Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 11, 2017 11A
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Boys pick up first win against Silverton
Itemizer-Observer staff report
SILVERTON — Central’s
boys basketball team defeat-
ed Silverton 45-36 on Friday
to open Mid-Willamette
Conference play. The Pan-
thers also dropped a non-
league game to Putnam 47-
42 on Jan. 3.
“Our kids played a great
game on Friday,” coach Tim
Kreta said. “They executed
our game plan very well and
were able to finish off the
fourth quarter with poise.
This was our first win
against Silverton since join-
ing the MWC. Our team de-
fense kept
the game
close down
the stretch,
and we
were able
to take ad-
vantage of
some tran-
Barba
s i t i o n
points to get a lead.”
Against Silverton, Peter
Me n d a z o n a s c o re d 1 8
points, and Alec Barba
added 16 points to lead Cen-
tral.
“Peter Mendazona and
Alec Barba led the way of-
fensively by getting to the
rack and hitting a few out-
side shots, and we hit our
free throws to finish the
game,” Kreta said. “Peter
Mason kept our offense
moving and found shooters
to help keep their defense
honest.”
Central hosts undefeated
South Albany Wednesday
(today) at 7 p.m. and Cres-
cent Valley Friday at 7 p.m.
GLADE PACES CENTRAL
SWIM TEAM: Central junior
Daniel Glade won the boys
200-yard freestyle during the
Panthers’ swim meet at Cres-
cent Valley
on Thursday
with a time
of 2 min-
utes, 2.31
seconds. Isa-
iah Comp-
ton took
second in
2:22.45.
Glade
G l a d e
also won the 100 backstroke in
1:12.28.
Compton took first in the
100 freestyle in 1:00.20, and
Ethan Davis won the 500
freestyle in 7:32.09.
On the girls side, Reann Kel-
ley won the 100 freestyle in
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
1:23.44.
The Clemens Invitational,
scheduled for Saturday, was
canceled due to weather.
The Panthers competed at
Lebanon Tuesday after press
time.
Central will compete at Cor-
vallis Tuesday at 4 p.m.
C E N T R A L G I R L S LO S E
LEAGUE-OPENER: Central’s
girls basketball team lost to Sil-
verton 50-33 on Friday in the
team’s MWC opener.
“We played a good game,
even though the score didn’t
reflect it,” coach Julie McDon-
ald said. “Silverton is a mature
team with seven seniors who
are very disciplined both offen-
sively and defensively. On the
offensive end, we limited our
turnovers to 11, but just didn’t
make our shots, and we gave
up too many defensive re-
bounds for second-chance
points.”
The Panthers (3-5 overall)
played at South Albany Tues-
day after press time. Central
travels to face Crescent Valley
Friday at 7 p.m. before play-
ing at Lebanon Tuesday at 7
p.m.
“We are improving every
game and looking forward to
seeing the growth by the end
of the season,” McDonald said.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Omlid leads WOU to wins Boys basketball opens
Itemizer-Observer staff report
LACEY, Wash. — Western
Oregon’s men’s basketball
picked up a pair of confer-
ence wins, beating Seattle
Pacific 76-74 on Thursday
and Saint Martin’s 80-67 on
Saturday.
Ta n n e r
Omlid led
the Wolves
to the win
over Seat-
tle Pacific.
Omlid had
a career-
high 34
points and
Omlid
re c o rd e d
seven rebounds, three
blocks and two steals.
WOU never trailed in the
second half. Ali Faruq-Bey
scored 11 points in the sec-
ond half, including a free
throw that pushed WOU’s
lead to two with 16 seconds
left in the game.
The Wolves rallied from a
four-point halftime deficit
against Saint Martin’s.
Omlid scored 18 points
and had three assists,
three blocks, three steals
and two rebounds. J.J.
Chirnside recorded his
first collegiate double-
double, adding 13 points
and 11 rebounds.
Western Oregon (7-7
overall, 4-2 Great Northwest
Athletic Conference) re-
turns home to host Simon
Fraser Thursday at 7 p.m.
and Western Washington
Saturday at 7 p.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SPLITS HOME GAMES: West-
ern Oregon’s women’s basket-
ball team lost to Alaska An-
chorage 105-62 on Thursday
before defeating Alaska Fair-
banks 72-67 on Saturday.
Jasmine Miller led WOU
with 14 points and six re-
bounds against Alaska An-
chorage, but the Seawolves
led 32-13 after the first quarter
and never looked back.
Against Alaska Fairbanks,
the Wolves overcame a slow
start that saw WOU trailing 20-
4 after the first quarter. The
Wolves responded by outscor-
ing Alaska Fairbanks 26-9 in
the second quarter.
