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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2017)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 25, 2017 11A CENTRAL SWIMMING DALLAS WRESTLING Tuipulotu flips to USC Dragons take second at Reser’s tournament SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25 Boys basketball: Central at Corvallis, 7 p.m. Jewell at Falls City, 7 p.m. Perrydale at Crosshill Christian, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Jewell at Falls City, 5:30 p.m. Perry- dale at Crosshill Christian, 5:30 p.m. Wrestling: Central at Dallas, 6 p.m. THURSDAY, JAN. 26 Men’s basketball: West- ern Oregon at Northwest Nazarene, 6:30 p.m. Women’s basketball: Western Washington at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. FRIDAY, JAN. 27 Boys basketball: Central at Woodburn, 7 p.m. South Albany at Dallas, 7 p.m. Falls City at Perrydale, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Wood- burn at Central, 7 p.m. Dal- las at South Albany, 7 p.m. Falls City at Perrydale, 5:30 p.m. Track and field: Western Oregon at University of Washington Invitational, TBA. By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Ma r l o n Tu i p u l o t u a n - nounced on Monday that he would be flipping his commitment from the Uni- versity of Washington to the University of Southern Cali- fornia. Tuipulotu shared a writ- ten statement Twitter but declined to comment fur- ther as of Monday night: "Never thought this day would come, but after talk- ing to my family and prayers with them about this situa- tion, I have de- cided to decommit from the University of Wash- ington. Tuipulotu This was a tough decision for me, and I have nothing but love for the players, the school, and the coaches at the universi- ty. A special thanks to Coach Pete and Coach Malloe as they recruited me from the beginning and were one of the first schools to offer. I honestly wish them nothing but the absolute best in everything they do. From here, I would like to announce that I am still planning to graduate early and will be attending the University of Southern California." The 6-foot-2, 295-pound defensive tackle verbally committed to Washington last April. The senior recently com- peted in the U.S. Army All- American Bowl and was rated the top defensive tackle in the country by 247 Sports. By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer HILLSBORO — Dallas’ wrestling team sent a clear message to its 5A competi- tion: It’s on. The Dragons finished sec- ond overall at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions on Friday and Saturday. Roseburg, a 6A school, fin- ished first. “When you’re competing against the best 5A schools, the Hermistons, the Red- monds, the Hillsboros and the like, you want to fare very well against t h e m ,” coach Tony Foster Olliff said. “We were with preoccupied with the 5A schools and how we matched up against them. Finishing ahead of them was good.” See DALLAS, Page 13A SATURDAY, JAN. 28 Boys basketball: Perry- dale at St. Paul, 3:30 p.m. Girls basketball: Perry- dale at St. Paul, 2 p.m. Men’s basketball: West- ern Oregon at Central Washington, 7:30 p.m. Track and field: Western Oregon at University of Washington Invitational, TBA. Women’s basketball: Simon Fraser at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. Wrestling: Central at Robert Paul Invitational, TBA. MONDAY, JAN. 30 Boys basketball: Perry- dale at Falls City, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Put- nam at Dallas, 7 p.m. Perry- dale at Falls City, 5:30 p.m. TUESDAY, JAN. 31 Boys basketball: Silver- ton at Central, 7 p.m. Dallas at Lebanon, 7 p.m. Oregon School for the Deaf at Falls City, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Ore- gon School for the Deaf at Falls City, 5:30 p.m. Swimming: Central at Silverton, 4 p.m. Dallas at South Albany, 4 p.m. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 Girls basketball: Central at Silverton, 7 p.m. Wrestling: Central at Lebanon, 6 p.m. Dallas at Woodburn, 6 p.m. — Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS BDST competes at Lebanon LEBANON — The Blue Dolphins Swim Team com- peted at the Lebanon Invi- tational on Saturday and Sunday. David Beasley won the boys 200-yard freestyle (11-12) with a time of 2 minutes, 38.85 seconds. Beasley also took first in the 100 freestyle (11-12) in 1:13.82, the 100 backstroke in 1:19.25 and the 50 back- stroke (11-12) with a time of 36.25 seconds. Lonny Stork took first in the girls 50 breaststroke (11-12) in 42.64 seconds and the 50 butterfly (11- 12) with a time of 36.04 seconds. Taylor Hagedorn finished first in the 100 butterfly (11-12) in 1:16.20, and Gentry Hage- dorn won the 50 butterfly (9-10) with a time of 37.60 seconds. Other top finishes in- cluded a second-place fin- ish in the boys 100 breast- stroke (9-10) by Cash Hagedorn in 2:01.10. He also placed second in the 100 backstroke (9-10) in 1:46.40. The Blue Dolphins also saw second-place finishes from Gentry Hagedorn in the girls 50 freestyle (9- 10) in 33.18 and in the girls 200 individual med- ley (11-12) from Taylor Hagedorn in 2:43.75 and in the boys 50 butterfly (9-10) by Vasilerios Karatzas in 1:01.44. For more information on the Blue Dolphins Swim Team: www.bluedolphin- swimteam.org. www.polkio.com CENTRAL BASKETBALL y r c g n i y l l a R LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central’s Annika Riddell (22) battles Dallas’ Stefani Tallon for a loose ball on Friday night. The Panthers defeated the Dragons 42-40. Panthers rally for thrilling 42-40 victory over Dallas By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — It was a thrilling finish fit for a rivalry game. After trailing by eight early in the fourth quarter, Cen- tral rallied against Dallas. The teams tied at 40 with time running down in the fourth quarter. Now, the Panthers had a chance to take the lead with time winding down. “We wanted to do our usual out-of-bounds play, which usually goes to An- nika (Riddell) in the post because of her height,” Central coach Julie Mc- Donald said. “We saw that a smaller girl was guarding Meagan (Menda- zona), so we went to h e r. He r determi- Riddell nation and athleticism can get her to the hole, and if she didn’t make (the shot), Annika would be on the opposite side to get the rebound. I felt we had the advantage both ways.” Mendazona took the in- bounds pass and drove right to the hoop. Her shot clanked off the rim, but Rid- dell was in position to grab the rebound and go up for another shot. “I thought, you better make this,” Riddell said. Riddell made the put back — and got fouled. Her foul shot, however, was less successful, missing the rim entirely. “I was freaking out and was really nervous,” Riddell said. The missed free throw gave Dallas a chance to in- bound the ball. The Drag- ons were out of timeouts. And Central could foul without sending a Dallas player to the free-throw line, helping to run time off the clock. There was only one rule — don’t foul if Dallas was shooting. The Dragons got the ball in and sprinted up the court. The Panthers fouled as planned — but not with- out a bit of controversy. The refs huddled together to discuss how much time was left on the clock and whether Dallas’ player was in the shooting motion when fouled. “I didn’t really see what happened, so I was really nervous,” Riddell said. The refs decided the shooting motion had not begun, and the Dragons weren’t able to send the game into overtime. “It feels amazing,” Mariah Hyre said. “We kept pushing LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central guard Meagan Mendazona looks to split Dallas’ Jordan Dippel and Olivia Nelson on Friday. www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 Showdown • Central’s girls basketball team defeated Dallas 42-40 on Friday. • It was the Panthers’ fifth game to be decided by three points or less. Central had been 0-4 in those games entering Friday. • The Panthers return home to host Woodburn Friday at 7 p.m. each other. We knew we had to beat Dallas.” The victory was a big mo- ment. Central entered its game against Dallas with a 4-7 record overall. Of the Panthers’ seven losses, four have come by three points or less – includ- ing a 45-44 loss to Lebanon on Jan. 17. All but one of the team’s losses have come by single digits. Central kept showing im- p r ov e m e n t s , b u t t h e y weren’t resulting in wins. “We’re so young,” McDon- ald said. “You look at these other teams and they have five, six, seven seniors, and we have one. We keep telling them to keep working and looking at the big picture here.” There was little doubt the team could be competitive, but players experienced how difficult it can be to close out a game. On Friday, the lessons players learned through all the close calls paid off. “We’ve been in that situa- tion so many times,” Mc- Donald said. “We worked on being confident and show- ing confidence. We created some fouls and didn’t let up on defense.” See CENTRAL, Page 12A www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports
