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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
Polk County Sports 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 6, 2016 CENTRAL GIRLS BASKETBALL Omlid no longer ‘freshy’ for the Panthers By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — It was only a year ago Krista Omlid went by “freshy” on Central’s girls basketball team. Going from “freshy” to veteran this year is a surpris- ing jump for the sophomore. Entering her freshman year, Omlid’s vision extend- ed as far as junior varsity. Instead, she made varsity in basketball. It came as a shock to Omlid, but not to the coach- es who saw her potential. “Really, athletically her skills have been there,” Cen- tral girls basketball coach Julie McDonald said. “It was just men- tally being able to come up from the eighth- grade level to the var- sity level. Omlid It’s a big jump for anybody.” Making varsity is one thing. Learning to thrive at the varsity level is whole dif- ferent matter, one that Omlid struggled with at first. “I just thought, ‘don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up, and don’t foul out,’” Omlid said. “I was like, I don’t know about this. I’m playing with seniors. With (former Central post) Sai (Tapasa), I had to guard her sometimes during practice. That scared me so much.” Her trial by fire taught her invaluable lessons, though. “I learned to pass the ball around a lot better,” Omlid said. “The experience was huge. It’s a big step going from Talmadge ball to play- ing 6A schools. It’s nerve- racking. Coach had me bring the ball down the court once. I wasn’t feeling it.” Omlid’s mental hurdles are beginning to disappear. She scored six points dur- ing the Panthers’ 37-33 win over Mountain View on Sat- urday and 10 points against Wilson on Dec. 30. “She had to slow down Big wins • Central defeated Wilson 51-34 on Dec. 29 and Mountain View 37-33 on Saturday. • Kylie Nash scored a game-high 23 points against Wilson, while Eliza- beth Chavez added 12 points. • Chavez scored a team- high 12 points against Mountain View. Nash added 10 points. her mind a little bit,” Mc- Donald said. “This year, she’s improved playing with the speed of the game, as far as strategy goes and when she needs to penetrate and when she needs to shoot. Her athleticism is above where most sophomores are at. She’s definitely looked to as one of our leaders.” As one of five returners, the role of leader is a new experience for Omlid. “I was nervous about this season,” Omlid said. “I didn’t know if we were in shape or any of that, but the fresh- men have put us on pace.” McDonald has preached that at varsity, grade levels don’t matter much. “Krista’s pretty internal, but the younger girls look to her as an example that it can be done,” McDonald said. The Panthers entered the week with a 4-4 record, win- ning three of their last four games. Offensively, senior Kylie Nash has carried the bulk of the load, but several other players, including Chavez, and Emma Girod are mak- ing key contributions, Mc- Donald said. “We have a lot of girls playing a lot of different po- sitions,” McDonald said. “With our limited number of athletes that we have for var- sity and JV, it’s important that they do know the differ- ent positions.” Central opens league play Friday against South Albany. “We’re doing a lot of film study and making the cor- rections that need to be made,” McDonald said. “We’re excited and ready for league.” PERRYDALE ROUNDUP Pirates boys, girls basketball teams earn wins at Gaston Itemizer-Observer staff report GASTON — Perrydale’s boys and girls basketball squads earned wins at Gas- ton on Dec. 29. The girls team won 35-29, while the boys earned a 57- 34 victory. Senior Telaney Newton scored a game-high 17 points to lead the girls. “We came out and played really well in the first half and took a 23-10 lead at halftime,” girls coach Terry Newton said. Sierra Starr added seven points and Anna McGill scored six points. Haylen Janesofsky scored 17 points to lead the boys team. Janesofsky also had eight rebounds and four s t e a l s f o r t h e P i ra t e s. MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Spencer Bibler scored 12 points and Brant Barnes added 10 points, 12 re- bounds and seven assists. Perrydale hosted Falls City Tuesday after press time. The Pirates play at Southwest Christian on Thursday and hosts Saint John Bosco Fri- day before playing at Jewell on Monday. Games begin at 5:30 p.m. DALLAS ROUNDUP Wolves bounce back Wrestling places second at Pac Coast from pair of losses Itemizer-Observer staff report NAMPA, Idaho — Western Oregon’s men’s basketball team bounced back from its first two losses of the season with a 75-53 win over North- west Nazarene on Saturday. The Wolves opened the week with an 88-60 loss to the University of Oregon on Dec. 29 and an 81-77 setback at Central Washington on Thursday. Senior Julian Nichols scored 13 points to lead five players in double figures against Northwest Nazarene. Julian Nichols (13 points), Jordan Wiley (12 points), Ta n n e r Omlid (12 points) and Andy Avgi (11 points) rounded out the team’s lead- ing scorers. Nichols WOU (10-2 overall, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) hosts Simon Fraser Thursday at 7 p.m. and Saint Martin’s Sat- urday at 9 p.m. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on Root Sports. Root Sports is available on Charter, Direct TV and the Dish Network. Wolves: WOU gets first win since Nov. Continued from Page 10A Thursday’s victory was the team’s first since Nov. 22. “When you’ve gone so long without a win, it’s a b o o s t o f c o n f i d e n c e ,” Howard-Carpenter said. Howey hopes that it will build positive momentum and help turn this season around. “We are a momentum team,” Howey said. “We love it. I think we showed that we can be a super strong team. We’re great individually, but when we play together, we’re even better.” WOU plays at Alaska An- chorage on Thursday and at Alaska Fairbanks on Satur- day. Itemizer-Observer Athlete of the Week Marlon Tuipulotu Central Oregon Tuipulotu, a senior wrestler, had a ter- rific two-tournament stretch last week. Tuipulotu went undefeated at the North- west Duals, helping Central to an eighth- place finish in the middle 16 bracket. He followed that performance up by going 3-0 in the 285- pound weight class at the Bob Bishop Invitational, winning his weight class and helping the Panthers to a third-place finish in the team standings. Itemizer-Observer staff report VANCOUVER, Wash. — Dallas’ wrestling team placed second at the Pacific Coast Wrestling Champi- onships on Friday and Sat- urday. The Dragons finished be- hind Union in the team standings. terstate Shootout in Portland last week. The Dragons defeat- ed Aloha 56-32 on Dec. 29 be- fore defeating South Eugene 39-35 on Dec. 30. Dallas host- ed Sunset Tuesday after press time and hosts Woodburn Thursday at 7 p.m. The Drag- ons play at Mountain View on Friday and will host Central Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. Panthers take third at Bob Bishop Itemizer-Observer staff report WILLAMINA — Central’s wrestling squad finished third at the Bob Bishop In- vitational on Saturday. Collin Swinehart (152 pounds) and Marlon Tuipu- lotu (285) placed first to lead the Panthers. Sam Crow (195) finished second and Luis Martinez (106) took third. Swinehart T h e Pa n t h e r s a l s o placed eighth in the middle 16 bracket at the Northwest Duals on Dec. 29 and 30. Central will compete at L e b a n o n We d n e s d a y (today) and will host South Albany Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. BOYS BASKETBALL FALLS TO MT. VIEW: Central’s boys basketball team fell to Moun- tain View 55-49 on Saturday. “I was very pleased with the guys’ preparation for this game,” Central coach Tim Kreta said. “We know our last few games have not been our most crisp, so we wanted to end our nonleague season moving in the right direction.” Alec Barba scored 18 points to lead the Panthers, who enter Mid-Willamette Confer- ence play with a 4-5 record. “The guys played very hard and have shown growth and maturity,” Kreta said. Central opens league play at South Albany on Friday be- fore hosting Dallas Tuesday at 7 p.m. FALLS CITY ROUNDUP Girls basketball drops close game to Alsea Itemizer-Observer staff report ALSEA — Falls City’s girls basketball team lost to Alsea 37-36 on Dec. 29. No details were provided. The boys basketball squad won by forfeit. The girls (5-4 overall) and boys (2-6 overall) played at Perrydale Tuesday after press time. The Mountaineers host Crosshill Christian on Fri- day. Games begin at 5:30 p.m. Falls City plays at Jew- ell on Tuesday. Form: Glade changing focus Continued from Page 10A But he quickly realized the desire to win only car- ried him so far. In eighth grade, Glade decided to change his approach. “I was thinking more about swimming for myself and trying to improve in- stead of winning all the time,” Glade said. That shift in thinking helped him improve even more, especially during his freshman year of high school. He hopes to recapture that feeling quickly — even as he balances a busier schedule. “The toughest part is find- ing time for yourself,” Glade said. “All I want to do after practice is eat and sleep, and you just can’t do that.” Despite the slow start to his season, Glade’s goals re- main ambitious. He hopes to break five minutes in the 500 freestyle. Solution on Page 13A Perrydale High 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. Dallas will compete at L e b a n o n We d n e s d a y (today), before hosting the Brunner Invite on Saturday. The Dragons will compete at Woodburn on Jan. 13. GIRLS BASKETBALL ENDS TOURNEY WITH WINS: Dallas’ girls basketball team won its inal two games at the Nike In- CENTRAL ROUNDUP Telaney Newton Newton, a senior, helped Perrydale’s girls basketball team to a 35-29 victory over Gaston on Dec. 29. Newton scored a game-high 17 points as the Pirates im- proved to 4-5 overall and broke a three- game losing streak. Newton was the only player to score in double digits during the game. The senior also helped on defense, helping the Pirates build a 23-10 lead at the half thanks to pressure defense. Dawson Barcroft (106 pounds), Tanner Earhart (160), Jeff Dunagan (170) and Clay Coxen (182) recorded third-place finish- es to lead the Dragons. Dallas also finished fifth in the top 16 bracket at the Northwest Duals on Dec. 29 and 30. Pencil us in! www.polkio.com He knows that will be a difficult task, but the goal is a positive step forward, sig- naling what he hopes will be a return to form. “Swimming gets me so fo- cused and keeps me calm,” Glade said. “… Right now, I’m just trying to do my best.”