Shelby Snook scored 23
points, including 15 in the
fourth quarter. Sydney Azorr
added 20 points.
WOU (6-7 overall, 2-4
GNAC) faced Concordia Tues-
day after press time. The
Wolves play at Montana State
Billings Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
WILLIAMS UP FOR
AWARD: Former Western Ore-
gon wide receiver Tyrell
Williams is a nominee for the
10th annual VIZIO Top Value
Performer trophy. The award is
given to the NFL player who’s
on-field performance most ex-
ceeds the value of their con-
tract.
Williams, a receiver with the
San Diego Chargers, had 69
catches for 1,059 yards and
seven touchdowns during the
2016 season. He has a base
salary of $525,000.
The other nominees are
running back Jay Ajayi of the
Miami Dol-
phins, run-
ning back
Spencer
Ware of the
Kansas City
Chiefs,
wide re-
c e i v e r
Michael
Williams
Thomas of
the New Orleans Saints, and
running back Latavius Murray
of the Oakland Raiders.
The Top Value performer is
decided by fan votes.
Voting is open through
Monday at 11:59 p.m.
To vote, visit www.vizio.-
com/TVP.
Foster: Made state as
a freshman last year
guys, they are winning their
matches, but they give up
because they get tired. You
have to work through it.”
Foster now knows
whether he’ll wrestle at 126
or 132 when it comes time
for districts, but no matter
what weight class he’s in,
Foster is ready to use his ex-
perience to bring the pain
to his opponents.
“It makes me feel good
when I can go out there,
shake someone’s hand and
then beat them up,” Foster
said. “I love getting my
hand raised and knowing
that everything I am work-
ing for is paying off.”
league play with win
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Dallas’ boys
basketball team opened
Mid-Willamette Conference
play with a 59-55 win over
Lebanon on Thursday. The
Dragons lost to Hermiston
54-51 in overtime on Friday.
Jason Richey led Dallas
against the Warriors with 20
points. Aaron White added
13 points, and the Dragons
went 15 for 17 from the free-
throw line in the fourth
quarter to hold off Lebanon.
Richey scored a team-
high 14 points against Her-
miston. Jake Ronco and
Carter Weisensee scored
seven points each.
“I like how we battled in
both games,” coach Trent
Schwartz said. “It’s always
nice to get conference wins,
and this year is just going to
be a donnybrook each night,
as I believe there is great par-
ity in the MWC this season.
Against Hermiston … I think
our kids were able to make
the necessary defensive ad-
justments and tighten up the
team defense from the sec-
ond quarter on to put us in a
position to have a chance to
win the game. I’m hoping the
experience will help us down
the road in ultimately pre-
vailing. I like how we re-
sponded from being down 10
in the first half at one point to
taking a one-point lead into
the half.”
Dallas plays at Crescent
Valley Wednesday (today) at
7 p.m. and at Corvallis Fri-
day at 7 p.m. before hosting
Silverton on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.
“This week we’ll be tested
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Jake Collins goes up for a lay up against Lebanon on
Thursday. Collins scored nine points during the Dragons’
59-55 victory over the Warriors.
by a very athletic Crescent
Valley squad, and a very
physical and inside-oriented
Corvallis squad on the road,”
Schwartz said.
WRESTLING GOES 3-0 AT
L E A G U E D UA L S : D a l l a s ’
wrestling team defeated Cor-
vallis, Lebanon and Silverton in
league duals on Thursday.
Jacob Jones (126 pounds) went
3-0 during the duals to help
lead the Dragons.
Sophomore PJ Holgate
picked up wins against Silver-
ton and Lebanon.
Dallas’ home tournament,
the Brunner Invitational, was
canceled due to weather con-
ditions. The Dragons host
South Albany Wednesday
(today) at 6 p.m. before com-
peting at the Oregon Classic on
Friday and Saturday in Red-
mond.
Dragons: Have won four straight Pirates: Girls
Continued from Page 10A
Senior Stefani Tallon said
during the first few games,
players tried to do too much
by themselves.
Brautigam believed the
team was close to putting it
all together. The key was not
getting frustrated before that
happened.
“We had some adapting
to do and made a few
changes here and there,”
Brautigam said. “We faced
some challenges, but that’s
what basketball is all about.
There wasn’t any finger-
pointing, and our kids
bought in and have been on
a roll since then.”
What a roll it’s been.
Since losing to Churchill,
Dallas has won six of its last
seven games, including four
in a row. This stretch includ-
ed a fifth-place finish at the
Nike Interstate Shootout
Dec. 27-30.
“We’re working together,”
senior Olivia Nelson said.
“We’re communicating to-
gether and talking it out.
