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.