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Polk County Sports 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 20, 2016 DALLAS SWIMMING Ford, Locke look to fine tune for districts By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — The Dallas swim team is ready to begin its charge toward districts. The Dragons, who host a home meet Thursday at 3 p.m., will turn their atten- tion toward getting swim- mers ready to give their best. Senior Parker Ford and sophomore Hannah Locke enter a key stretch of the season with different ex- pectations, but both have become examples of what coaches hope to achieve for everyone who joins. — Ford and Locke come from two different swim- ming backgrounds. Ford has been a lifelong swimmer, competing on the Blue Dolphins youth squad prior to arriving at Dallas. “I’m feel- ing pretty confident right now,” Ford said. The sen- ior isn’t the only Ford on the Ford s q u a d . Younger sister Jolie-Rae Ford also competes for the Drag- ons. The pair use its bond to help push each other throughout the season. “With Jolie on the team, we know what our strengths are and we use it to push each other,” Parker said. “We’ll have little competi- tions and stuff.” The latest was who could record the fastest time in the 100-yard freestyle. Jolie won that round, but Parker said he’s ready to top that mark soon. Dallas Invite • Dallas will host the Dal- las Invitational Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Dallas Aquatic Center. • Dallas, Central, Corvallis and Blanchet Catholic will compete. The three-sport athlete placed first in the 50-yard freestyle on Jan. 5 with a time of 27.26 seconds and has become one of the boys team’s fastest swimmers. Locke is in her first year of swimming. A knee injury suf- fered during the spring play- ing softball meant she was on the lookout for a sport to help with rehab — swim- ming was a natural choice. “I knew it was going to be really difficult and it was,” Locke said. “It’s been tough mentally and physically. I’ve had to learn the ropes of where to go and what to do.” Locke’s times have been steadily improving. Most re- cently, she finished the 50 freestyle in 38.82 seconds on Jan. 5. While they may have come from different swim backgrounds, both Locke and Parker have become ex- amples through their work ethic and dedication, Dallas coach David Morelli said. “Hannah and Parker ex- emplify what high school swimming is all about,” Morelli said. “They work hard and do whatever I ask of them. Where age-group swimming is about individ- ual times and performance, the high school team is about the team. They bring this team attitude to the pool every day.” Now, the Dragons atten- tion begins to change from getting swimmers into shape to prepar ing to swim their best when it matters most. “ T h e challenge Locke in high school swimming is to build the endurance and develop the technique of the seasonal swimmer so they will be competitive,” Morelli said. “… We have met that chal- lenge and all our swimmers now have the endurance and technique to compete in sev- eral races at districts. In the next few weeks we will con- centrate on the finer points of their strokes and perfect their starts and turns.” For Ford, that means en- suring his stroke becomes as efficient as possible as he looks to become a con- tender to qualify for state. “I’m working on lengthen- ing my stroke and my flip turns,” Ford said. “I tend to go back to a 10-year-old’s stroke and short arm every- thing.” For Locke, that means a greater focus on her stroke and breathing. She may have more modest expecta- tions when it comes to com- peting at districts, but that doesn’t make her any less important to the team, Morelli said. Whether they are compet- ing for a berth at state or simply to set a new personal record, Morelli said the Dragons are here to wel- come everyone. “It is our job to let the sea- sonal swimmer know they are part of a team and can add valuable points in indi- vidual races and relays,” Morelli said. CENTRAL ROUNDUP Growth: Falls City looks to Girls basketball tops Dragons knock off league’s best Continued from Page 10A “As seniors, we ask our- selves what we can do to help and encourage them,” Allison Kidd said. “Everyone makes mistakes, and we don’t want them to feel like they’re