COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 30, 2019
Marist overpowers Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove’s Jaden Doolittle gets fouled going to the rim
on Friday.
Marist head coach Bart Pollard.
Spartans lean on
1991, as a CGHS student,
depth for wire to wire In
Pollard helped guide the school
victory over Lions
to its only state title and he also
By Zach Silva
later coached the team. In his
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
coaching tenure he coached
With a balanced scoring current CGHS head coach Seth
attack and a fast start, it was Hutchison.
The Lions started the game
Marist defeating Cottage Grove
with
big men Creed Lufkin,
62-49 on Friday night in Eu-
Jasper
Nichols-Ferguson and,
gene.
for
the
first time this season,
It was a first quarter to for-
6-foot-8
sophomore Shambay
get for the Lions (4-15, 2-3
Gabriel
Trapp
as the back line
Sky-Em) as they struggled to
of
the
team’s
2-3
defense.
convert on offense and gave up
“They’re
a
good
shooting
open looks on defense allowing
team
but
when
we
went
with
the Spartans (11-6, 4-0) to take
2-3
to
start
the
game
they
shot
a 22-8 advantage. In the open-
us
out
of
it,
”
said
Seth
Hutchi-
ing quarter five different Marist
players scored and the 11th son. “We got really good
ranked team in 4A hit three looks… but that’s sometimes
the game of basketball, they
three-pointers.
“As teams have to come out just didn’t fall.”
With renewed energy in the
to contest (our three point
second
quarter, Cottage Grove
shots), it gives us even more
began
to
stop the bleeding as
space and negates their height
they
found
shots on offense and
advantage to where we were
Marist
began
to miss. Outscor-
able to finish at the rim,” said
ing Marist 13-9 in the quarter,
the Lions cut their deficit to 10
points heading into halftime.
“I’m proud of the way the
kids fought, they competed.
Multiple times it could have
been a blowout game and
(Marist) could have pushed it
to 25 at times. [They went] up
17, we got it back to 10 and
then they’d push it back to 15,
and then cut it back to 10," said
Hutchison. "It was just kind of
a back and forth. These kids
couldn’t just push over the
hump there.”
The second half mirrored
the first as the Spartans pushed
their lead to as many as 16 be-
fore a 9-2 Cottage Grove in the
fourth quarter run had them
trailing by single digits before
another Marist offensive surge.
Cottage Grove was led in
scoring by Creed Lufkin who
had 24 points on the day.
“I really believe [we] are a
good team. They have the piec-
es to be a really good team, I
just wish we had more time
together. I mean, they com-
peted, they played hard, they
could have easily gave up but
they just didn’t give up and I’m
proud of that,” said Hutchison.
It wasn’t all positive for
Hutchison who was displeased
with his team for picking up
a pair of technical fouls for
talking back to the referees.
“They can’t do that. That’s
my big philosophy as a coach, I
don’t talk to the refs disrespect-
fully, they can’t do that. It’s frus-
trating that it was coming from
upper classmen. That’s one of
the things that’s bigger things
that I’m upset with, coming
from a senior and a junior,”
said Hutchison. “And that just
can’t happen. I’m asking these
upper classmen to lay a foun-
dation for these younger kids
and that’s not the foundation
we want to lay right there. We
want to just be respectful.”
With a 2-3 record in league
play, the Lions will start the
second half of the Sky-Em sea-
son on Friday at home against
Siuslaw at 7:15 p.m.
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3B
SUCCESS from B1
chorage basketball team.
There was no guarantee on
what White would become on
the basketball court. But he was
a committed athlete and was
ready to put in the work. In Cot-
tage Grove, Finley was hoping
for that same buy-in from an
athletic duo. And he got it.
“Austin White showed up ev-
ery morning, every afternoon –
I couldn’t give him enough bas-
ketball,” said Finley. “And Creed
and Jasper are the same way.
They are programmed the same
way and if they had more time,
they definitely could have been
special players for sure.”
For Nichols-Ferguson and
Lufkin, both had previously
dabbled in basketball through-
out their lives to various levels
of success.
“Well, I was pretty bad,” said
Nichols-Ferguson at a recent
CGHS varsity practice. “And
the whole team was pretty bad.
I think I played on the C team
in middle school. It was just a
weird experience.”
For Lufkin, he had played
more recently and had also
struggled.
“I wasn’t fast enough, I wasn’t
quick enough and I wasn’t very
skilled,” said Lufkin, remem-
bering trying out and getting
cut from the basketball team
during his freshmen year of
high school. For both boys, both
talented athletes in other sports,
they had moved on from bas-
ketball. Nichols-Ferguson has
been a key part of the CGHS
soccer team while Lufkin was
an integral part of the football
team. But Finley was just getting
started.
