Polk County Sports
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 1, 2017
Collins: Dragons have lost five of six games
Continued from Page 13A
“I learned early on to read
lips and personal gestures
people make so when I use
all of those tools, there’s not
too much that I miss,”
Collins said. “I don’t make it
an excuse of why I can’t get
something done, on or off
the court. I don’t feel that I
should be any different or
treated any differently than
those without a hearing im-
pairment. It doesn’t affect
my level of play on the court
or in life.”
In the midst of a game
night with an energized
crowd — the extra noise can
pose issues.
“The most difficult thing
about it on the court is when
the crowd is very into the
game and it’s super loud,”
Collins said. “It makes it dif-
ficult to hear the coach or
the point guard call out the
plays.”
D a l l a s c o a c h Tr e n t
Schwartz installed a series of
hand signals for the team’s
plays — allowing all players
to nonverbally communi-
cate with each other.
Collins has emerged as a
leader for the Dragons and
has shown that hard work
can overcome perceived dis-
advantages.
At 5-foot-8, Collins is one
of the shortest players on
the court. But you wouldn’t
be able to tell by the style of
his play.
Free fall
• Dallas’ boys basketball
team lost to Woodburn 69-
62 on Jan. 24 and South Al-
bany 61-59 on Friday.
• Jason Richey scored a
team-high
21
points
against South Albany.
Carter Weisensee added 14
points and Aaron White
scored 12 points.
• Richey scored 25 points
against Woodburn, while
Weisensee added 12
points.
• Dallas entered the
week with a 6-9 mark over-
all and a 2-4 record in
league play, good for sixth
place in the Mid-Willamette
Conference. The Dragons
played Lebanon Tuesday
after press time. Dallas
hosts Crescent Valley Friday
at 7 p.m. and Corvallis Tues-
day at 7 p.m.
“I would say my biggest
strengths in basketball is
that I play taller than my
height,” he said. “By basket-
ball measures, I’m a very
short and small ball player,
but I give my full effort to
play as tough as the bigger
and taller guys.”
It’s Collins who often gets
the call to shut down the op-
posing team’s best offensive
players.
“Jake is a tremendously
tough kid who is super quick
and a great competitor,”
Schwartz said. “He has al-
ways had the ability to play
good perimeter on ball de-
fense, but has really im-
proved his defense off the
ball to become one of our
best defenders. … He also
packs a lot of punch for a
smaller player and really
holds his own playing post
defense.”
Collins has undergone a
transformation on offense.
“He is a tough match up
to stay in front of as he has a
lightning quick first step of-
fensively and can shoot the
ball on the perimeter,”
Schwartz said.
His long-range shot has
always been a strength.
His willingness to take it
to the hoop is a new tool —
turning him from a special-
ized offensive weapon to an
all-around threat.
“I’ve developed an aggres-
sion to drive to the hoop
more and attack the rim bet-
ter,” Collins said. “… Driving
to the hoop has certainly
been more in my interest as
I have grown more fearless
of the taller guys blocking
me.”
Basketball has taught
Collins several life lessons
that he said has affected him
,from the importance of
hard work to trusting team-
mates to rise to the occa-
sion.
Most recently, it’s learning
from failure — and not
being afraid to fail — that
Going for a swim
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer file
Jason Riche (14) scored a combined 46 points last week, but the Dragons lost two games.
has allowed him to develop
into a more complete player.
“If you can’t learn from
losing or failing, it will be
hard to grow and advance in
a difficult life,” Collins said.
Learning from failure is
something Collins hopes the
Dragons will do — and
quickly. Dallas has lost five
of its last six games. Four of
those losses have come by
seven points or fewer, in-
cluding a 61-59 setback to
South Albany on Friday.
“What I believe we have
learned from the past games
is that we need to push hard
to close the door on the
tough games,” Collins said.
“Our record this year isn’t an
accurate reflection of the
strength of our team, in the
sense that the point gap of
winning to losing has been
slim.”
Dallas, which played
Lebanon Tuesday after press
time, entered that game
with a 6-9 mark overall and a
2-4 record in Mid-
Willamette Conference play
— good for sixth place.
