Sports & recreation
Cottage Grove Sentinel
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
NDHS downs
Mohawk,
defeated by
Damascus
Christian
Section B
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Valiants bounce Lions from playoffs
Warriors fall in
second round of
playoffs
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
After defeating Mohawk
in the first round of the play-
offs, the North Douglas boys
fell to Damascus Christian
on the road on Saturday in a
game to determine a spot at
Baker City for the 1A quar-
terfinals.
Against second-ranked
Eagles, the 15th ranked
Warriors held a seven-point
lead with just over 1:30 to
play in the game. Getting
hot at the right time was
Damascus Christian as
they matched North Doug-
las missed free throws with
made three-pointers on the
way to a 44-41 victory. Ca-
leb Parks led North Douglas
with 13 points in the game.
Last Tuesady, it was North
Douglas surviving poor free
throw shooting as they re-
corded a victory over Mo-
hawk.
“Oh gosh, I just – we won.
We escaped with the win,”
said North Douglas head
coach Tyler Vancil after the
team’s 45-34 playoff win over
Mohawk on Tuesday night.
The Warriors held on to a
victory as the team strug-
gled mightily from the free
throw line going two-for-15
in the final four minutes of
the game, including 11 con-
secutive misses during that
stretch. The team finished
11-of-35 from the line.
“Wow. Geez. That’s terri-
ble,” said Vancil. “Honestly, I
think a lot of it is mental at
that point. Once you miss a
couple then everyone is just,
‘We can’t hit free throws to-
night.’ We work on them in
practice and we’ll be shoot-
ing them tomorrow.”
While North Douglas
continuously came away
with empty offensive pos-
sessions, it was the team’s
defense that carried them to
the final whistle. After start-
ing the fourth quarter with a
lay-up to cut their deficit to
eight, Mohawk scored three
points in the final 5:50 of the
game.
“We won tonight because
of our defense. I mean, 100
percent. The boys have been
playing great the last few
games on defense,” said Van-
cil as the Warriors held the
Mustangs to 20 points in the
final three quarters of play
and their fewest amount of
points scored since Dec. 13.
Throughout the game North
Douglas hounded the Mo-
hawk guards in the corners
as they forced 18 turnovers
in the game. Despite the de-
fense, Mustangs guard Tyler
Black found ways to score as
he finished with 22 points.
Mohawk’s offensive woes
were not apparent in the
first quarter as the Mustangs
charged out to a 10-1 lead
and the game’s first eight
points. In front of a vo-
cal Mohawk crowd, North
Douglas was able to get back
into the game with the help
of senior Justin Smith – who
almost missed the game be-
cause of a sinus infection –
coming off the bench.
“I was sick this morning
and I was late to school and
I talked to my principal and
was like, ‘Is there a chance I
can play today?’ And he was
NDHS
see B2
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
Valley Catholic senior Callie Kawaguchi drives the lane against Cottage Grove on Saturday. Kawaguchi finished with 31 points.
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
31 points from Valley
Catholic’s Callie
Kawaguchi sends team
past Cottage Grove
With just over two minutes to
play in the first quarter, Cottage
Grove and Valley Catholic were
tied at 10 apiece.
And then Valley Catholic se-
nior Callie Kawaguchi took off.
Kawaguchi proceeded to hit
three three-pointers – includ-
ing a four-point play – in the
final minutes of the quarter as
she recorded 18 of her team’s 20
first quarter points. She finished
the game with 31 points as the
visiting Valiants (13-13) nev-
er looked back on their way to
a 57-37 victory over the Lions
(14-13) in a state play-in game
on Saturday night.
“She had four threes in the
first quarter. That was the ball-
game right there,” said Cottage
Grove head coach Steve East-
burn of Kawaguchi’s standout
game. “That kid was just unbe-
lievable. She was the real deal.
She was fun to watch play.”
With quick shots and a stin-
gy full-court press, the Valiants
pushed the pace of the game
from the first possession – a
Kawaguchi made three – and
successfully kept the Lions from
getting in any sort of rhythm. As
Valley Catholic began to knock
down early shots, Cottage Grove
was further thrown off as soph-
omore Matty Ladd was called
for three fouls in the first 3:09
of the game. Joining Reilly Kel-
ty on the bench, who was side-
lined with an injury earlier this
month, the Lions were without
their usual post presences.
“They sped us up and Matty
got in foul trouble and… I don’t
think playing that fast is our
game,” said Eastburn. “We were
coming down and just shooting
the shots that they were but the
only thing was, we weren’t mak-
ing them and then they got an-
other possession right away.”
As Kawaguchi cooled off
from her scorching-hot start,
the threes kept coming as Val-
ley Catholic’s Katelyn Snook hit
three in the second quarter on
the way to outscoring the Lions
17-4 in the quarter. All nine of
Valley Catholic’s made threes
during the game came in the
first half; the team was nine-
of-21 from three in the first half.
