14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 18, 2015
Polk County Sports
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Wolves find shot against Simon Fraser
Four players score in double figures to lead women’s basketball team to GNAC victory
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon’s women’s basketball
team shot a season-best 59.6
percent from the field en
route to a 68-45 Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence victory over Simon
Fraser on Thursday.
The Wolves had four play-
ers score in double figures,
led by Dana Goularte’s 15
points. Jordan Mottershaw
had 13 points; Elise Miller
added 12 points and Jas-
mine Miller finished with 10
points as WOU was 28-of-47
shooting from the field.
Sami Osborne added 11 re-
bounds and five assists in
the victory.
“It (four players scoring in
double figures) meant the
world just because we’ve
been trying
to really
focus on
being a
w e l l -
rounded
team on
defense
and of-
Goularte
fense,”
Goularte said. “We’re trying
to play stronger together. It
just feels great to have every-
body get there and to have
everybody succeed.”
Western Oregon held
Simon Fraser to 27.9 percent
shooting (17 of 61) from the
field.
The celebratory mood
was short-lived, however, as
the Wolves struggled from
start to finish in an 81-48
loss to Western Washington
on Saturday.
Goularte again led the
Wolves in scoring with 12
points, while also grabbing
seven rebounds. Junior
Emily Howey added 10
points for WOU, which shot
just 37.3 percent from the
field, 28.6 percent from
three-point range.
“We dug ourselves a hole
early in the first half and
came out flat in the second
half,” Western Oregon coach
Holli Howard-Carpenter
said. “We went away from
everything that got us the
win on Thursday night. Our
consistency has been a
struggle for us all season. We
have the ability to compete
with many of the teams in
this conference and need to
have more mental tough-
ness when things aren’t
going well.”
WOU (3-11 GNAC, 6-16
overall) returns to action for
league road games Thursday
at Montana State Billings
and Saturday at Seattle Pa-
cific.
MEN EXTEND WIN STREAK:
Andy Avgi scored a game-high
22 points as the Western Ore-
gon men’s basketball team de-
feated Saint Martin’s 66-56 in
Great Northwest Athletic Con-
ference play Feb. 11, extending
its winning streak to 11 games.
The No. 18-ranked Wolves (13-
1 GNAC, 21-3 overall) shot 61.5
percent from the floor in the
first 20 minutes to take a 38-25
halftime lead. Julian Nichols
added 11 points, four assists,
four rebounds and three steals
for WOU, which clinched a
berth to the GNAC postseason
tournament
with the vic-
tor y. The
Wolves are
home to
host West-
ern Was h-
i n g t o n
Thursday at
7 p.m. and
Avgi
Simon Fras-
er Saturday at 4 p.m.
BASEBALL DROPS THREE
OF FOUR: Western Oregon
dropped three of four games
during a road trip at California
S t a te - M o n te re y B ay. Th e
Wolves lost the opening game
6-2 on Friday. WOU won the
opening game of a double-
header on Saturday 7-6 as
pitcher Jesse Pratt , a Central
High School graduate, earned
the win. Matt Taylor hit a
three-run double in the fifth
inning and Garrett Harpole hit
a solo home run in the ninth to
secure the win. Western Ore-
gon (2-10 overall) lost the final
two contests in the series, 4-2
on Saturday and 2-1 on Sun-
day. WOU closes out non-
league play with a three-game
series against Lewis-Clark State
on Friday, Saturday and Sun-
day.
SOFTBALL WINLESS AT
VEGAS: Western Oregon’s soft-
ball team went 0-6 at the annu-
al Desert Stinger tournament,
played Friday, Saturday and
Sunday in Las Vegas. Destiny
Kuehl went 7 for 16 with three
RBIs during the Desert Stinger
to lead the Wolves (2-10 over-
all). WOU faces Oregon Insti-
tute of Technology Friday at 1
p.m. at Hood View Park in
Clackamas in the Northwest
Cup, an annual softball series.
Western Oregon then plays
Concordia Friday at 3 p.m.
CLASS 5A PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Dallas earns payback in win over Panthers
Dragons move into third place in Mid-Willamette Conference after victories
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The first time
Dallas’ and Central’s girls
basketball teams clashed,
the Panthers earned a 51-36
win.
Things were a bit different
this time.
The Dragons defeated
Central 62-31 on Feb. 11, as
Dallas passed the Panthers
in the Mid-Willamette Con-
ference standings.
“At the end of the day,
basketball is a simple game,”
Dallas coach David
Brautigam said. “We just
played hard, aggressive, fo-
cused and together. In the
last couple weeks, our play-
ers have really come togeth-
er as one.”
Sarah
Zwicker
scored a
game-high
19 points,
B e c c a
R o n c o
added 15
Zwicker
points and
Dallas held the Panthers to
five total points over the sec-
ond and third quarters as
the Dragons pulled away for
the win.
“We’ve always been one of
the best defensive teams in
the state year in and year out,
and that’s been our biggest
improvement as of late,”
Brautigam said. “We have
five players flying around,
which is leading to other pos-
itive things out on the court.
We’re more focused than ever
and we’re playing with a
sense of urgency.”
Dallas’ victory over Cen-
tral meant more than local
bragging rights.
The Dragons (7-3 MWC),
who have won five of their
last six games, moved into
third place in the league
standings behind Corvallis
and Silverton, while Central
dropped to fourth.