Nearing the midway point
of league play, the Dragons
have time to right the ship
— but in a highly competi-
tive league, failing to close
out tightly contested games
will be a fatal flaw.
“With this league, every
game is going to be close at
the end,” Collins said. “It’s
all about finishing, and
that’s what the team is fo-
cused on accomplishing
from here on out. We play
good basketball with lots of
heart and trust. Finishing
games will be crucial to
helping us win.”
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Panthers down Corvallis
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central swimmer Grace Holstad competes in the girls 100-yard butterfly during a
meet at Dallas on Jan. 24. Holstad finished second with a time of 1 minute, 8.26
seconds.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
WOODBURN — Central’s boys basketball team won a thriller, defeating Corvallis 52-49 on
Jan. 25, before falling to Woodburn 57-47 on Friday.
The Panthers rallied in the fourth quarter against the Spartans.
“Isaiah Abraham came in and brought some much-needed energy on the defensive side of
the ball,” coach Tim Kreta said. “Brenden Lesmiester, who got his first start of the year, pulled
down a few early boards to help keep things going. Alec Barba was able to keep (Corvallis’)
defense honest by hitting some crucial 3-pointers, and Peter Mason was able to get to the
lane for a few closer shots.”
Barba scored a game-high 22 points. Mason added eight points. Abraham and Andrew
Barry each scored seven points. Against Woodburn, Central kept the game close, entering the
fourth quarter down by two, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the final frame.
“The fourth quarter got away from us,” Kreta said. “Our kids were really disappointed with
their energy on Friday and are ready for a great week of competition.”
Barry and Mason each scored 13 points to lead the Panthers.
Central played Silverton Tuesday after press time. The Panthers play at South Albany Fri-
day at 7 p.m. and at Crescent Valley Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central entered the week with an 8-7
mark overall and a 4-2 record in Mid-Willamette Conference play.
GIRLS BASKETBALL DEFEATS WOODBURN: Central’s girls basketball team defeated Woodburn
56-24 on Friday. Meagan Mendazona scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Panthers over the
Bulldogs. Annika Riddell added 11 points.
The Panthers opened the week with a 48-36 loss to Corvallis on Jan. 24.
Mendazona scored a team-high 18 points to lead Central against the Spartans.
The Panthers play at Silverton Wednesday (today) at 7 p.m. Central hosts South Albany Friday at 7
p.m. and Crescent Valley on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Central entered the week with a 6-8 record overall and a
3-4 mark in league play. The Panthers are one of three teams with a 3-4 league record.
Crow: Loss fuels senior to work harder
Continued from Page 13A
“Between football and
wrestling, I didn’t have a
break at all,” Crow said. “I
went straight from the semi-
finals at Hillsboro Stadium,
had the weekend to take a
break, then was out the next
Monday for wrestling.”
He’s come back strong
since then, coach Van Hol-
stad said. And he’s out to
show himself — and his
teammates — that dedica-
tion and determination can
lead to success.
“I think that if some of the
younger guys can see a good,
strong leader, they will be
like that one day,” Crow said.
row knows he can’t get
ahead of himself. But he’s
grateful and excited for a
chance to finish what he
started at districts.
This time, he’s ready to
do everything he can to
make sure he doesn’t have
the same feeling as last
season.
“I know that anything is
p o s s i b l e ,” C r o w s a i d .
“(What happened last sea-
son) keeps me working
hard to get that first-place
finish.”
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Track and field squad sets five school marks at meet
Itemizer-Observer staff report
SEATTLE — Western Ore-
gon’s track and field team set
five school records at the
University of Washington In-
vitational on Saturday.
Junior David Ribich broke
his own school mark in the
men’s 1,600-meter run, fin-
ishing fifth overall with a
time of 4 minutes, 2.30 sec-
onds. The time was also a
new Great Northwest Athlet-
ic Conference record.
The women’s 4-by-400
relay team of Megan Rose,
Ribich
Grayson
B u r k e ,
Suzanne
Van De
Grift and
O l i v i a
Woods set
a school
mark, fin-
ishing in
3:56.73.
The men’s distance med-
ley relay team of Ribich,
Dustin Nading, AJ Holmberg
and Josh Dempsey set new
school and conference
records with a time of
9:45.45.
