Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 6, 2017 13A
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 6
Boys basketball: Yon-
calla at Perrydale, 7 p.m.
Falls City at Triangle Lake, 6
p.m.
Girls basketball: Falls
City at Triangle Lake, 5:30
p.m. Yoncalla at Perrydale, 6
p.m.
Writing his own chapter
Dustin Triano arrives at Western Oregon looking to blaze his own trail
By Lukas Eggen
THURSDAY, DEC. 7
Girls basketball: South
Eugene at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Men’s basketball: Port-
land Bible College at West-
ern Oregon, 7 p.m.
The Itemizer-Observer
FRIDAY, DEC. 8
Boys basketball:
Churchill at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Astoria
at Central, 6 p.m.
Wrestling: Dallas at Rose
City Tournament, 1 p.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 9
Girls basketball: Central
at Summit, 1:30 p.m.
Wrestling: Central at
Springfield Invitational,
TBA. Dallas at Rose City
Tournament, TBA.
MONDAY, DEC. 11
Women’s basketball:
Western Oregon at Oregon
Tech, 6 p.m.
TUESDAY, DEC. 12
Boys basketball: Put-
nam at Central, 7 p.m. Glen-
coe at Dallas, 7 p.m. Oregon
School for the Deaf at Falls
City, 7 p.m. Perrydale at Liv-
ingstone Adventist, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Dallas
at Roosevelt, 7:15 p.m. Ore-
gon School for the Deaf at
Falls City, 5:30 p.m. Perry-
dale at Livingstone Adven-
tist, 5:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Tarleton
State, 7 p.m.
Swimming: Central at
South Albany, 4 p.m. Dallas
at Corvallis, 4 p.m.
Women’s basketball:
Western Oregon at South-
ern Oregon, 5:30 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU ATHLETICS/for the Itemizer-Observer
Bottle drop adds
extra dates
DALLAS — The Bottle
Drop fundraiser has added
two dates at the Dallas Les
Schwab — Saturday and
Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m.
If $5,000 worth of de-
posits are raised before
Dec. 20, the Field Turf
fundraising drive will re-
ceive an additional $2,000
from the bottle company.
Regular bottle drop days
are the last Saturday of
each month at Les Schwab.
Johnson named
Coach of the Year
MONMOUTH — Western
O re g o n c ro s s - co u nt r y
coach Mike Johnson was
named the Great North-
west Athletic Conference’s
Men’s Cross-country Coach
of the Year on Friday.
This is the first time he
has received the honor.
Johnson helped lead the
men’s squad to a conference
championship, and a third-
place finish at the NCAA Di-
vision II West Region Cham-
pionship. Senior David
Ribich took first at the con-
ference and region races.
Revis earns all-
region honors
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon football player Paul
Revis was named to the All-
Super Region 4 team by the
Division II Conference Com-
missioner’s Association.
Revis was named to the
second
t e a m
and was
one of
15 play-
ers from
t h e
GNAC to
be hon-
ored.
Revis
Revis
finished
the 2017 season with 93
catches for 1,082 yards and
seven touchdowns. He
holds school records for ca-
reer catches (274), receiving
yards (3,998), receiving
touchdowns (32) and all-
purpose yards (6,713).
www.polkio.com
Dustin Triano transferred from Gonzaga prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
MONMOUTH — Basket-
ball is more than a hobby in
the Triano family.
It’s a way of life.
Jay Triano played at Simon
Fraser University, where he
broke or tied 11 school
records and played for the
Canadian National Team from
1977-88. After retiring as a
player, Jay worked as a color
commentator and director of
community relations for the
then Vancouver Grizzlies. He
has served as an assistant
coach, and later head coach,
of the Toronto Raptors, an as-
sistant for the Portland Trail
Blazers, and is currently the
interim head coach for the
Phoenix Suns. He’s also
coached the Canadian Na-
tional Team two different
times.
His son, Dustin Triano, is
looking to write his own bas-
ketball chapter with Western
Oregon’s men’s basketball
team this winter.
—
As Jay Triano worked his
way up the ranks, Dustin got a
front-row view of life of an
NBA coach and a glimpse into
the lives of players.
“Ever since I was born, I’ve
been around basketball,”
Dustin said. “When he start-
ed at the Grizzlies, I would go
to games when I was 5 or 6.
It’s something I’ve always
been around. I’m a competi-
tive guy. I found I liked to
compete in basketball. I
would say it was never forced
on me, but I found I shared
the same love for basketball
as my dad.”
See TRIANO, Page 14A
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
WOU rallies to support Team Lucy
Fundraiser started to help Walker family cover expenses
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — The
Walkers have been a part of
the Western Oregon com-
munity for decades.
Ke l l e n Wa l k e r h a s
coached the baseball pro-
gram for the last 11 seasons.
His wife, Tyler, was a soft-
ball player at WOU and is a
member of Western’s Athlet-
ic Hall of Fame.
The Walker’s daughter,
Lucy, 3, was diagnosed with
A c u t e Ly m p h o b l a s t i c
Leukemia in November, the
WOU community stepped
up to help raise money for
her treatment.
The Walkers had noticed a
difference in Lucy. At first,
they attributed changes in
behavior to a cold she had
been fighting and other life
events.
But over time, they be-
came more worried.
“Our once energetic, fun
loving and lively girl was
now lethargic, unable to
walk more than a short dis-
tance and was constantly
complaining that she didn’t
want to do anything,” the
Wa l k e r s w r o t e o n t h e
fundraising page. “It just
didn’t make sense.”
Doctors told the Walkers
to go directly to Doernbech-
er Childrens Hospital in
Portland.
“The hour and a half drive
to Portland seemed like an
eternity,” the Walkers wrote.
Once they arrived, it was
confirmed.
Debbie Wakem, mother of
WOU baseball player Justin
Wakem, helped organize a
fundraiser to help cover
medical costs at www.you-
caring.com/thewalkerfami-
ly-1011671.
WOU athletics depart-
ment and the Student Ath-
lete Advisory Committee will
also be selling #LucyStrong
T-shirts at all home games
for $12. All proceeds will go
to the Walkers.
Wakem, who lives in Port-
land, has had experience
working with families who
have battled various illness-
es.
When she heard what the
Walkers were facing, there
was no doubt what she
would do.
“I had gotten word that
Lucy was diagnosed with
leukemia,” Wakem said.
“They had been at the hos-
pital, I want to say about
three days at that point. I
reached out to them to see if
I could stop by.”
Wakem had talked with
other families who had dealt
with illnesses and asked
what was most helpful. The
answer, Wakem said, was the
simple things, like blankets.
When she visited the
Walkers, she heard some dif-
ficult news.
“The doctor came in and
forewarned them that they
heard the Ronald McDonald
House was full,” Wakem
said. “I looked at the Walkers
and told them if that’s really
the case, I don’t know how
close you have to be to the
hospital, but our home is
open to you.”
The Walkers took Wakem
up on her offer and have
been living at her home
since Nov. 7.
Wakem has helped in any
way she can, whether that
means watching Lucy’s sis-
ter, Gracie, or giving emo-
tional support.
There was initial reluc-
tance by the Walkers to
agree to a fundraiser, but
Wakem said travel costs to
and from Portland, hospital
stays, meal costs and more
can add up quickly.
See LUCY, Page 14A
WOU ATHLETICS
Western Oregon will sell
Team Lucy shirts at home
games.
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Boys basketball goes 2-0
Girls basketball earns
a pair of victories
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral’s boys basketball team
defeated North Eugene 55-
45 on Nov. 29 and Stayton
48-43 on Friday.
Peter Mendazona scored a
team-high 14 points against
North Eugene. Kaleb Kanto-
la added nine points.
Jesse Cable led the Pan-
thers against Stayton with a
game-high 14 points. Men-
dazona scored 13 points and
Kantola added 11 points.
“Friday was a real learn-
ing experience,” coach Tim
Kreta said. “We found our-
selves down by 13 at the
end of the first quarter and
needed to make a few de-
fensive adjustments. Our
kids did a really good job
chipping away each quarter
and staying the course and
sticking to our game plan.”
After giving up 23 points
in the first quarter, the Pan-
thers allowed just 20 the rest
of the game.
Central played Putnam
Tuesday after press time.
The Panthers host Mil-
waukie Tuesday at 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL WINS
TWO: Central’s girls basketball
team opened its season by de-
feating North Eugene 85-20 on
Nov. 29 and Cascade 57-26 on
Friday.
Meagan Mendazona scored
a game-high 13 points and
grabbed 10 rebounds against
Cascade. K atelyn Trevino
added 12 points. The Panthers
host Astoria Friday at 6 p.m. be-
fore playing at Summit Satur-
day at 1:30 p.m.
WRESTLING PLACES SEC-
OND: Central’s wrestling team
finished second at the Tillam-
ook Invite on Friday. The Pan-
thers will compete at the
Springfield Invitational Satur-
day at 10 a.m.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Dallas’ girls
basketball team defeated
North Salem 40-29 on Nov.
29 and Reynolds 56-15 on
Friday.
The Dragons played St.
Helens Tuesday after press
time. Dallas hosts South
Eugene Thursday at 7 p.m.
before playing at Roosevelt
Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
W R E S T L I N G TA K E S
THIRD: Dallas’ wrestling team
placed third at the Perry Burli-
son Wrestling Classic on Sat-
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
urday. R yan Bibler (120
pounds) finished first. Haydn
Millard (113) finished second
and Cael Morrison (106) took
third. Dallas will compete at
the Rose City Championship
Friday and Saturday.
BOYS BASKETBALL GOES
0-4: Dallas’ boys basketball
team lost to Century 70-49 on
Nov. 29 before falling to
Wilsonville 72-25 on Friday,
Eagle Point 60-43 on Saturday
and Springfield 75-46 on Sun-
day. Dallas hosts Churchill Fri-
day at 7 p.m. and Glencoe
Tuesday at 7 p.m.
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports