Cottage Grove Sentinel
Sports & Leisure
B1
THURSDAY | JUNE 24, 2021
Lions upset Viks away on Senior Night
By Zeahna Young/for The Sentinel
Last week, the Lions played their final bas-
ketball game of the season away at Siuslaw
High School, where they took on the Vikings
for a rematch, defeating them in a major upset,
73-66.
The boys had a different mindset coming
into the game this time around.
Said Coach Jared Hutchins, “When we
played them the first time, we came out and
had a good first half and had a 10-point lead
or so, and then we let it get away from us in the
second half.
“Our mindset coming into this game was to
attack from the very first and not let off. Siuslaw
is a very good shooting team, and we knew we
were going to have to hit some shots, so we just
talked about being in the rhythm of our offense
and having confidence when we shoot.”
Indeed, the Lions came out the gates with
full heat, scoring an amazing 29 points in the
first quarter alone and slam dunking on the
Viks three different times — two for Brennen
Murphy and one for Ty Kishen.
They held the Vikings at 6 points, finishing
the quarter up 29-6.
In the second quarter, the Lions did not re-
lent, and although the Vikings picked up their
game considerably at that point, Cottage Grove
still had 18 points in the quarter to Siuslaw’s 13,
and went into halftime ahead 47-29.
In the third quarter, the Lions slowed a bit
on the score board, picking up 12 points to the
Vikings’ 23, but they still led by the end of the
quarter 59-52.
Although the Viks had picked up a great deal
of momentum in the third quarter, it was still
Girls take Sky-
Em title with
clutch wins
By Jerry Thompson
for The Sentinel
Last week the Cottage Grove girls
played four games in five days with the
Sky-Em championship on the line. The
Lions faced 5-2 Marist, 4-4 Marshfield,
and 5-2 Junction City, and were chal-
lenged in all three of those games.
The Lady Lions ran through the
gauntlet and came away with an 11-0
record, the only blemish a forfeit
against Marshfield because of virus
policies.
In the Marist game it was two se-
niors who helped the Lions prevent the
Spartans from upsetting the Grovers
on their home court.
Marist led by as many as five points
in the third quarter, and it wasn’t un-
til midway in the fourth that the tide
changed for the Lions.
On senior night, senior Matty Ladd
led the scoring with 18 points, but it
was senior Alexia Riggs’ three-point
dagger with the Lions clinging to a
four-point lead that sealed the 42-32
win.
“Lex is one of those kids who has
come up clutch ever since I have been
coaching her for the last three years,”
said head coach Erin Royse. “We’ve
had many situations where Lex has
hit a three like that. I remember a kill-
er one at Junction City last year…just
ZEAHNA YOUNG/FOR THE SENTINEL
see LIONS on B2
Brennen Murphy tears around the defense and cuts to the hoop.
Lady Lions beat Viks to remain undefeated
By Zeahna Young/for
The Sentinel
Last Thursday, June 17,
the Lady Lions played their
final away game of the sea-
son against Siuslaw, where
they defeated the Lady Viks
soundly 46-16. Coach Erin
Royse’s team, who is cur-
rently undefeated in their
league, finished first in the
Sky Em 4A-4 conference
this year.
“Initially, the girls have
kind of had these goals that
they’re checking off along
the way,” said Royse.
While the team has had
a great deal of success this
season, they almost had to
stop mid-way because of a
COVID-19 scare.
“It was almost taken away
because of the COVID
scare we had two weeks
ago,” said Royse.
“Those three days were
super long. We just thought,
our season’s gone. And then
through the investigation,
they let us practice in two
different gyms and we were
okay.
“So, we get to come back
and play,” she continued.
“And having that almost
taken away again was a
good reality check. Their
focus is there, and it’s awe-
some just to be a part of it.”
The girls were playing
as such on Thursday, and
while both teams took time
to really get things moving
on the score board, they
held Siuslaw at 4 points in
the first quarter and scored
7 on their end, forcing
many turnovers for their
opponent and keeping de-
fense tight.
