Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current, March 09, 2016, Image 13

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Newspaper Page TextPolk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 9, 2016 13A CENTRAL BOYS BASKETBALL Central’s rally comes up short By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer EUGENE — Central’s boys basketball team saw a late rally fall just short against Churchill on Saturday. The Panthers fell in the first round of the 5A state play- offs 68-63. The Lancers created some space in the first half. Cen- tral pulled to within 24-21, but a 13-5 run to close out the first half gave Churchill a 37-26 lead. “They came out and punched us in the mouth first,” junior Alec Barba said. The Panthers were unable to get any closer than three the rest of the game. “We just got a little fraz- zled,” Central coach Tim Kreta said. “We had some different guys in there at the time. We had some foul trouble with Kevin (Cable) and Harkie (Bal) picking up two quick fouls. Peter (Mason) was on the bench at the time.” The Pan- thers made several ral- Mendazona lies during the second half, but each time Churchill held them off. Central closed to within 66- 63 with six seconds left in the game. A pair of free throws sealed the win for the Lancers, who advanced to the state quarterfinals round against Summit on Thursday. Barba and Peter Menda- zona each scored 18 points during the loss. “I let the players know this was their game. This was them playing lights out,” Kreta said. “We came out and defended well. We only had two turnovers in the second half. We did every- thing we g a m e - planned for. As much as losing is bad, if we’re going to go down, Barba I want it to be with our best effort. I’m proud of them, absolutely.” The loss marked the end of a season that saw Central overcome early struggles in league play. “It was a learning experi- ence,” Barba said. “We went through ups and downs. It was a roller coaster, but it gave us a ton of experience. The junior class, the sopho- more class, everyone is going to come back really strong next season.” Kreta hopes players see that it’s not how a season be- gins, but how it ends that matters most. DALLAS GIRLS BASKETBALL Dallas dropped in first round By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer SPRINGFIELD — The Dal- las High girls basketball team stuck with the No. 2 seed, but in the end, Spring- field defeated Dallas 47-35 on Friday. The Dragons were elimi- nated after reaching the first round of the state playoffs. Dallas jumped out to a 9-2 lead to begin the game and held a 26-22 lead in the third quarter before Springfield rallied. “I’m sure many thought we’d get destroyed except the players and coaches of the Dallas Dragons basket- ball program,” Dallas coach David Brautigam said. “We didn’t play scared or timid. We played aggressive and confident. We c a m e out like one of the top teams in the state.” Fresh- man Emma Classen Nelson s c o r e d eight points, while junior Olivia Nelson added seven points. Dallas advanced to the first round after defeating Churchill 54-39 on March 1. Sophomore Tristin Savage had a team-high 15 points during the win. Despite battling multiple injuries, Brautigam is more than happy with the way his team responded to a difficult season. “The reality is we only re- turned one starter and play- er with major experience from the previous season, and experience in girls bas- k e t b a l l i s e ve r y t h i n g ,” Brautigam said. “We battled all season to finish fourth in the toughest conference in the state. I know our team believes if we were healthy, we’d finish better, but there isn’t a thing I’d change about the season. Our players learned a lot about each other and we are better for it.” And that was more impor- tant to Brautigam than any wins on the court. “Character in players and in a team are very important to me as a coach,” Brautigam said. “This team developed exactly that — great charac- ter.” WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Baseball splits with Concordia Itemizer-Observer staff report PORTLAND — Western Oregon’s baseball team split a four-game series with Con- cordia on Saturday and Sun- day to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Wolves took the opening game of the series 9-2 before falling 2-0 on