The Dragons face the
league-leading Spartans
Wednesday (today) before
hosting Crescent Valley Fri-
day at 7 p.m.
“Our next challenge is to
find consistency in what
we’ve done the last couple
weeks,” Brautigam said.
AARON YOST/for the Itemizer-Observer
Dallas players celebrate during the Dragons’ 62-31 victory over Central on Feb. 11. Dal-
las improved to 7-3 in Mid-Willamette Conference play.
Swinehart: Senior in control
Continued from Page 12A
Collin Swinehart (sec-
ond place at 138), Marlon
Tuipulotu (second at 285)
and Oscar Amezcua
(fourth at 160) also quali-
fied for state.
Collin Swinehart was
pinned by Crescent Valley’s
Alex Rich, a four-time MWC
champion, while Tuipulotu
fell just short in a 3-1 deci-
sion to Corvallis’ Andrew
Lademarco.
“They’re all getting bet-
ter,” Holstad said. “We
hoped for a little different re-
sult for our two runners-up.
Collin had an uphill battle,
but we’ll hopefully be able to
do enough to see (Rich)
again at the state tourna-
ment. With Marlon, it’s com-
ing down to takedowns and
whether we get one or give
one. That’s usually the de-
cider of the match.”
Unlike previous seasons,
there is two
weeks be-
tween dis-
tricts and
the OSAA
Class 5A
s t a t e
wrestling
champi-
Negrete
onships,
which take place Feb. 27-28
in Portland, but don’t expect
Central to take its foot off the
gas during the added break.
“We’ve never had two
weeks before,” Holstad said.
“We’re going to approach
this the same. We are going
to practice and condition,
work on technique and live
wrestling.”
The Panthers may not
have the numbers to com-
pete for a state team title, but
several of its individual quali-
fiers figure to be major con-
tenders next weekend at Vet-
erans Memorial Coliseum.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
Central falls to
rival Dragons
Panthers drop to fourth place
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central’s Alberto Meza battles Dallas’ Mathew Thorsted
on Saturday night. Meza won the 195-pound title.
Fourth Time’s The Charm
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas senior Matt Hofenbredl looks to gain an edge against South Albany’s Jordan Villarreal on Saturday night.
Hofenbredl pinned Villarreal to earn the 132-pound Mid-Willamette Conference district title. Hofenbredl became
the first wrestler in Dallas history to win four district championships. Hofenbredl, who was one of 17 Dragon
wrestlers to qualify for the state tournament, helped Dallas win its sixth-straight district team title.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — A
pair of Mid-Willamette
Confer-
ence loss-
es saw the
Panthers
drop to
fourth
place in
the Mid-
W i l l -
Nash
amette
Confer-
e n c e
standings.
The Cen-
tral girls
basketball
team lost
to Dallas
62-31 on
Feb. 11
Tapasa
before
falling to Crescent Valley
53-45 on Friday.
“We haven’t played well
the last couple of games,”
Panthers coach Julie Mc-
Donald said.
Junior Kylie Nash led
Central against the Raiders,
scoring a team-high 16
points, while Mo Tapasa
added 10 points.
The Panthers enter the
week one game behind
Dallas at 6-4 in MWC play.
Central plays at Lebanon
Wednesday (today) before
facing Silverton on Friday.
PIRATES EARN FOURTH
SEED: Perrydale’s girls basket-
ball squad finished in fourth
place in the Tri-river Confer-
ence after defeating Santiam
48-31 on Feb. 10 and falling to
St. Paul 49-41 on Friday.
Telaney Newton scored a
game-high 14 points against
Santiam, while Cheyenne
Locke led the Pirates with 10
points against St. Paul. Perry-
dale hosts either East Linn
Christian or St. Paul Thursday
League Playoffs
Perrydale will host East
Linn Christian or St. Paul
Thursday at 6 p.m. in the
second round of the Tri-
River Conference playoffs.
The winner advances for a
chance to qualify for the
Class 2A state playoffs..
Falls City will play third-
seeded Willamette Valley
in the Casco League play-
offs.The Mountaineers can
clinch a Class 1A state
berth with a victory.
at 6 p.m. The winner advances
to face the loser of the sec-
ond-place Kennedy/third-
place Regis matchup for the
league’s third state playoff
berth Saturday at noon. All
Saturday games will be held
at Crescent Valley High School
in Corvallis.
FALLS CITY CLINCHES
SECOND SEED: Falls City is
one win away from punching
its ticket to the Class 1A state
girls basketball playoffs. The
Mountaineers clinched sec-
ond place in the Casco League
after defeating Livingstone
Adventist 44-32 on Feb. 10
and Jewell 28-27 on Friday.
Brittany Varney scored 18
points against Jewell and had
20 points against Livingstone
Adventist. The Mountaineers
play third-seeded Willamette
Valley Wednesday (today) at
5:30 p.m. The winner clinches
a berth to state and faces
County Christian for the No. 1
seed from the Casco to state;
Country Christian has won the
regular season title, Friday at
5:30 p.m. The loser of Wednes-
day’s game faces the winner
of Livingstone Adventist/Jew-
ell Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The
winner advances to the state
tournament, while the loser is
eliminated. All league playoff
games will be held at Warner
Pacific College in Portland.