Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 24, 2016 16A
FALLS CITY GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mountaineers’ successful season comes to an end
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
PORTLAND — Falls City’s
girls basketball team’s bid for
a return to the state playoffs
fell a game short.
The Mountaineers lost to
Willamette Valley Christian
35-25 on Saturday in the
third-place game of the
Casco League Tournament,
ending the team’s season.
Brittany Varney scored a
game-high 18 points in the
losing effort.
The Mountaineers
opened the tournament
with a 25-24 win over Living-
stone Adventist on Friday —
a game that saw the Moun-
taineers trail 11-2 after the
first quarter and 22-12 in the
second
half.
“ W e
were en-
couraging
each other
the whole
game,” Alli-
son Kidd
Varney
said. “We
weren’t being negative,
which was nice.”
The Mountaineers ended
the game on a 13-2 run.
“We just asked our girls to
play good defense,” Tiauan-
nah Davis said.
On Saturday, another
slow start, this time being
shutout in the first quarter,
proved too much to over-
come.
The Mountaineers fin-
ished the season with a 15-
10 record overall and a 9-7
mark in league play.
“We talked about all year
that all we can control is our
attitude and our effort,”
Mountaineers coach Micke
Kidd said. “One thing I can
say about these girls is that
they don’t quit. They keep
playing.”
Allison Kidd earned first
team all-league honors, Var-
ney received second team
all-league recognition and
Davis earned an honorable
mention for their efforts
during the season.
“I thought our girls had a
great season,” Micke Kidd
said. “I am very proud of
their effort and am looking
forward to next season.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Falls City players celebrate after beating Livingstone Adventist 25-24 on Friday.
Dallas: Dragons hope to build on district performances
Continued from Page 15A
“He and I set this goal that
we’re going to push each
other every day and be the
best workout partners we
could,” Dunagan said.
The pair wrestled almost
daily.
“We wrestle all the time,”
Earhart said. “He’s one of my
best workout partners. He
always kicks my butt, but we
had a little rivalry going.”
As a result, the pair be-
came close friends off the
mat. On Saturday, the pair
shared a celebration for
their long-awaited district ti-
tles.
Dunagan pinned
Lebanon’s Orasio Lopez in
the finals, while Earhart
earned an 8-2 decision over
teammate Cody Janssen.
“I was pretty excited,”
Dunagan said. “I don’t know
how else to explain it. I final-
ly won districts. Last year, I
got to the finals and lost.
This year, I got back to the fi-
nals and got to take it. It’s a
good feeling, especially with
Tanner. For him and me to
win it together is pretty
cool.”
Molina, a senior, was al-
ways confident in his
chance to walk away with a
district title. When the mo-
ment finally came, and
Molina defeated Central’s
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas sophomore Noah Sickles looks to gain position
on an opponent. Sickles placed second at district.
Opeti Tuipulotu in the finals,
the feeling was unlike any-
thing he’s ever felt.
“It’s fantastic,” Molina
said. “I feel better than ever.
… I saw that hard work pays
off and giving your all gets
you where you want to be.”
All three know their ulti-
mate goal is now closer than
ever.
“I’m ready to kick butt
and get my state title,” Moli-
na said. “We’re a strong
team. We have a lot of guys
qualified for state. We’ll go
out there and do our best
and hopefully win some ti-
tles.”
Dallas’ state qualifiers
have a mix of seniors look-
ing for one last state title run
to freshmen ready to take on
state for the first time.
“Some of the guys
punched through a good
district tournament,” coach
Tony Olliff said. “I’m proud
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas senior Jesse Stuhr attempts to pin an opponent on Saturday. Stuhr was one of
13 Dallas wrestlers to qualify for state at the district championships.
of them. It was neat to see
Jesse (Stuhr) battle his way
into state in fourth place.
Jacob Jones worked his way
to the finals. I’m excited to
see how he does at state.”
But the district tourna-
ment also revealed that the
Dragons still have work to
do.
“We had a series of things
that made you think, ‘oh
man, we’ve got to make sure
Central: Panthers send eight to state
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central coach Van Holstad talks with junior Sam Crow
before a match on Saturday afternoon.
Continued from Page 15A
For Tuipulotu and Swine-
hart, both seniors, it’s a final
chance to win a state title —
one year after losing in their
respective state champi-
onship matches.
“It feels real good (to win
districts), but now it’s time
for state,” Tuipulotu said.
“It’s about staying physical-
ly and mentally ready for
state, and we have to just
finish. That’s all I can say
right now.”
Swinehart completed the
first step in ending his high
school career on the ulti-
mate high. Now he’s hoping
to become a state champion
for the first time.
“I needed to make it
through the match wrestling
my style and I did that
today,” Swinehart said. “At
state, I need to keep the
matches going with my style
and pretty much force it on
people, instead of fading
into theirs.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central senior Marlon Tuipulotu won a district title in
the 285-pound class on Saturday.
State provides a proving
ground for Negrete. The jun-
ior made it to the state tour-
nament in 2015, but failed to
place.
He’s on a mission to
change that this year.
