Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 8, 2017 11A
CENTRAL BOYS BASKETBALL
Panthers dropped in first round by Crater
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central’s Peter Mason dishes a pass against Eagle Point.
BEND — Central’s boys
basketball team wasn’t going
down without a fight. The
13th-ranked Panthers were
on the road facing the
f o u r t h - s e e d e d Su m m i t
Storm on Saturday in the
first round of the state play-
offs.
After trailing by nine in
the first quarter, the Pan-
thers tried to close the gap,
including rallying to within
two in the fourth quarter
after a pair of 3-pointers
from Andrew Barry. Each
time, Summit did just
enough to hold on for a 53-
47 win.
“It was a great game and
the kids played extremely
hard,” coach Tim Kreta said.
“We didn’t get the start we
were hoping for, but they
kept fighting. … That’s a re-
ally good team that we
played. We were in a posi-
tion to finish out the game,
but missed a couple of
shots. We were aggressive on
All-league basketball
• Central senior Alec Barba was named first-team all-Mid-
Willamette Conference. Senior Peter Mason, sophomore Bren-
dan Lesmeister, senior Andrew Barry and junior Peter
Mendazona earned honorable mentions.
• Dallas senior Jason Richey was named second team all-
MWC. Senior Aaron White received an honorable mention.
defense, but couldn’t quite
match that aggressiveness
on the offensive side, and I
think we settled for jump
shots a bit in the second
half.”
Summit provided some
matchup issues early on,
with several tall post players
making life difficult for the
Panthers.
“We needed to make
some defensive adjustments
because they were so big,”
Kreta said. “They had guys
who are 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-
5. We had to increase the
ball pressure to give Andrew
Barry and Brendan Lesmeis-
ter any time in the paint.”
Senior Alec Barba scored
a team-high 15 points
against the Storm.
Central advanced to the
first round by defeating
Eagle Point 65-50 in the
play-in round on Feb. 28.
The victory allowed the Pan-
thers, which lost 54-49 to
Woodburn on senior night
on Feb. 24, to give players a
chance to give its seniors
one final win at home.
“It’s big, especially after
the way we finished the pre-
vious two games at home,”
senior Peter Mason said. “To
win the last game we’ll play
(at home) it means a lot to
us.
Central will see several
key contributors graduate,
including Barba, Mason, Will
Cable and Barry, but Kreta
hopes that the experience
returning players gained will
help fill the void.
“Our seniors are going to
be hard to
r e p l a c e ,”
Kreta said.
“Bu t y o u
hope that
t
h
e
younger
kids seeing
the older
Barba
kids play
and experiencing the ebbs
and flows will be able to take
this and grow from it. We’ll
have guys like Peter Menda-
zona. Lesmeister had a great
breakout year. Isaiah Abra-
ham is a great, defensive
guy. We’ll have some build-
ing to do, but we’ll have kids
who have been in this spot
before.”
The Panthers finished the
season with a 13-12 record
overall.
“I’m proud of the way the
kids have battled,” Kreta
said. “I think everything
happens for a reason. The
kids went out and did every-
thing we asked them to do. I
don’t regret anything we’ve
done, and I don’t think our
kids do either.”
Wolves: WOU hosts Simon Fraser on Saturday
Continued from Page 10A
As a freshman, Cadwal-
lader appeared in 10 of 57
games. By her junior sea-
son, she had 22 appear-
ances, including 10 starts
and led the team in ERA
(2.53) and was second in
strikeouts (65).
The key to her success
goes beyond natural ability.
“I want to have a rela-
tionship with my catcher,”
Cadwallader said. “We want
to be thinking the same
thing when we face a batter
— that we want to throw
this pitch or we want to hit
this location. Afterward,
we’ll talk about how we felt
things went that inning.”
That kind of trust and
connection can take time
to build, but it is paying off.
“I don’t focus as much as
the other team,” Cadwal-
lader said. “I’m just focused
on us (me and my catcher).
When I focus on the batter,
I can get in my own head. I
just make each batter like
it’s a practice situation and
I relax myself.”
But the Wolves’ biggest
strength so far has been its
offense.
At the plate, WOU is bat-
ting .324 as a team and has
outscored opponents by
nearly double (100 to 56).
Kelsie Gardner leads the
team in hits (25). Four dif-
ferent players (Destiny
Ku e h l , A s h l e e Ly n c h ,
Emma Alfonso and Zoe
Clark) have hit three home
runs.
“Offensively, we’re pretty
strong,” Sargent said. “We
have some kids who can hit
well and we have some
new kids who are proving
that they can play at this
level. That’s probably our
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
greatest strength right
now.”
Lynch, a senior, may be
ready to have her best year
at WOU. She hit .310 with
nine home runs in 45
games as a junior. She’s
batting .412 with three
homers — including a
grand slam — in 12 games
this year.
“I just think about doing
my job at the plate,” Lynch
said. “Maybe that’s to try
and get an RBI or advanc-
ing a baserunner. I’m not
thinking, oh I am going to
hit double or a triple or a
home run.”