“He [was persistent] and he
kept coming and bugging me
and bugging me,” said Lufkin.
But Finley remembered those
interactions differently.
“I just kept encouraging him,
kept encouraging him, kept
encouraging him and then he
shows up for our meeting and
things like that and he ends up
playing and being a big part of
our team,” said Finley.
Lufkin made a deal that if
the CGHS football team won
the state championship, he
would come out for the team.
Sure enough, the team secured
the school’s first-ever title and
Lufkin made his way to the
hardwood. He played JV where,
at 275 pounds, he worked him-
self into basketball shape. Con-
stantly running and focusing on
post work, the game slowly but
surely started to click.
“I just started getting com-
fortable and then started learn-
ing offenses and how to play
good defense. Because I used to
be like Shaq, I’d just hit everyone
and just probably foul out just
about every game,” said Lufkin.
By the end of the season, he
was suiting up on varsity and
was joined on the end of the
bench by Nichols-Ferguson.
Still debating if he wanted to
join the team or not when the
season began, Nichols-Fergu-
son joined the team midway
through the season.
“[Jasper] just said his heart
wasn’t in it and he wanted to fo-
cus on school and I was 100 per-
cent behind him,” said Finley. “I
said, 'Ok, maybe next year. May-
be next year,' you know. And
so we went on and then I think
he came to me like three weeks
into the season and he saw what
his friends were doing and he
missed it.”
Never playing more than a
few minutes on varsity at a time,
Lufkin and Nichols-Ferguson
both went into the offseason
motivated for their senior year
when they knew they would be
Top: Lufkin looks to set up the offense against Elmira earlier this
season. Bottom: Nichols-Ferguson records an emphatic block
against Siuslaw.
called into action. They both are packed and there are away
played spring ball and summer crowds that actually jeer and
ball to get ready. During the off- say mean stuff sometimes and
season, Lufkin started his days it’s just weird… I do like it. It’s a
at 5:15 a.m., when Finley would different energy.”
pick him up for morning prac-
With inexperienced varsity
tice.
players scattered across the team
“I knew going into my junior and first year head coach Seth
year that I wasn’t going to get Hutchison at the helm, the Li-
much time on varsity, if any at ons struggled at the start of the
all. So it was pretty much just year, losing their first 10 games
gearing me for my senior year to of the season. The team picked
become a senior leader and fill up a couple wins including three
in those big shoes ahead of me,” wins in a four game stretch in
said Lufkin.
early January.
One pair of shoes he was
While the team has looked
looking to fill was the role of big to find its footing, Lufkin and
man Jordan Hagewood. Hage- Nichols-Ferguson have made
wood graduated from CGHS their impact in games through-
last year and helped Lufkin and out the year. Defensively they
Nichols-Ferguson along with create problems for any team
their basketball journey. He is looking to drive the lane as they
again helping them this year but challenge each shot and regular-
not as a teammate but as an as- ly rack up blocks. On offense,
sistant coach for the team.
Lufkin has consistently been the
“Before, they would kind of team’s highest scorer in games
throw the ball at the hoop and as he has developed a post-game
not really shoot it,” said Hage- and if he misses, it seems that
wood reflecting on the growth Nichols-Ferguson is usually
the pair has made in one season. there for the offensive rebound
“Now they’ve got a little bit of and put back.
touch on it.”
“Just seeing them when they
Growing in confidence and started in November to what
skill alike – and for Lufkin, now they’re at now, it’s day and
down to 203 pounds – the real night,” Hutchison said last week.
test came once the pair of se- “Kind of just the basketball ex-
niors were named starters on perience part, the IQ of being
the varsity team.
on the floor. You can see their
“It was kind of a whether they minds start to slow down a little
are ready or not, kind of had bit. And that’s the exciting part
to step into the role that they when they have that, ‘Aha!’ that,
play,” said Hagewood. “Instead ‘Oh, I get it now’ moment.”
of backing down from that, they
While neither player will be
kind of stepped up and accepted named Oregon’s Gatorade Play-
the challenge.”
er of the Year or lead the team
While both had played in big to a state basketball title, their
games in soccer and football re- coaches extolled these players
spectively, varsity basketball was for who they are off the court in
its own beast.
addition to their work ethic.
“It’s like a lot of pressure. Be-
“I think that will carry over
cause with soccer you go out into their lives. They’re going to
there and there weren’t many do some amazing things after
people in the stands,” said Nich- they graduate because they are
ols-Ferguson. “For these games, men of their word,” said Fin-
these varsity games are usual- ley. “They’ll do what they say
ly packed. And then you go to and they’ll follow through and
other away games and those they’ll work hard.”