bringing the team d o w n . When they make a mistake, Varney you can see it in their faces some- times and they, like, shut down.” Lately, that hasn’t been the case. Falls City entered the week on a three-game win streak as several under- classmen made their pres- ence felt. “The girls are getting more comfortable and more confident,” Micke Kidd said. “They don’t have to think as much. They have enough ex- perience that it’s starting to become natural and they just know where they are supposed to be going and where to rotate.” The result has been the ability to add new schemes on defense and a more po- tent offense. “I think the talent’s always been there,” Allison Kidd said. “We’re more talented than last year. I think every- one saw that we can do this and started thinking we want to go somewhere. Everyone is on the same page now and are giving it their all in games and prac- tices.” The next step will be to defeat the league’s top teams. The Mountaineers hosted Willamette Valley Christian Tuesday after press time with a chance to move into third place in the Casco League. Falls City lost to WVC by five on Dec. 8. The Mountaineers en- tered the week 0-3 against the league’s top three squads, losing to Perrydale, second in the Casco League, 30-25 on Jan. 5 and league- leading Country Christian on Dec. 14 — but Falls City doesn’t play like the same team that took the court in early December, Micke Kidd said. “We have three seniors, but we’re so young that we sometimes forget everyone else are freshmen and sophomores,” he said. “We’re asking them to play a lot of minutes, and they just haven’t been there be- fore. They are learning.” BOYS BASKETBALL: Falls City’s boys basketball team de- feated Jewell 56-38 on Jan. 12 before falling to C.S. Lewis 51- 27 on Friday. The Mountaineers (2-9 over- all, 1-6 Casco League) play at Livingstone on Thursday and at Country Christian on Tuesday. DALLAS ROUNDUP Wrestling takes first at Southridge Itemizer-Observer staff report BEAVERTON — Dallas’ wrestling team placed first at the Southridge Wrestling Tournament on Saturday. Ryan Bibler (106 pounds), Jesse Stuhr (120) and Sammy Chung (126) placed first to lead the Dragons. Joseph Foster (113), Ean Woodruff (138) and Tylor Van- denbroeke (145) finished sec- ond. Dallas hosts South Albany Wednesday (today) at 6 p.m. b e f o r e competing at the R e s e r ’s To u r n a - ment of Champions on Friday and Satur- Chung day. The Dragons also host Crescent Valley on Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL SPLITS LEAGUE GAMES: Dal- las’ girls basketball rolled to a 74-28 win over South Albany on Friday. The Dragons opened the week with a 49-37 loss to Cen- tral on Jan. 13. Tristin Savage scored 16 points against the Panthers. Dallas (6-6 overall, 2- 1 Mid-Willamette Conference) plays at Corvallis Wednesday (today) before hosting Cres- cent Valley Friday at 7 p.m. The Dragons play at Redmond Saturday at 1:45 p.m. and plays at Lebanon Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. Everett Minahan Dallas High Minahan, a senior, came through when Dallas’ boys basketball team need- ed him most. Trailing by three with less than five seconds left in regulation, Mi- nahan made a buzzer-beater from half court, sending the team’s game against Central into over- time. The Dragons went on to defeat the Panthers 38-37 in overtime. Minahan’s miracle shot allowed Dallas the chance to put away the Panthers in the extra period. Krista Omlid Central High basketball team lost a pair of MWC contests last week. The Panthers dropped a heart- breaker to Dallas, falling 38-37 in overtime on Jan. 12 before losing to Crescent Valley 58-48 on Friday. “The game vs. Dallas was an absolute heartbreaker for our guys,” Central coach Tim Kreta said. “We had some extremely teachable moments. I know it sounds cliché, but our guys walked out understanding how we let that game slip away.” Against Crescent Valley, the Panthers held an early advan- tage entering the second quar- ter before the Raiders rallied. “We had kind of a debacle from about the middle of the second quarter and into the third,” Kreta said. “They put some pressure on us and we had a hard time handling that.” Central (5-7 overall, 1-2 MWC) hosted Lebanon on Tuesday after press time. The Panthers host Silverton