Western Oregon opens
league play by hosting
Simon Fraser Saturday at
noon and Western Wash-
ington Sunday at noon.
WOU was picked to fin-
ish second in the presea-
son coaches poll behind
Central Washington.
“Our conference is going
to be really good from top
to bottom this year,” Sar-
gent said. “That’s what we
try and talk to them about
all the time. It doesn’t mat-
ter who you’re playing. Do
your job, and if the other
team ends up beating you,
the better team won that
day. We can’t take days off.”
While a path to a GNAC
title will be difficult, the
Wolves are confident they
have the pieces in place to
rise above.
“We just have to get each
of our jobs done,” Lynch
said. “Once we do that, I
think we’ll be fine. We have
a good team this year. We’re
excited to start conference
and excited to see what this
team can do. (The seniors)
are ready to go out with a
bang.”
CENTRAL GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wolves season ends in Central falls to top-seeded La Salle
conference title game
Itemizer-Observer staff report
LACEY, Wash. — Western
Oregon’s men’s basketball
team’s run for a second-
straight Great Northwest
Athletic Conference tourna-
ment championship fell just
short after a 71-69 loss to
top-seeded Western Wash-
ington in the championship
game on Saturday.
D e m e t r i u s Tr a m m e l
scored a career-high 33
points to lead the Wolves.
Western Oregon led 67-63
with 2:31 left in the game,
but a 7-0 run by Western
Washington proved to be the
difference.
WOU had a final chance
to win, but a 3-pointer from
Malik Leaks clanged off the
rim.
Western Oregon advanced
to the championship game
by defeating Montana State
Billings 72-61 on Thursday
and outlasting Alaska An-
chorage 91-84 in triple over-
time on Friday.
Tanner Omlid scored 22
points and grabbed 10 re-
bounds against Alaska An-
chorage, and Ali Faruq-Bey
added 19 points and seven
assists.
Western Oregon ended
the season with an 18-13
record overall.
BASEBALL OPENS LEAGUE
PLAY WITH WINS: Western
Oregon’s baseball team opened
GNAC play with a pair of wins
over Montana State Billings 9-4
and 3-2 on Saturday. Nyles Ny-
gaard and Jay Leverett each
had two hits and three RBIs in
the first game of the double-
header as pitcher Brady Miller
threw six innings recording
nine strikeouts.
Pitcher Elias Bedolla earned
the win in game two after
throwing for four scoreless in-
nings with three strikeouts.
WOU defeated Montana
State Billings 8-7 on Monday.
Western Oregon will play at
Concordia for a pair of double-
headers on Saturday and Sun-
day. The Wolves will host Cor-
ban on March 15 at 2 p.m.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MILWAUKIE — Central’s
girls basketball team faced
top-ranked La Salle in the
first round of the state play-
offs on Saturday.
The Panthers kept it
close, trailing 7-6 after the
first quarter, but La Salle
pulled away for a 59-35 vic-
tory.
“The girls competed and
hustled for 32 minutes,”
coach Julie McDonald said.
“I think the girls learned
that we need to be more ag-
gressive taking shots and
getting to the basket.”
Central advanced to the
first round by defeating
Thurston 45-41 in the play-
in round on March 1.
Freshman Meagan Men-
dazona was named first
team all-Mid-Willamette
Conference.
Elizabeth Chavez, Lexy
Barba and Katelyn Trevino
earned honorable men-
tions.
The Panthers appear set
up for future success. Cen-
tral will only lose one player
on its var-
sity roster
to gradu-
ation.
“ W e
played in
a lot of
g a m e s
that came
Chavez
down to
last minute game situa-
tions,” McDonald said.
“You don’t get that experi-
ence in practice. The girls
learned a lot from those
moments and will have a
couple more years to put
them to use. Any time you
can play in postseason it’s a
great experience. Playing at
a higher and faster speed is
always a benefit.”
Central finished the sea-
son with a 12-12 record
overall and an 8-6 mark in
league play.
“We’ve already set a few
goals for next season,” Mc-
Donald said. “The goals are
higher than we set this year
and if we work hard and as
a team, I believe we can
reach them.”
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central freshman Meagan Mendazona goes up for a
shot against Thurston on March 1.
Pirates: Perrydale takes third for the first time
Continued from Page 10A
That gave the team’s sen-
iors one last thing to smile
about after a historic sea-
son.
“The best part of it all for
me is to end on a win,”
Janesofsky said. “If we lose,
the seniors are all down
after the game. Winning is
one thing only three teams
can experience in the post-
season. We were fortunate
enough to work our butts
off and get that victory. I’m
glad we were able to make
Perrydale history and end
on a good note.”
For more photos:
www.polkio.com.
AARON YOST/ for the Itemizer-Observer
Perrydale’s Cooper Butler (left) and Haylen Janesofsky at-
tempt to block a shot against Jordan Valley on Saturday.
AARON YOST/ for the Itemizer-Observer
Perrydale’s boys basketball team celebrates after taking third at the OSAA 1A state basketball championships.