Sat- urday. Senior Trevor Podratz hit a home run in the top of the first inning to spark WOU during its victory. Pitcher Brady Miller threw nine strikeouts. Western Oregon split a doubleheader on Sunday as well, earning a 4-1 win in the first game before losing 1-0 in the second. Pitcher Garrett Alvarez earned a complete- game victory, while Podratz hit his second home run of the series. Western Oregon (7-6 over- all, 2-2 GNAC) hosts Saint Martin’s on Saturday and Sunday for a pair of double- headers. First pitch is sched- uled for noon on both days. SOFTBALL FALLS TO CWU: The rain caused some changes to Western Oregon’s softball team’s schedule. The Wolves’ home-opener against Saint Martin’s on Saturday was post- poned, while WOU traveled to face Central Washington on Sunday. The Wolves dropped a doubleheader to the Wildcats 7- 5 and 7-6. Senior Alyson Boytz threw a complete game in the irst matchup. WOU led 4-3 be- fore giving up four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Ryanne Hufman scored in the top of the seventh to pull the Wolves within two, but CWU held on. Hufman scored two runs in the second game of the doubleheader and Ashlee Lynch hit a home run, but West- ern Oregon dropped a second- straight close game. WOU (7-10 overall, 0-2 GNAC) will host Montana State Billings for a pair of doubleheaders. Play begins at 1 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday. “I hope they saw that the season is an uphill climb,” Kreta said. “It’s not just about showing up on the first day of tryouts and thinking we’re the best. T h e r e’s s o m e g r ow i n g pains.” It may have not been the fairy tale ending they had hoped for, but Central’s players are proud of the way they faced adversity throughout the season. “I looked at a team that started off 1-6 in league and just improved and got this close to getting to Gill Coli- seum,” Cable said. “It was pretty special.” The Panthers advanced to the first round after defeat- ing Eagle Point 70-49 on Wednesday, sending players off with a win in their final home game of the season. Barba scored 17 points, while Peter Mason added 15 points. LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central junior Peter Mason looks to pass during the Pan- thers’ 70-49 win over Eagle Point on March 2. Panthers: Central ends 14-11 Continued from Page 12A Central pulled to within five twice in the last min- utes of the game with a chance to close the lead more. In the end, the Pan- thers couldn’t rally all the way back. “Losing doesn’t feel good, but these seniors have made it to state all four years,” McDonald said. “Not many people can do that. That’s pretty cool.” Central advanced to the first round after defeating Eagle Point 64-27 on March 1 in the play-in round. Nash scored 19 points, while Alvarez added 14 points. Sophomore Krista Omlid recorded 11 re- bounds. Nash passed a career milestone during the win — reaching 1,000 points during her high school career early in the third quarter. “I was pretty excited,” Nash said. “That’s been one of my main goals. That’s pretty sweet.” The senior had her eyes on the milestone for more than a year. “My junior year, me and my dad were looking at stats of other college play- ers,” Nash said. “I saw this one player had a thousand and something points. I knew then I wanted to get that 1,000.” Reaching that mark in her final home game only made the moment more special. “It means all the hard work I put into the sport is showing,” Nash said. “It’s going into college knowing I gave so much for my high school team and I was able to perform for them.” McDonald said there was a lot for her team to hang its hat on. And she hopes the Panthers take this season and continue to grow going forward. “They’ve probably im- proved the most of any team I coached from the beginning to the end of the season,” McDonald said. “They have a lot of posi- tives to look at. I’m proud of the way they fought until the end.” Wolves: Will play HSU Continued from Page 12A “We were happy they made it to the champi- onship game and even hap- pier to knock them off,” redshirt sophomore Tanner Omlid said. The Wolves opened the tournament with a 58-57 win over Seattle Pacific on Friday thanks to a jumper by Julian Nichols with eight seconds left. Alexander, who also scored 19 points against Seattle Pacific, was named tournament