Polk 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)