“There is some unfin-
ished business for a couple
of them who made it to the
finals last year, and David
(Negrete) making it to state
and not competing that
well,” coach Van Holstad
said. “He’s anxious to show
what he actually has.”
Holstad said, despite hop-
ing for more state qualifiers,
the Panthers put forth a
solid effort, and he is excited
to see what his qualifiers can
do this weekend.
“I’m proud of all the kids
who went out there and
competed,” Holstad said.
“Everyone fought well.
We’re excited to compete at
state.”
that doesn’t happen (at
state),’” Olliff said. “Treve
Earhart dropped some close
matches. Clay Coxen needs
t o g e t h e a l t h i e r. E a n
Woodruff had a wonderful
match in the finals, but got
caught. We had a lot of stuff
this weekend that didn’t go
our way. You don’t want to
attribute that to luck. We
have stuff we have to work
on in practice.”
Things like that are a big
reason why, despite having
cause for celebration, Dallas
wasn’t satisfied with the
overall outcome.
“When it feels like luck
isn’t going your way, you
have to do some self-evalu-
ating and say we have some
things to fine tune,” Olliff
said. “We have a few prac-
tices between now and state.
We can’t be done yet.”
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Ford finishes sixth at
state championship
Itemizer-Observer staff report
GRESHAM — Dallas jun-
ior Jolie-Rae Ford placed
sixth in the finals of the
200- and 500-yard freestyle
races at the OSAA state
swimming championships
on Saturday.
Ford finished with a time
of 2 minutes, 1.47 seconds
in the 200 and 5:28.91 in
the 500.
Senior Elizabeth Dressel
narrowly missed qualifying
for the finals in the 100 but-
terfly, placing seventh
(1:03.43).
“It was a good showing
by two experienced swim-
mers,” Dallas coach David
Morelli said. “I was pleased
Liz qualified for state this
year, since it is her senior
year, and very pleased she
swam her best race at the
end of her long and suc-
cessful swimming career
here in Dallas.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL DE-
FEATS CRESCENT VALLEY:
Sparked by a strong third
quarter, Dallas’ girls basketball
team defeated Crescent Valley
52-49 on Feb. 19 and moved
into a tie with Central for third
place in the Mid-Willamette
Conference.
The Dragons outscored the
Raiders 18-5 in the third quar-
ter, taking a 40-31 lead into
the fourth, and held on for the
victory. Sarah Zwicker scored
17 points, while Tristin Savage
added 12 points and seven re-
bounds. Dallas (12-10 overall,
7-5 MWC) played Lebanon
Tuesday after press time. The
Dragons close out the regular
season by hosting Silverton
Friday at 7 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
DROPS PAIR OF CLOSE
GAMES: Dallas’ boys basket-
ball squad lost a pair of heart-
breakers, falling to Crescent
Valley 49-46 on Feb. 17 and
Redmond 44-42 on Friday.
S e n i o r Eve re t t M i n a h a n
scored 18 points to lead the
Dragons against the Raiders,
and Mitchell Laizure added 12
points. Minahan scored 21
points against Redmond. Dal-
las (7-15 overall, 3-9 MWC)
played Lebanon Tuesday after
press time. The Dragons play
at Silverton on Friday to end
the regular season.
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Boys basketball looks to lock up postseason berth
Itemizer-Observer staff report
SILVERTON — A 65-39
loss to Silverton on Feb. 17
created some drama for
Central’s boys basketball
team.
“It was a tough game for
the Panthers,” Central coach
Tim Kreta said. “We went
down big early and couldn’t
pull ourselves out of it be-
fore the half. Silverton came
out with much more energy
and poise. We tried to match
their intensity, but got
caught up fighting our own
energy instead of sticking to
what has been working for
us.”
Harkie Bal scored 12
points during the loss, while
Kevin Cable added nine
points.
The Panthers close out
the regular season at home
against Corvallis Wednes-
day (today) at 7 p.m. and
Woodburn Friday at 7 p.m.
Central entered the week
in a three-way tie for fourth
place in the Mid-Willamette
Conference standings with
South Albany and Wood-
burn.
The Panthers (9-12 over-
all, 5-7 MWC) also hold a
one-game lead over Cres-
cent Valley for seventh (be-
cause of the tie at fourth)
and a two-game lead over
Dallas for eighth.
The top six teams ad-
vance to the postseason.
“The kids were disap-
pointed, but they also un-
derstand that Silverton is a
very disciplined team and
that if we want to think
about any type of postsea-
son, we need to be able to
play as we were before,”
Kreta said.
GIRLS BASKETBALL FALLS
TO SILVERTON: Central’s girls
basketball team lost to Silver-
ton 43-26 on Feb. 16. The loss,
the team’s third straight,
dropped the Panthers into a tie
for third place in the MWC with
Dallas. The Panthers played
Corvallis Tuesday after press
time. Central closes out the
regular season at Woodburn
Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers
need to win one of their inal
two games to clinch a home
play-in game or have Lebanon
and Crescent Valley lose one of
their inal games. Central (12-9
overall, 7-5 MWC) will face a
Midwestern league opponent
in the play-in round on Tues-
day. Check www.polkio.com on
Sunday for the opponent.