Friday at 7 p.m. Central entered the week in a ive-way tie for third. “Our league is going to end up beating each other up the next week and a half,” Kreta said. “After the top teams, everyone is stuck at 1-2. This next week is going to start separating some teams out.” Pirates move into first in league standings Itemizer-Observer staff report PERRYDALE — Perry- dale’s boys basketball squad sits alone at the top of the Casco League after a 50-42 win over Crosshill Christian on Friday. In a battle of two of the league’s top teams, the Pi- rates (10-4 overall, 7-1 Casco League) handed Crosshill its first league loss of the season. “It was probably our most complete game of the year,” Perrydale coach Mike Lowry said. “Howev- er, after the game I got the impression the team thinks we can get better. It was great to see everybody chip in.” Haylen Janesofsky and Brant Barnes scored 18 points each to lead the Pi- rates. Perrydale played Jewell Tuesday after press time. The Pirates host C.S. Lewis Friday at 7 p.m., St. Paul Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Willamette Valley Christian Tuesday at 7 p.m. “The goal now is to keep improving,” Lowry said. “We need to refine things in offense and defense.” GIRLS BASKETBALL EX- TENDS WIN STREAK: Perry- dale’s girls basketball squad team won its sixth game in a row, d e fe a t i n g C ro s s h i l l Christian 31-20 on Friday. The win was the team’s fourth in a row by 11 points or more. The Pirates (9-5 overall, 7-1 Casco League) played Jewell Tuesday after press time. Per- rydale hosts C.S. Lewis Friday at 5:30 p.m., St. Paul Saturday at 2 p.m. and Willamette Val- ley Christian Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Central: Tuipulotu clinches dual win Omlid, a sophomore, played a big role in Central’s girls basketball team’s wins over Dallas and Crescent Valley. Omlid scored a team-high 14 points against the Dragons on Jan. 13, helping the Panthers to a 49-37 victory over their league rivals. Against the Raiders, she again added 14 points, helping to propel Cen- tral to a 57-42 win on Friday. Omlid helped the Panthers enter the week at 3-0 in Mid-Willamette Conference play. 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. CALEB WALLACE/for the Itemizer-Observer Central’s Kyle Nash (left) drives to the hoop as Dallas’ Tristin Savage (right) attempts to block her. The Pan- ters defeated the Dragons 49-37 on Jan. 13. PERRYDALE ROUNDUP Itemizer-Observer Athlete of the Week Itemizer-Observer staff report INDEPENDENCE 2- Cen- tral’s girls basketball squad improved to 3-0 in Mid- Willamette Conference play after defeating Dallas 49-37 on Jan. 13 and Crescent Val- ley 57-42 on Friday. Krista Omlid scored 14 points, Alex Al- v a r e z added 13 points and Kylie Nash re c o rd e d 11 points for the Pa n t h e r s Omlid against the Dragons. N a s h had 26 points, in- cluding five 3- p o i n t e r s, w h i l e O m l i d Alvarez scored 14 points against Crescent Val- ley. “We worked on our of- fense and really under- standing the game of bas- ketball,” Panthers coach Julie McDonald said. “We’re focused on one game at a time. The experience our players have gotten is a major part of our success. Our freshmen have played major roles, and we need everyone to be successful on offense.” Central (8-4 overall) ex- tended its win streak to six games. The Panthers play at L e b a n o n We d n e s d a y (today) and at Silverton on Friday. Silverton entered the week undefeated at 13-0. BOYS BASKETBALL DROPS TWO: Central’s boys LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Marlon Tuipulotu defeated Dexter Rimer on Jan. 13. Continued from Page 10A Both Luis and Manuel began wrestling during mid- dle school. Since then, they couldn’t picture themselves doing anything else. “After my first match, I loved it,” Louis said. “I just wanted to wrestle from then on.” The pair has grown into two of the team’s most de- pendable wrestlers. Now, the Panthers will look to the Martinez broth- ers, among others, to build the depth necessary to com- pete for a Mid-Willamette Conference title. It’s a goal they know won’t come easy, but one the Pan- thers’ wrestlers are excited to try and overcome. “We want to win league, that’s our goal,” Tuipulotu said. “We just have to take it one goal at a time.”
