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Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 21, 2015 11A Polk County Sports WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Wolves use second-half surge in win Men’s basketball improves to 6-1 in conference play, remains in first place Itemizer-Observer staff report MONMOUTH — A 9-0 run to open the second half helped Western Oregon’s men’s basketball team earn an 82-68 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Saint Martin’s on Saturday. Leading 34-29 at the half, the Wolves saw their lead ex- tend to 43-29. Jordan Wiley scored a game-high 21 points as four WOU players reached dou- ble figures in points. “It felt good,” Wiley said. “The ball was going in (Sat- urday) so that is always nice. We have a nice zone play that gets me open quite a bit. (Saint Martin’s) was shagging off a little bit, re- sulting in a 2-on-1 on the back side that turns into a wide open shot for me, or one more pass that results in a wide-open shot for the next guy. My teammates were doing a good job find- ing me." Julian Nichols (17 points), Andy Avgi (16 points) and Devon Alexander (12 points) also reached double digits in scoring. "( The starters had some) solid production (on Satur- day),” WOU c o a c h Brady - said. “(Sa- Avgi int Mar- tin's) did a good job early on making things hard for us, particularly inside, and our guys adjusted over the course of the game to the openings that were popping up and we took advantage of it.” Western Oregon (14-3 overall, 6-1 GNAC), which remains in first place by one-half game in the GNAC standings, plays at Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Sat- urday. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL DROPS TWO: Western Ore- gon’s women’s basketball team saw its losing streak extend to five games after falling to West- ern Washington and Simon Fraser last week. The Wolves opened the week by losing to the Wildcats in Bellingham 80- 64 on Thursday. Angie Titus led WOU with 14 points. Western Oregon fell to the Clan in British Columbia 76-56 on Sat- urday, despite 15 points from freshman Sami Osborne. The Wolves return home to host Seattle Pacific Thursday at 7 p.m. and M o ntana State Billings Saturday at 3 p.m. TRACK AND FIELD BE- GINS: Western Oregon’s in- door track and field squad saw two school records fall at the season-opening University of Washington Indoor Pre- view meet on Saturday in S eattle. J u n i o r Stephanie Stuckey set a program record in the wo m e n’s Stuckey 1,000-meter run, finishing in 3 minutes, 2.96 seconds, while placing 16th overall. On the men’s side, the 4 x 800-meter relay team of Josh Hanna, Brady Beagley, S a m N a ff z i g e r a n d J o s h Dempsey set a new school mark with a time of 7:54.22, good for fifth overall. The Wolves will compete at the Husky Invite in Seattle on Jan. 30-31. WESTERN OREGON ATHLETICS/for the Itemizer-Observer Jordan Wiley (12) defends Saint Martin’s guard Tray Ingram on Saturday. Wiley scored a season-high 21 points, helping the Wolves earn an 82-68 win. PREP BOYS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP Panthers survive fourth quarter rally Central hits late free throws to secure league victory over Dragons Itemizer-Observer staff report DALLAS — It was a mo- ment players dream about and a finish neither side will likely forget. Trailing by 16 in the sec- ond half, Dallas rallied against Central to tie the game at 51, only to see the Panthers hold on for a 57-55 victory on Friday. “I thought the atmos- phere was awesome,” Dallas forward Brad Huey said. “It was electric.” The Dragons trailed 56-53 with 18 seconds remaining when back-to-back five sec- ond calls, the first on Dallas, the second on Central, meant the Dragons had pos- session with 18 seconds left. Spencer McCarron missed a potential game-tying 3- pointer and Kyler Fleming hit one of two free throws to give the Panthers a 57-53 lead with 11 seconds left in the game. “We’ve got to go through (a game like this) to learn from it,” Central coach Tim Kreta said. “We’ll take a look at the film and try to simu- late the pressure (that Dal- las) played us in practice.” Kaj Bansen scored a game-high 24 points, while Fleming finished with 11 points. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Dallas post Isaak Tichenor and Central wing Kaj Bansen react after a loose ball goes out of bounds on Friday night. Everett Minahan led Dal- las with 16 points, including 10 in the final period. Hay- den Broadus scored 11 points as the Dragons scored 24 fourth-quarter points after tallying 22 total in the first half. “The kids’ pride kicked in,” Dallas coach Trent Schwartz said. “They played better in the fourth and I’m happy with how we re- sponded to being down that much. We just need to play like that for 32 minutes.” The Panthers (8-3 overall, 2-0 Mid-Willamette Confer- ence) opened league play with a 65-53 win over South Albany on Jan. 14. Bansen scored a game-high 22 points. The Dragons defeated Huey: Toughness a big asset