We’re rebounding well with-
out having a big team. It’s a
lot of effort, but you just
have to work harder than the
bigger people.”
The Dragons showed en-
ergy and tenacity on defense
after working on fundamen-
tals such as rotating and
boxing out for rebounds.
Dallas lacks a player taller
than 5-foot-10, but the team
finds other ways to gets
stops.
“We have a lot of quick-
ness,” Tallon said.
On offense, Dallas’ play-
ers possess a willingness to
find the best shot, no mat-
ter who is taking it,
Brautigam said.
During the interstate
shootout, three different
players led the Dragons in
scoring throughout the
team’s four games.
“There’s not one player we
are looking to go to on of-
fense,” Brautigam said.
“There’s a lot of balance on
our team.”
The team’s performance
at the shootout may be an
early turning point in the
season.
“It’s a lot of confidence
to know that we could be in
a tournament with some of
the top teams in the state
and be able to run with
them and get a glimpse of
what we can do,” Tallon
said.
The Dragons hope the
momentum they’ve built
carries into Mid-Willamette
Conference play.
“We’ve got a chance early
in league to build on that
confidence, and confidence
is everything in basketball.”
Brautigam said.
defeat Jewell
Continued from Page 10A
GIRLS BASKETBALL DE-
FEATS JEWELL: PERRYDALE –
Perrydale’s girls basketball
team defeated Jewell 30-25
on Thursday. The Pirates
opened the week by falling to
Willamette Valley Christian 44-
34 on Jan. 3.
Facing one of the Casco
League’s top teams, the Pi-
rates fell behind 13-2, but bat-
tled back to within eight in
the fourth quarter, coach Terry
Newton said.
“Against Willamette, we
came out scared,” Newton
said. “But we competed and
got back into the game.”
Against Jewell, the Pirates
opened by hitting four of their
first five shots and led by dou-
ble digits in the fourth quar-
ter.
Perrydale played Living-
stone Adventist Tuesday after
press time. The Pirates host
Oregon School for the Deaf
Thursday at 5:30 p.m.; North
Clackamas Christian Saturday
at 4 p.m.; and Sherman Mon-
day at 4 p.m.
FALLS CITY ROUNDUP
Morales: Senior finds his rhythm
Continued from Page 10A
“I had a hard time with
the rules,” Morales said. “I
didn’t know what was legal
or not.”
Thanks to football and
track, he already had an ath-
letic base to build on.
As he gained more famil-
iarity with what was allowed
and what wasn’t, he began to
find his groove.
“After you get (the ba-
sics) and find a couple of
moves, it starts becoming
easier,” Morales said. “You
find a rhythm and find
your own strengths.”
For Morales, that means
letting his opponents show
what kind of match they
want to wrestle, and reacting
accordingly.
“If he goes up top and
looks for a shot, I know I
have to up my defense,”
Morales said. “If he is a lit-
tle more relaxed, I know I
can maybe take a shot or
two.”
From there, he looks to
work his way into his
strengths.
“I like to grapple and
throw,” Morales said.
The Panthers host Corval-
lis Wednesday (today) at 6
p.m. As weather has caused
numerous tournaments to
be canceled, these will be
opportunities to face oppo-
nents and see where they
are at.
“It seems like you’re not
getting your chance right
now to see (how you com-
pare),” Morales said. “All of a
sudden, districts are coming
up and you’re not sure what
to expect, but we’ll take every
match and give it 100 per-
cent.”
Morales knows he has to
make up for lost time if he
wants to compete with the
state’s best wrestlers.
But he sees improvement
every time and is ready to
challenge.
“I’m still trying to find it
right now,” Morales said.
“I’m doing better than last
year. It gets better and better
every time you wrestle.”
Girls win two
Itemizer-Observer staff report
FALLS CITY — Falls City’s
girls basketball team defeat-
ed Oregon School for the
Deaf 33-17 on Jan. 3 and
Livingstone Adventist 28-23
on Thursday. Amara Hough-
taling scored 12 points
against OSD. Emma Burgess
added 10 points and seven
rebounds.
Against Livingstone,
Houghtaling scored 11
points and Sarah Mack
added seven points. Falls
City shot 27 free throws
during the game.
The boys defeated OSD
53-24 before falling to Liv-
ingstone Adventist 49-32.
Austin Burgess had 20
points and 10 rebounds
against OSD. Jeremy Labra-
do added 15 points and
Zach Varney recorded 10
points and six rebounds.
Labrado scored 13 points
against Livingstone.
Falls City played
Willamette Valley Christian
Tuesday after press time.
The Mountaineers host
Crosshill Christian on Tues-
day. The girls tip off at 5:30
p.m., and the boys game be-
gins at 7 p.m.