage Grove's Reilly Kel-
ty grabbed a rebound and hit a layup to cut the lead
to four points again with 1:12 left to play. Kelty also
fi nished with 10 points for the Lions.
As Cottage Grove intensifi ed their defensive pres-
sure on the ensuing inbound play, the Tigers went deep
where they came up with an easy layup that all but
sealed the game.
“It was a little disappointing, we gave up some lay-
ins that you know, when you’re trying to steal it at this
end sometimes you do but I think we could have done
a little better at that end to keep it closer longer,” said
Yoss.
“I thought we competed but again, just came up a lit-
tle bit short.”
Aliya Seibel led Yamhill-Carlton in scoring with 13
points. The Tigers will play top-seeded Marshfi eld in
the fi rst round of the playoffs on Friday.
Hosanna Christian downs Elkton and North Douglas
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
On back-to-back nights Hosanna Christian
put their dominance on display for the Skyline
League as they defeated the Elkton girls on
Tuesday night and the North Douglas boys on
Wednesday in Klamath Falls.
After taking third place in the league tour-
nament the weekend before – that included
an inexplicable loss to Camas Valley and a
comeback victory over North Douglas – the
15th ranked Elks fell 61-29 to the 12th ranked
Lions.
Coming off a league tournament loss to fi fth
ranked Triad, Hosanna Christian was looking
for a win. The team got what it wanted as it
held the Elks to four points in the fi rst quarter
and went into halftime up 38-12.
The Lions came away with 18 steals as Elk-
ton turned the ball over 32 times in the game.
While Elkton gave the ball away throughout,
they outrebounded Hosanna Christian 34-30.
The Elks were led by Alexis Halstead who
had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Hannah Max-
well and Kieryn Carnes ended with six and
fi ve points respectively.
Athlete of
the Week
On Friday, the Lions continued their win-
ning ways as they beat South Wasco County
37-24 on the road. Hosanna Christian is now
headed to Baker City for the quarterfi nals
where they will face Powder Valley tonight at
6:30 p.m.
On Wednesday night, it was fourth-ranked
Hosanna Christian boys overpowering four-
teenth ranked North Douglas 69-37 at home.
Coming into the game, the Warriors had just
beat Glendale in the third-place game in the
Skyline League tournament to clinch a playoff
spot. For the Lions, the team had a 19-game
win streak snapped by Triad in the district
tournament.
The Warriors were outmatched from the
start and were outscored 16-3 in the fi rst quar-
ter.
Caleb Parks fi nished with 20 points for
North Douglas and eight other Warriors added
in 17 points combined.
Last Saturday, the Lions travelled to Trian-
gle Lake where they defeated the Lakers 68-58
despite a 30-point performance from star-play-
er Parker Wynn. Hosanna Christian will now
PHOTO BY BECKY GERRARD
face top-ranked Pacifi c in the state quarterfi -
nals in Baker City.
North Douglas' Carson Burris fi ghts for a rebound on Tuesday night.
This week’s athlete of the
week is Cottage Grove’s
Jesse Ellingworth. In his last
game as a Lion, Ellingworth
fi ninshed with 28 points in the
loss to Baker.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
zsilva@cgsentinel.com