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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2016)
Polk County Sports PREP BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, DEC. 28 Boys basketball: Centu- ry/Hillsboro Tournament: Central vs. Tigard (at Centu- ry), 8:15 p.m. Dallas at Pendleton, noon. Falls City vs. Firm Foundation (at Southwest Christian), 4:30 p.m. Girls basketball: Nike Interstate Shootout: Dallas vs. TBA, TBA. Valley 10 Tour- nament: Falls City vs. Camas Valley (at Southwest Chris- tian), 3 p.m. Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 28, 2016 10A Richey fires up Dragons Senior expands game to become a more complete leader By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Senior Jason Richey showed flashes of of- fensive brilliance for Dallas’ boys basketball team. “Over the course of last year, he developed the abili- ty to score in a number of ways,” coach Trent Schwartz said. Richey could shoot the long ball, loft a floater, and get to the basket, and carved out a clear role on varsity. “He was a good spark coming off the bench,” Schwartz said. Coming off the bench is no longer the case for Richey. He has upped his game in every facet and has seen it evolve in new ways. Pe r h a p s t h e b i g g e s t change in his offensive game is his passing. Forced to play point guard earlier this sea- son when Aaron White missed time due to illness, Richey showed off his skills THURSDAY, DEC. 29 Boys basketball: Centu- ry/Hillsboro Tournament: Central vs. TBA, TBA. Falls City at Portland Waldorf, 3:30 p.m. Mapleton at Per- rydale, 5:30 p.m. Girls basketball: Nike Interstate Shootout: Dallas vs. TBA, TBA. Valley 10 Tour- nament: Falls City at Port- land Waldorf, 2 p.m. Maple- ton at Perrydale, 4 p.m. Men’s basketball: Cen- tral Washington at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. Women’s basketball: Western Oregon at Simon Fraser, 7:30 p.m. Wrestling: Central, Dal- las at Northwest Duals, 9 a.m. FRIDAY, DEC. 30 Boys basketball: Centu- ry/Hillsboro Tournament: Central vs. TBA, TBA. Girls basketball: Nike Interstate Shootout: Dallas vs. TBA, TBA. Wrestling: Central, Dal- las at Northwest Duals, 9 a.m. Basketball • Dallas’ boys basketball team competed at the Rebel Basket- ball Classic. • The Dragons defeated Redmond 61-50 on Dec. 21 and North Eugene 44-40 on Thursday. • Jason Richey had 18 points against North Eugene. Carter Weisensee added nine points, while Aaron White scored five points, grabbed four rebounds and had three steals. • Dallas (3-3 overall) played Hermiston Tuesday after press time. The Dragons close out nonleague play at Pendleton Wednesday (today) at noon. SATURDAY, DEC. 31 M e n ’s b a s k e t b a l l : Northwest Nazarene at Western Oregon, 2 p.m. Women’s basketball: Western Oregon at Western Washington, 4:30 p.m. MONDAY, JAN. 2 Girls basketball: Central at West Albany, 7 p.m. TUESDAY, JAN. 3 Boys basketball: Put- nam vs. Central, 7 p.m. Falls City at Oregon School for the Deaf, 7 p.m. Willamette Valley Christian at Perry- dale, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Put- nam at Dallas, 7 p.m. Falls City at Oregon School for the D eaf, 5:30 p.m. Willamette Valley Christian at Perrydale, 5:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4 Wrestling: Central at 4- way league duals (at Wood- burn), 4 p.m. Dallas at 4- Way league duals (at Lebanon), 4 p.m. — Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS Central boys lose to Churchill EUGENE — Central’s boys basketball team lost to Churchill 73-49 on Dec. 21. Churchill led 37-33 at the half before using a third-quarter surge to pull away for the victory. The Panthers (2-3 over- all) will compete at the Century/Hillsboro Tourna- ment Wednesday (today) through Friday before hosting Putnam Tuesday at 7 p.m. Dallas girls defeat Hillsboro HILLSBORO — Dallas’ girls basketball team de- feated Hillsboro 46-43 on Dec. 21. Olivia Nelson scored 1 2 points to lead t h e Drag- o n s . Ronco Becca Ronco added 10 points, and Ste- fani Tallon scored nine points. The Dragons trailed 29- 28 entering the fourth quarter. Dallas played Sherwood Tuesday after press time. The Dragons will com- pete at the Nike Interstate S h o o t o u t We d n e s d a y (today) through Friday be- fore hosting Putnam Tues- day at 7 p.m. www.polkio.com as a distributor. “I would say I’m a better passer (than last season),” Richey said. “It gives me more confidence to drive to the basket knowing I can pass it out if I get stuck.” Add in his ability to hit shots from all over the court, and Richey has become one of the Dragons’ most diffi- cult players to stop. “It makes them respect your shot,” Richey said. “Once you hit a few outside shots, your inside game opens up and vice versa. It helps both ways.” Richey scored a