Polk County
Sports
SCHEDULE
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 14, 2016 12A
2016 ITEMIZER-OBSERVER ALL-REGION VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14
Boys basketball: Falls
City at Jewell, 7 p.m.
Crosshill Christian at Perry-
dale, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Falls
City at Jewell, 5:30 p.m.
Crosshill Christian at Perry-
dale, 5:30 p.m.
Leading
the way
THURSDAY, DEC. 15
Boys basketball: Dallas
at Milwaukie, 7:15 p.m.
Swimming: Central, Dal-
las at Paul Mannen Invita-
tional, 2 p.m.
FRIDAY, DEC. 16
Boys basketball: Central
at Stayton, 7 p.m. Perrydale
at Falls City, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Central
at Stayton, 5:30 p.m. Dallas
at Hillsboro, 5:45 p.m. Perry-
dale at Falls City, 5:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Azusa Pacific,
7:30 p.m.
Wrestling: Central at
Central Invitational, 10 a.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 17
Women’s basketball:
Western Oregon at Hum-
boldt State, 5 p.m.
Wrestling Dallas at Lib-
erty Invitational, 9 a.m.
MONDAY, DEC. 19
Boys basketball: Cas-
cade at Central, 7 p.m. Falls
City at Siletz Valley, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Cas-
cade at Central, 5:30 p.m.
Falls City at Siletz Valley,
5:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball: Dou-
glas College at Western
Oregon (exhibition), 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, DEC. 20
Boys basketball: North
Salem at Dallas, 7 p.m. Per-
rydale at Bandon Dunes In-
vitational, TBA.
Girls basketball: Perry-
dale at Bandon Dunes Invi-
tational, TBA.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21
Boys basketball: Central
at Churchill, 7 p.m. Dallas vs.
Redmond (at South Al-
bany), 3 p.m. Perrydale at
Bandon Dunes Invitational,
TBA.
Girls basketball:
Churchill at Central, 7 p.m.
Perrydale at Bandon Dunes
Invitational, TBA.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU basketball
game time change
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon men’s basketball
game against Northwest
Nazarene on Dec. 31 will
now begin at 2 p.m.
The game was originally
scheduled to begin at 7
p.m.
The men’s basketball
team defeated Portland
Bible 114-58 in an exhibi-
tion game on Sunday.
The Wolves play at
Azusa Pacific on Friday.
WOU hosts Douglas Col-
lege for an exhibition
game Monday at 7 p.m.
WOU women fall
at home to SOU
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon’s women’s basket-
ball team lost to Souther
Oregon 72-50 on Monday
night.
Savannah Heugly scored
a team-high 13 points,
while Jasmine Miller added
12 points in the losing ef-
fort.
The Wolves (4-4 overall)
trailed by nine at the half.
“I'm extremely disap-
pointed with our effort and
especially our lack of
focus tonight,” coach Holli
Howard-Carpenter said.
“We played on our heels
and looked to pass rather
than attack. We handled
the press but made poor
decisions in the halfcourt
that gave them way too
many extra opportunities.
We didn't execute our
scout either and that's so
important when you're
playing good teams.”
Western Oregon plays at
Humboldt State on Satur-
day.
“We have to bounce
back this week, compete
hard and get better before
we hit the road,” Howard-
Carpenter said.
W O U ’s n e x t h o m e
games are Jan. 5 and 7.
www.polkio.com
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Senior brea
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — It wasn’t so long ago that senior Alex Dowdell was
content with her role on Central’s volleyball team. Since her sophomore sea-
son, Dowdell had been a key contributor on varsity, but she was never the
one to take charge.
“I was quiet and did what I was told,” Dowdell said. “I followed and didn’t
lead.”
A plea from Panthers coach Claudine Mendazona changed Dowdell’s tune
in a hurry.
See DOWDELL, Page 13A
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Dearing to retire June 30, 2017
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon executive director of
intercollegiate athletics Bar-
bara Dearing will retire on
June 30, 2017.
Dearing made the an-
nouncement on Thursday.
“I have been blessed to
have been involved with
WOU Athletics,” Dearing
said in a press release. “It’s
been an honor to work
alongside the coaching and
athletics administrative staff
whose focus has been about
the stu-
dent-ath-
lete experi-
ence, and
h ow t h a t
experience
can help
shape our
future citi-
zen-lead-
Dearing
ers. During
my career, I’ve worked with
many excellent university
leaders, and outstanding
student-athletes. I'll always
be very appreciative of the
opportunity President Mark
Weiss gave me when he ap-
pointed me director of the
program; it has been a great
experience to work for both
President Weiss and Presi-
dent Fuller.”
Dearing was named ath-
letic director in July of 2013.
During her tenure, West-
ern Oregon was awarded
bids to host the 2015 and
2017 Division II Regional
Cross-Country Champi-
onships and the 2016 NCAA
Div. II West Regional Men’s
Basketball Championship
for the first time.
Four teams (baseball 2014,
softball 2014, and men’s bas-
ketball 2015 and 2016) won
Great Northwest regular sea-
son titles and four teams
(baseball 2014, 2015, softball
2014, men’s basketball 2016)
won GNAC championship
tournaments. WOU also saw
29 NCAA championship
meet appearances by track
and field/cross-country ath-
letes. Four athletes were
named Conference Players of
the Year, six were named
GNAC Newcomer or Fresh-
man of the Year, and four
coaches earned Coach of the
Year honors.
A search for a new athletic
director will begin in Janu-
ary, WOU President Rex
Fuller said.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Boys basketball loses to Glencoe
Itemizer-Observer staff report
HILLSBORO — Dallas’
boys basketball team lost to
Glencoe 57-36 on Friday.
Jake Collins had 14 points
and a steal, while Jason
Richey added eight points
and three rebounds. The
Dragons trailed by seven en-
tering the final quarter, be-
fore being outscored by 14
in the final quarter.
“I thou-
ght we
played re-
ally well
for about
t h r e e
quarters
without
two start-
Richey
ers against
one of the most talented 5A
teams in the state,” coach
Trent Schwartz said. “Our
defense kept us in the game
until the fourth, where we
had a few breakdowns and
gave away a few transition
buckets to let them pull
away.”
Dallas (0-2 overall) played
Hillsboro Tuesday after press
time. The Dragons play at
Milwaukie on Thursday be-
fore hosting North Salem
Tuesday at
7:15 p.m.
and facing
Redmond
at South Al-
bany High
School on
Dec. 21.
“ W e
Collins
need to
improve our rebounding
and be more efficient of-
fensively in the coming
games,” Schwartz said. “I
love our energy right now,
and we are playing togeth-
er. Jason Richey is doing a
great job running the point
for us in Aaron White’s ab-
sence. Jake Collins had a
monster game for us at-
tacking the basket off the
bounce for us.”
See DALLAS, Page 13A
Flying in
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas senior guard Olivia Nelson attempts to drive to
the hoop for a basket against North Eugene on Fri-
day. The Dragons lost to the Lancers 39-37.
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