“Katelyn Snook has a saying,
‘When I’m on, I’m on.’ And
that’s just literally the motto of
our team this year,” said Kawa-
guchi on the team’s shooting
success. “When we’re on, we’re
on and we just keep going. It
doesn’t happen all the time but
it has happened a couple times
this year and we know how to
work with it and vibe with it.”
The Valley Catholic press
continued to vex Cottage Grove
in the second-half as the team
jumped out to an 8-2 run to
push their lead to 27.
“That’s like our bread and
butter,” said Kawaguchi of the
team’s defensive press. “We’re
not the most talented team but
I do think we’re one of the most
hard-working teams. The press
always works for us and just
having people fly around on de-
fense, pressing everyone, mak-
ing people uncomfortable.”
The game slowed down in the
fourth quarter with just one bas-
ket being scored in the first five
minutes of play before the Lions
outscored the Valiants 9-2 on
the quarter. Junior Ema Gard-
ner finished the game with 11
points for Cottage Grove while
Mikaela Blomquist pushes the ball up the floor for CGHS.
freshman Gracie Arnold had
nine.
While the season ended for
the Lions, Eastburn sees that
this loss can be a starting point
going forward for the team that
brings back 10 of the 12 players
on the roster.
“I always stress with these
kids that every experience is a
learning lesson if you allow it
to be. Especially negative ones
like we had tonight. Either we
move forward and we work on
our weaknesses and we get bet-
ter from this experience or you
kind of stay the same and don’t
learn anything or you might
even get worse,” said Eastburn.
“I just tell them it’s an opportu-
nity, really. We want to be better
so the kids have got to put the
work in and I think we have
some kids that are willing to
do that. So I’m kind of excited
about the future for them.”
Valley Catholic will now face
Marshfield on Saturday in the
round of 16.
“That’s going to be a chal-
lenge. But survive and advance.
Play another week, get another
game plan, get another trip and
have a blast somewhere,” said
Valley Catholic head coach Pat
Thomas. “Shoot it like that and
who knows. We’ll stay in games
with anybody if that’s the case.”
Johnson named head football coach
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Former defensive coordinator
Jordan Johnson named head
football coach at CGHS
A new era of Cottage Grove football
has begun.
On Thursday, Cottage Grove High
School announced that Jordan John-
son, 26, will be taking over in the role as
head football coach for the Lions. John-
son, a math teacher at CGHS, has been
involved with the program for the past
three years, including serving as defen-
sive coordinator the last two seasons,
and will be filling a vacancy left by Gary
Roberts’ departure. Roberts, who serves
in the role as athletic director and vice
principal at CGHS, coached the team for
11 seasons and is the winningest coach in
school history.
“I think it will be a fun challenge for
me and give me an opportunity to see
how I do in that role opposed to just
being a defensive coordinator,” Johnson
said in a phone interview on Friday. Add-
ing, “It feels good for sure. It’s awesome
that Gary and (principal) Mike (Ingman)
believed in me enough to give me the
chance.”
Johnson has been around coaching his
entire life. His dad Marty Johnson, who
has been a fixture on the CGHS football
staff during their recent success, was
head coach at Willamette High School
and Sheldon High School (where he won
four titles) while his uncle and grandpa
have also been football coaches. But for
Athlete of
the Week
the youngest Johnson, coaching was not
inevitable.
“I always, obviously, loved the game
of football. I didn’t really know that I
wanted to coach until I was in college
and once I was done playing,” said John-
son. “The following fall, I helped coach a
middle school team just because I knew
a couple of the kids on the team and
knew some parents. That’s when I knew
that was something that I really wanted
to do.”
Learning lessons from Roberts and
all the coaches in his life, Johnson views
coaching as going beyond just the x’s and
o’s on Friday night.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned from
them is it’s more than just about the game
of football. It’s about getting these kids to
become young men,” said Johnson. “To
This week’s athlete of the
week is Cottage Grove
wrestler Raina Herzog.
Herzog claimed an
individual wrestling state
title over the weekend. To
read more about CGHS
wrestling at state, turn to B3.
be able to go out after the four years and
be productive and be good husbands and
good dads one day and be able to pass
those lessons along to their kids.”
After graduating from Sheldon in
2010, where he was named 6A player of
the year in football after leading the Irish
to titles in 2007 and 2009, Johnson at-
tended the University of Montana where
he played in 45 games and threw for 78
touchdowns over the course of his career.
Johnson did not play in the 2012 sea-
son after he was accused of rape in a
high-profile case that ushered in a na-
tional conversation about sexual assault
in college athletics. Johnson’s trial ended
with a verdict of not guilty.
The Lions will begin the 2019 season
on September 6 at Cascade.
Raina Herzog
stands at
the top of
the awards
podium after
winning a
wrestling
state title on
Saturday.
PHOTO C/O CGHS
ATHLETICS