Cottage Grove picked
up the pace in the second
quarter, with point guard
Mikaela Blomquist running
the show and Matty Ladd
and Gracie Arnold picking
up rebounds and points
down low.
“We do have Matty and
we do have Gracie,” said
Royse, “and we’re led by
Mik. She tunes up the bus,
and then she just turns it on
and gets everybody rolling.
“So, without her it’s a dif-
ferent game,” she said. “Her
presence as a senior gives
us a lot; she’s a pretty amaz-
ing kid.
“She never really played
the point guard until we
had our point guard get in-
jured a couple of years ago,
and she stepped in. Or, was
kind of thrown in, to the
wolves,” said the coach. “It’s
a hard position because you
have to be a leader. And she
definitely leads.
“There’s no player that
goes harder in practice than
her, if you ask any of the
players, she’s the one who
sets the tone every single
day,” said Royse.
The Lady Lions only al-
lowed Siuslaw 1 point in the
second quarter while pick-
ing up 7 more of their own,
finishing the half ahead
14-5. Leading on the score
board that quarter with 4
points was Kourtney Ow-
ens.
“If you’re comparing
height, she’s way under size,
but she has a heart that’s
just huge,” said Royse. “And
Athlete of
the Week
see LADY on B2
see SKY-EM on B3
Tim Alberding
reigns supreme
in WSS weekend
action
Rea, A. Bloom, And
Bryant also visit
Victory Lane
By Stephanie Deatherage
ZEAHNA YOUNG/FOR THE SENTINEL
Gracie Arnold, in the zone, takes a heavily contested jump shot.
ZEAHNA YOUNG/ FOR THE SENTINEL
Matty Ladd takes the court with Gracie Arnold, Alexia Riggs and
Kennedy Sturman-Royse.
This week’s athlete of
the week is sophomore
Brennen Murphy, who
scored 26 points in
Cottage Grove’s 73-66
victory over Siuslaw last
Thursday, the last game
of the season for the
Lions.
Brennen
Murphy
drives
through
Marist’s
defenses in
their June 15
game.
PHOTO BY JERRY
THOMPSON/FOR CG
SENTINEL
The second and final night of the Fa-
ther’s Day Weekend doubleheader at
Cottage Grove Speedway was on Sat-
urday, June 19.
The evening featured four classes,
including three a part of the Speed-
way Motors IMCA Weekly Racing
program. They included the Wingless
Sprint Series, IMCA Modifieds, Royal-
ty Core IMCA Northern Sport Mods,
and IMCA Sport Compacts.
Tim Alberding, from Stayton, was
the early race leader during the main
event. Three total stoppages were to be
witnesses in the main event, but Alber-
ding stayed in front of the main pack
despite the yellow flag incidents.
Tim experienced some hefty lapped
traffic at times but wasted no time nav-
igating through the tail end of the field.
However, in the waning laps he did feel
some pressure from a hard-charging
Kinzer Cox. Albert held off Cottage
Grove’s Cox to win his second Wing-
less Sprint Series victory at CGS.
Kinzer Cox was second, with Wil-
sonville youngster Chad Lindsey plac-
ing third. The rest of the top five were
Lance Hallmark, from McMinnville,
and Tacoma, Washington traveler Jon-
athan Jorgenson getting fourth and
fifth.
The IMCA Modifieds had five cau-
tions during their feature. Paul Culp of
Creswell took charge of the top place
position on the opening start. Unfor-
tunately, Culp would spin on lap seven,
handing first place to Paul Rea.
Rea, from Eugene, had to deal with
several restarts from some fast drivers
nipping at his heels.
Despite all the advances and the po-
tential moves to overtake him, Paul
Rea held his composure to win his first
race of the season. He joins the victor’s
list in Cottage Grove Speedway, KMJ
Performance Oregon State, and Shaw
Race Cars Western Region competi-
tion.
Paul is the seventh different driver in
ten IMCA Modified races to take a trip
see WSS on B3