Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 28, 2016 11A
Richey: Dallas
beats Redmond
Continued from Page 10A
“I would say it’s his de-
fense and his ability to keep
in front of guys,” Schwartz
said. “He’s become a much
better defender on ball.”
Improving defense is a
theme among all of Dallas’
players.
“I think last year we re-
lied on offense a little too
much,” Richey said. “You
can’t do that to win games.
You have to get stops.”
The Dragons backcourt
may become one of the
best in the Mid-Willamette
Conference. White has re-
turned from an illness, and
Jacob Collins is set to return
from a hamstring injury be-
fore league play starts on
CENTRAL GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mendazona takes control
Ja n . 5 ,
2017.
“ When
t h o s e
three get
back on
the court
together, I
think we’ll
White
be click-
ing a little bit more,”
Schwartz said.
Dallas, which played Her-
miston Tuesday after press
time, travels Pendleton
Wednesday (today) at noon.
“We want to see more
ball movement on offense
and don’t be as one-dimen-
sional on offense,” Richey
said. “We just need to relax
and have fun.”
Holstad: Hopes
to get to state
Continued from Page 10A
Although only a fresh-
man, Holstad enters the
2016-17 season with a
wealth of competitive
swimming experience and
has become a key part to
the team both during meets
and practices.
“She has that skill base
there,” coach Jennifer Tress
said. “She has that compet-
itive drive and is fun to be
around in practice. She
makes a lot of people laugh.
She brings a lot to the team
both in skill and atmos-
phere and attitude.”
Holstad isn’t shy about
her goals, either. She knows
she has to cut down on her
time in the butterfly in
order to be among the
state’s best — but she be-
lieves she can, and make a
run at qualifying for state.
“It would mean the
world,” Grace said. “I’ve al-
ways wanted to go to state.
It’s been my dream ever
since I started swimming.”
To get there will take a lot
of work, but Holstad is con-
fident in her abilities.
She knows the swim sea-
son is a long one, but she is
out to have fun — just be
ready to get out of her way.
“They always say have
fun, but it’s more fun for me
if I win,” Holstad said. “It
sounds kind of self-cen-
tered, but I love winning.
It’s the best.”
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — For a
brief moment at the start of
the season, Central fresh-
man Meagan Mendazona
wasn’t sure how aggressive
to be.
A newcomer to the Pan-
thers’ girls basketball team,
Mendazona was hesitant to
seize opportunities she saw
on offense.
Some discussions with
her coaches quickly
changed her tune.
The coaches’ message
was simple: Don’t be afraid
to be aggressive.
Mendazona heard the
message loud and clear.
“Meagan worked a lot on
her game in the offseason,
and you can tell it has paid
off for her,” coach Julie Mc-
Donald said. “She works
very hard at her game, is
very coachable and is always
looking for ways to improve
her game.”
She scored a game-high
22 points during a 50-48 loss
to Summit on Thursday, and
a team-high 11 points in a
45-44 loss to Churchill on
Dec. 21.
Against Summit, Menda-
zona showed little signs of
hesitation to take the open
shot or drive to the basket
when given the opportuni-
ty.
“I just felt like I had to
kind of pick it up and do
what I could to help the
team,” Mendazona said.
Her range and versatility
on offense already make her
a key part of the Panthers’
offense — and coaches ex-
pect her to only get better
from here.
“Meagan is a gamer,” Mc-
Donald said. “Even though
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central freshman Meagan Mendazona drives past a Summit defender on Thursday.
she is a freshman, she isn’t
looking around for someone
else to get the job done. She
wants the ball at the end of
the game. I’m looking for big
things out of her this year
and the following three
years.”
—
Though Central lost two
close games, McDonald said
they were good lessons to
learn for the long haul.
“Our preseason is just that
— getting us ready for
league,” McDonald said.
“We have two games in the
loss column, but they were
only by one and two points.
You’d rather have a game
like this than play a team
you beat by 30 and don’t
learn anything.”
Central fell behind 20-9 in
the second quarter against
Summit, but rallied to with-
in one entering halftime.
“I feel like if we slow down
a little bit and run our press
break like we do in practice,
we would have been fine,”
Mendazona said.
They Panthers learned an
important lesson in the final
moments of the game
against Summit.
The Panthers trailed by
two with about a minute left
in the game. McDonald was
signaling for her players to
foul, but a miscommunica-
tion allowed Summit to run
precious time off the clock.
“We had a little miscom-
munication,” McDonald
said. “It was about 15 sec-
onds too long to get the foul.
It’s something we’ll work
on.”
Central had a chance to
tie at the end of the game,
but could not get a clean
shot off.
Though the Panthers suf-
fered two tight losses, play-
ers didn’t hang their heads.
Instead, they believe that in
the end, the experience will
make them stronger.
“Both these close games
have been good for all of us,”
Mendazona said. “It helps us
figure everything out.”
The Panthers are off until
Monday when Central plays
at West Albany at 7 p.m.
Two great specials on the horizon!
Be on the look-out!
RESERVE NOW
2017
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