MVP. Western Oregon will host the NCAA Division II West Regional on Friday, Satur- day and Monday. The Wolves enter as the region’s top-ranked team and will face Humboldt State Friday at 7:30 p.m. The winner advances to the semifi- nals on Saturday. “Ever y team we face now is a cham- pionship caliber Nichols team. We have to come ready to play,” Omlid said. A year ago, WOU lost to top-ranked Azusa Pacific in the first round. “Last year we had a good o p p o r t u n i t y a s w e l l ,” Alexander said. “We made a stepping stone in history, but we still remember that feeling of coming up short. That’s probably our No. 1 motivation is using that loss last year to go in and ad- vance to the next round. We want to check that box off our list. That’s our chal- lenge.” The winner of the west regional advances to the Elite Eight on March 23. “We want to use that same feeling of winning the GNAC championship as a humbling experience yet also as motivation that we can do something even greater,” Alexander said. “... We have a good feeling going into the tourna- ment.” The chance to do it in front of a home crowd makes this opportunity even more special. “Honestly, I’m thankful,” Alexander said. “I know all of the seniors are thankful to be in this position. To have everyone being 100 percent with us, it feels good.” SCOREBOARD Etheridge, Oliver. 3B—WOU: Vanderkin. HR—WOU: Podratz. BASEBALL CLASS 5A MID-WILLAMETTE Team League Central 0-0 Corvallis 0-0 Crescent Valley 0-0 Dallas 0-0 Lebanon 0-0 Silverton 0-0 South Albany 0-0 Woodburn 0-0 Monday, March 14 Games Stayton at Central Dallas at Silverton Jamboree Wednesday, March 16 Game Philomath at Central — All 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 CLASS 2A-1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 2 Team League Central Linn 0-0 Country Christian 0-0 East Linn Christian 0-0 Kennedy 0-0 Perrydale 0-0 Regis 0-0 Santiam 0-0 St. Paul 0-0 Western Mennonite 0-0 Wednesday, March 16 Game Perrydale at Waldport — All 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 COLLEGE GNAC Second Game WOU 000 000 0— 0 2 0 CU 200 000 X— 2 5 1 Moran and Wakem; McGhee and North. W—McGhee. L—Moran. 2B— WOU: Poznanski. Sunday, March 6 Results Western Oregon 4-0, Concordia 1-1 First Game WOU 111 010 000—4 8 1 CU 000 001 000—1 5 1 Alvarez and Oliver; Krueger, Eldridge (6) and Henderson. W—Alvarez. L— Krueger. 2B—CU: Crosby. HR—WOU: Podratz. Second Game WOU 000 000 0— 0 3 0 CU 000 001 X— 1 6 1 Steindorf and Oliver; Hadley and North. W—North. L—Steindorf. Saturday, March 12 Games Saint Martin’s at Western Oregon (DH) Sunday, March 13 Games Saint Martin’s at Western Oregon (DH) BOYS BASKETBALL MID-WILLAMETTE Team League All Central Washington 3-1 7-5 Northwest Nazarene 3-1 8-6 Western Oregon 2-2 7-6 Concordia 2-2 4-10 Montana State Billings 1-3 7-6 Saint Martin’s 1-3 4-10 Saturday, March 5 Results Western Oregon 9-0, Concordia 2-2 Team League All Corvallis 12-2 19-6 Silverton 11-3 17-8 Lebanon 9-5 16-9 Central 6-8 11-14 South Albany 6-8 13-13 Woodburn 5-9 10-14 Crescent Valley 4-10 10-14 Dallas 3-11 7-17 Wednesday, March 2 Result Central 70, Eagle Point 49 First Game WOU 100 041 102—9 9 0 CU 000 000 002—2 3 0 Miller, Allison (9) and Oliver; Moser, Wilson (6) and Henderson. W—Miller. L— M o s e r. 2 B — W O U : Po d r a t z , CENTRAL 70, EAGLE POINT 49 March 2 Box Score EAGLE POINT (49) — Quintero 16, Bell 16, Rodgers 7, Perkins 4, McHugh 2, Scott 2, Vasquez 2, Shopp, Nielsen, Hill, Spradley. Totals 19 6-14 49. CENTRAL (70) — Barba 17, Mason 15, K. Cable 11, Stepp 10, Bal 8, Men- dazona 6, Barry 3, Ibarra, Avila, Cantu, W. Cable, Abraham. Totals 22 19-26 70. Eagle Point 12 10 14 13—49 Central 16 13 26 15—70 3-point goals — Eagle Point 5 (Quin- tero 4, Rodgers 1); Central 7 (Barba 5, Mendazona 1, Barry 1). Broadus 4, Trevino 2, Kan, Berry. Totals 22 17-22 64. Eagle Point 7 5 6 9—27 Central 13 19 19 13—64 3-point goals — Eagle Point 4 (Wood 4); Central 3 (Nash 2, Chavez 1). Saturday, March 5 Result Churchill 68, Central 63 HILLSBORO 42, CENTRAL 35 Friday’s Box Score CENTRAL (35) — Nash 15, Alvarez 12, Girod 4, Omlid 4, Riddell, Chavez, Broadus ,Trevino. Totals 14 0-2 35. CHURCHILL (42) — Green 12, Gam- bee 9, Wilson 9, Rogers 9, Dy 3, Salas. Totals 16 8-15 42. Central 8 0 6 21—35 Hillsboro 11 9 9 13—42 3-point goals — Central 7 (Alvarez 4, Nash 3); Hillsboro 2 (Dy 1, Wilson 1). CHURCHILL 68, CENTRAL 63 Saturday’s Box Score CENTRAL (63) — Mendazona 18, Barba 18, Stepp 11, Bal 5, Abraham 5, Mason 4, K. Cable 2, Barry. Totals 21 10- 14 63. CHURCHILL (68) — Wilson 23, Brant 9, Perez 9, Bixby 7, Hall 6, Stubbs 5, Geiger 5, Becker 3, Ellis 1. Totals 20 24- 31 68. Central 11 15 13 24—63 Churchill 17 20 12 19—68 3-point goals — Central 11 (Barba 6, Mendazona 4, Bal 1); Churchill 4 (Wilson 4). GIRLS BASKETBALL MID-WILLAMETTE Team League Silverton 14-0 Corvallis 12-2 Central 8-6 Dallas 8-6 Lebanon 6-8 Crescent Valley 6-8 Woodburn 2-12 South Albany 0-14 Tuesday, March 1 Results Central 64, Eagle Point 27 Dallas 54, Churchill 39 All 25-0 20-5 14-11 14-12 14-12 10-14 6-18 4-20 CENTRAL 64, EAGLE POINT 27 March 1 Box Score EAGLE POINT (27) — Wood 17, Hart 4, Meerten 4, Beal 2, Miller, Crowe, Alden, SunMarco. Totals 10 3-11 27. CENTRAL (64) — Nash 19, Alvarez 14, Omlid 8, Chavez 7, Girod 6, Riddell 4, Friday, March 4 Results Hillsboro 42, Central 35 Springfield 47, Dallas 35 COLLEGE BASKETBALL GNAC MEN Team League All Western Oregon 18-2 27-3 Alaska Fairbanks 15-5 22-8 Alaska Anchorage 14-6 21-11 Seattle Pacific 14-6 22-8 Central Washington 13-7 18-8 Western Washington 9-11 16-15 Saint Martin’s 9-11 15-13 Montana State Billings 8-12 11-17 Concordia 5-15 7-20 Northwest Nazarene 4-16 8-18 Simon Fraser 1-19 2-24 Friday, March 4 Result Western Oregon 58, Seattle Pacific 57 WOU 58, SPU 57 Friday’s Box Score SEATTLE PACIFIC (57) — Penner 26, Carroll 14, Dierickx 8, Parker 5, Swanson 2, Simpson 2, Leavitt, Colosimo, Wooten. Totals 20 15-15 57. WESTERN OREGON (58) — Alexander 19, Nichols 14, Avgi 10, Wiley 8, Omlid 5, Roth 2, Alaby, Thompson, Nestell. Totals 21 13-21 58. Seattle Pacific 31 26—57 Western Oregon 32 26—58 3-point goals — Seattle Pacific 2 (Penner 1, Carroll 1); Western Oregon 3 (Alexander 2, Omlid 1). Wednesday, March 16 Game Central at Franklin — Saturday, March 5 Result Western Oregon 78, Alaska Fairbanks 71 Team League Central Linn 0-0 Kennedy 0-0 Perrydale 0-0 Regis 0-0 Santiam 0-0 St. Paul 0-0 Tuesday, March 15 Game Perrydale at Amity Wednesday, March 16 Game Perrydale at Waldport — WOU 78, AFU 71 Saturday’s Box Score A L A S K A FA I R B A N K S ( 7 1 ) — Williams 23, Kaba 19, Slocum 13, Davis 10, Duncan 4, Hadzisehovic 2, Ladines, Chavez, Pederson. Totals 29 5-9 71. WESTERN OREGON (78) — Alexan- der 16, Wiley 16, Roth 14, Avgi 12, Nichols 9, Omlid 6, Alaby 5, Strickland, Thompson. Totals 27 12-15 78. Alaska Fairbanks 34 37—71 Western Oregon 31 47—78 3-point goals — Alaska Fairbanks 8 (Williams 3, Slocum 3, Kaba 1, Davis 1); Western Oregon 12 (Alexander 4, Roth 4, Wiley 3, Alaby 1). Friday, March 11 Games NCAA Div. II West Regional (at WOU): No. 8 Humboldt State vs. No. 1 Western Oregon; No. 5 Azusa Pacific vs. No. 4 Seattle Pacific; No. 7 Chico State vs. No., 2 UC San Diego; No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona vs. No. 3 California Baptist Saturday, March 12 Game NCAA Div. II West Regional: APU/SPU vs. HSU/WOU; CPU/CBU vs. CSU/UCSD Monday, March 14 Game NCAA Div. II West Regional: Champi- onship game SOFTBALL CLASS 5A MID-WILLAMETTE Team League Central 0-0 Corvallis 0-0 Crescent Valley 0-0 Dallas 0-0 Lebanon 0-0 Silverton 0-0 South Albany 0-0 Monday, March 14 Game Central at McKay All 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 CLASS 2A-1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 2 All 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 COLLEGE GNAC Team League All Concordia 2-0 12-7 Simon Fraser 5-3 14-11 Western Washington 5-3 10-8 Northwest Nazarene 2-2 8-9 Central Washington 2-2 14-3 Saint Martin’s 0-0 15-2 Western Oregon 0-2 7-7 Montana State Billings 0-4 5-12 Saturday, March 5 Games Saint Martin’s at Western Oregon, ppd. Sunday, March 6 Results Western Oregon 5-6, Central Wash. 7-7 First Game WOU 011 200 1— 5 9 2 CWU 021 400 X— 7 10 1 Boytz and Siolo; Wood, Copodonna (5) and Wilkerson. W—Wood. L—Boytz. 2B—WOU: Clark; CWU: Olague. HR— WOU: Gardner; CWU: Wilkerson, Copodonna. Second Game WOU 122 001 0— 6 7 3 CWU 150 010 X— 7 11 2 Morgan, Dominguez (3) and Green; Copodonna, Wood (3) and Wilkerson. W—Dominguez. L—Morgan. 2B—CWU: Wilkerson. HR—WOU: Lynch, Kuehl; CWU: Campbell. Friday, March 11 Games MSUB at Western Oregon (DH) Saturday, March 12 Games MSUB at Western Oregon (DH)