Continued from Page 10A “He was really good friends with my parents for a really long time,” Huey said. “He just showed me how to live right.” When Ingram died on Feb. 1, 2012, Huey lost one of his closest and most valued relationships. Huey turned to his team- mates, and the sport he loved playing, to help guide him through a difficult time. “Basketball helped me overcome the death of one of my mentors,” Huey said. “He died when I was in bas- ketball season and that helped me come to terms because I would play for him. It helped me feel better about the whole thing.” On the court, Huey pro- vides the Dragons with a steady inside presence. As a senior, Huey, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound forward, isn’t just a big body put in to take up space. After an off- season spent working on his post moves with fellow post player Hayden Broad- us, Huey is establishing himself as an offensive and LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Dallas senior Brad Huey trained with Hayden Broadus during the offseason to improve his post play. defensive threat. Huey is now a player who can cre- ate offense through the pick and roll or by posting up, forcing opponents to adjust to him. “(Huey is) a guy that once he gets the ball inside, he’s got a really soft touch,” Dal- las coach Trent Schwartz said. “He’s incredibly coach- able. He knows what to do in almost every situation, and we want to get him more involved inside.” Huey knows his skillset is more traditional. He won’t be taking outside shots with any regularity anytime soon, but he is willing to get physical. “I see my role as a defen- sive help player and help with scoring down low,” Huey said. Huey, a first team all- league defensive lineman and second-team offensive lineman for the Dragons in football, knows being physi- cal can be a key advantage as a post, even if it requires a little change in thinking from his time on the grid- iron. “The toughest part is re- membering you can’t tackle anyone,” he said smiling. Despite the Dragons’ 57- 55 setback to Central on Fri- day, Huey hopes to help spark Dallas to a successful league season. “We have length, speed and talent — all the things we need to be successful,” Huey said. Beyond wins and losses, Huey is hoping his final sea- son with the Dragons is as memorable, and meaning- ful, as those that have come before it. “Basketball has been im- portant to me,” Huey said. “I really enjoy playing it and it’s taught me a great deal about life.” Woodburn 62-26 on Jan. 14. Isaak Tichenor scored 11 points for Dallas. The Panthers host Cres- cent Valley Wednesday (today) at 7 p.m. before play- ing at Lebanon on Friday. Dallas hosts South Albany Wednesday (today) at 7 p.m. before playing at Corvallis on Friday. PIRATES SPLIT: Perrydale split a pair of league road games last week. The Pirates defeated East Linn Christian 59- 49 on Jan. 13 before falling to Western Mennonite 50-37 on Friday. Haylen Janesofsky led Perrydale (6-7 overall, 2-3 Tri- River Conference) against East Linn Christian, scoring a game- high 22 points. Chad Price and Brant Barnes added 13 and 12 points, respectively during the victory. Janesofsky scored 15 points against the Pioneers, but the Pirates missed 12 free throws during the loss. “We are competing well with the top teams in our league on a night- in and night-out basis, but there is better basketball in this group,” Perrydale coach Mike Lowry said. “My task is to find out how to tap into that.” The Pi- rates hosted Santiam Tuesday after press time and play at archrival St. Paul on Friday. FA L L S C I T Y E A R N S LEAGUE WIN: Falls City’s boys basketball team earned its sec- ond win in a row, defeating Liv- ingstone Adventist 64-61 on Thursday. The Mountaineers improved to 1-4 in Casco League play. Tristan Yeager scored 30 points to lead Falls City. The Mountaineers hosted Jewell Tuesday after press time and will face Willamette Valley Christian on Friday. Itemizer-Observer Athlete of the Week Julian Nichols Western Oregon Nichols, a junior guard, helped West- ern Oregon’s men’s basketball team de- feat Saint Martin’s 82-68 on Saturday. Nichols scored 17 points, while dishing out seven assists. Nichols went a perfect 10 for 10 from the free-throw line and also recorded a steal on defense. Nichols averages 11.4 points and 5.2 assists per game. He is shooting a team best (minimum of five or more free throws) 90.9 percent from the free-throw line. Kaj Bansen Central High Bansen, a senior, played an instrumen- tal role in Central’s boys basketball victo- ries over South Albany and Dallas. Bansen scored 22 points against South Albany, helping the Panthers to a 65-53 win before exploding for 24 points against the Dragons. Bansen hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as Central hung on for a 57-55 victory, opening Mid-Willamette Conference play with a pair of wins. To submit nominations for the Itemizer-Observer Athlete of the Week, contact Sports Editor Lukas Eggen at 503-623-2373 or leggen@polkio.com by 9 a.m. on Monday.