Kennedy Rufener set a
new WOU record in the
women’s 5,000 in 17:24.07.
The final school record
was set by the women’s dis-
tance medley relay team of
Van De Grift, Rose, Woods
and Nicole Maurmann with
a time of 12:05.24.
Van De Grift set a person-
al record in the 800. Her
time of 2:14.10 is the third-
best in school history.
AJ Holmberg finished the
men’s 400 in 49.28 seconds,
setting a new personal best
by 0.15 seconds, ranking as
the fourth fastest time in
program history.
WOU’s track and field
team will return to Seattle
Feb. 10-11 for the Husky
Classic.
MEN’S BASKETBALL TOPS
C RU S A D E R S , W I L D C ATS :
Western Oregon’s men’s bas-
ketball team defeated North-
west Nazarene 69-67 on Thurs-
day and Central Washington
85-68 on Saturday. Junior Ali
Fa r u q - B e y
was the hero
against
Nor thwest
Nazarene,
scoring with
t h re e s e c -
onds left in
the game to
allow the
Faruq-Bey
Wo l v e s t o
edge past the Crusaders.
WOU led by as many as 12
points in the first half, but
trailed by as many as eight in
the second after a 17-2 run by
Northwest Nazarene.
Faruq-Bey scored 23 points,
grabbed five rebounds and
had two steals.
Tanner Omlid added 13
points, nine rebounds, six as-
sists, six steals and three
blocked shots.
Faruq-Bey also led the
Wolves against Central Wash-
ington, scoring 21 points. J.J.
Chirnside recorded 13 points
and eight rebounds.
Western Oregon hosts Saint
Martin’s Thursday at 7 p.m. and
Seattle Pacific Saturday at 5
p.m. Saturday’s game will be
aired on Root Sports.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Girls basketball defeats Woodburn, South Albany
Itemizer-Observer staff report
ALBANY — Dallas’ girls basket-
ball team rolled to a pair of league
wins. The Dragons defeated Wood-
burn 77-11 on Jan. 24 and South
Albany 69-43 on Friday.
Emma Classen, Jordan Dippel
and Madi Feldman each scored 10
points against Woodburn. Olivia
Nelson, Jessica Furman and Katie
Senger each added eight points.
Dallas led 36-2 at the half.
Dippel led the Dragons against
South Albany with 17 points. Nel-
son added 15 points and eight re-
bounds. Becca Ronco recorded 13
points and five assists.
Dallas hosts Lebanon Wednes-
day (today) at 7 p.m. before play-
ing at Crescent Valley Friday at 7
p.m. The Dragons (9-6 overall, 4-2
Mid-Willamette Conference) enter
the week in third place in the
league standings behind Corvallis
and Silverton.
WRESTLING WINS INVITATIONAL:
Dallas’ wrestling team defeated Cen-
tral 51-23 in a league dual on Jan. 25.
The Dragons also won the Robert Paul
Invitational on Saturday.
Dawson Barcroft (113 pounds),
Jacob Jones (126), Joseph Foster
(132), Cody Janssen (160), Clay Coxen
(182) and Treve Earhart (195) earned
first-place finishes on Saturday. Ryan
Bibler (113) and Bryce Miller (138)
placed second.
Dallas will compete at Woodburn
Wednesday (today) at 7 p.m. before
hosting South Albany Thursday at 7
p.m. The Dragons will take part in the
Tod Surmon Tournament Saturday at
West Albany High School in the team’s
final tournament before the MWC Dis-
trict Championships Feb. 10-11.
FORD, KENNEDY LEAD SWIM
TEAM: Dallas senior Jolie-Rae Ford
won the girls 100-yard butterfly dur-
ing a dual meet against Central on
Jan. 24. Ford won with a time of 1
minute, 6.5 seconds. She also won the
50 freestyle in 26.85 seconds.
Ryan Kennedy won the boys 200
freestyle in 2:11.99 and the 500
freestyle in 5:48.02.
Gabriel Applegate won the boys
200 individual medley in 2:55.01.
The Dragons lost both the boys and
girls meet to the Panthers. Dallas trav-
eled to South Albany Tuesday after
press time for the team’s final meet
before the MWC District Champi-
onships Feb. 10-11 in Corvallis.