team- high 18 points during a 44- 40 win over North Eugene on Thursday; 16 points dur- ing a 61-50 victory over Redmond on Dec. 21; and 11 points during a 59-54 loss to North Salem on Dec. 20. But his biggest improve- ments have little to do with putting the ball in the bas- ket. See RICHEY, Page 11A LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Dallas senior Jason Richey scored 16 points during the Dragons 61-50 victory over Red- mond on Dec. 21. Richey scored 18 points against North Eugene on Thursday. PREP SWIMMING Holstad displays talent, confidence By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Central freshman swimmer Grace Holstad doesn’t like to lose. Whether she’s swimming the butterfly during a meet or swimming against teammates during a practice, Hol- stad has a singular goal in mind: Finish before anyone else. “I’m a super-competitive person,” Holstad said. “I always want to be first.” Holstad has her sights set on making her presence felt in the world of swimming. — Swimming is in the DNA of the Holstad family. Holstad’s mother swam the freestyle at the Junior Olympics, and there was little doubt that Grace would follow suit and grow to love the water. Turns out Grace, who began swimming competitively at the age of 7, loved the thrill of victory. “I’ve been swimming as long as I can remember,” she said. “I love it. I love the competitive feeling. I love when there’s someone neck-in-neck with me. There’s nothing else that compares to it.” Grace quickly settled into a stroke that gives many swim- mers great difficulty — the butterfly. “I don’t remember if it was hard for me at the beginning, but I just knew I liked it and had fun working at it,” Holstad said. “It is a difficult stroke. I like how it challenges me. It’s LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer just fun.” Central freshman swimmer Grace Holstad hopes to make state in the butterfly. See HOLSTAD, Page 11A PERRYDALE BASKETBALL Boys, girls fall in close contests Itemizer-Observer staff report BANDON — For the first time this season, Perrydale’s boys basketball team was truly tested. The Pirates de- feated Yoncalla 53-44 in the first round of the Bandon Dunes Invitational before falling to Pacific 50-49 on Dec. 21. Perrydale’s game against Yoncalla was a tight contest throughout, coach Brian Domes said. “We had our first taste of adversity,” Domes said. “It was good to see them tested. We figured we were going to get a win, but we thought it’d be easier. It was a tough game.” The Pirates raced out to a 21-6 lead over Pacific, but Pacific fought back. In the f o u r t h q u a r t e r, the lead changed multiple times, and Pe r r yd a l e fell just short of a Domes victory. “I have to give (Pa- cific) cred- it,” Domes said. “They dug in and stayed with it.” Haylen Janesofsky, Janesofsky D a n i e l Domes and Cooper Butler all performed well, Brian Domes said. The team is searching for consis- tency from its other contribu- tors. “I think we needed t h i s , ” Butler D o m e s said. “I think you can learn more from being on the los- ing side. With some of our less-experienced players, we want them to understand the importance of where we need to be defensively.” Perrydale hosts Mapleton Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Willamette Valley Christian Tuesday at 7 p.m. GIRLS SPLIT GAMES AT IN- VITATIONAL: Perrydale’s girls basketball team found itself in a pair of tightly con- t e s t e d games at the Bandon Dunes Invi- tational. The Pirates de- feated Yon- calla 24-20 Starr on Dec. 20, but lost to Pacific 36-32 on Dec. 21. “I was really happy (with what I saw),” coach Terry New- ton said. “We had one practice in the last 10 days, and the first game – we struggled a bit, but did what we had to do to win the game. Against Pacific, we played really hard and battled.” Senior Sierra Starr suffered an injury during the Pacific game and did not return, but the Pirates continued to com- pete well, Newton said. www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 “It was a challenge for us,” he said. “They made a lot of mis- takes. That’s part of being young, but they also forced a lot of mistakes.” The invitational served as a good lesson for the Pirates, Newton said. “I hope they learn to under- stand to play more patiently,” he said. “They tend to want to try to get everything real quick.” Perrydale hosts Mapleton Th u r s d ay a t 4 p. m . a n d Willamette Valley Christian Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. As the Pirates continue to learn on the fly, Newton is ex- cited to see how quickly this team can develop. “I think a month from now we’ll be a totally different team,” he said. “They’re playing fairly well as a young core right now.” www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports
