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Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 13, 2017 13A CENTRAL ATHLETICS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, DEC. 14 Boys basketball: Abby’s Pizza Holiday Classic (at North Marion): Central vs. Banks, 6:30 p.m. C.S. Lewis a t Fa l l s C i t y, 7 p . m . Willamette Valley Christian at Perrydale, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Abby’s Pizza Holiday Classic (at North Marion): Central vs. Molalla, 8 p.m. C.S. Lewis at Fa l l s C i t y, 5 : 3 0 p . m . Willamette Valley Christian at Perrydale, 5:30 p.m. Men’s basketball: Pern Oregon, 7 p.m. Panthers announce hiring of three coaches By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE – Cen- tral High School’s athletic department announced the hiring of three new coaches for spring sports. Joel Everett will coach the golf team; Patty Nevue will coach the girls tennis squad; and Tom Roberts will coach the baseball team. “Tom is highly organized and has a great passion for the game of baseball and managing student-athletes,” athletic director Shane Hedrick said. “Joel too brings a great passion to the sport of golf. Patty is well-connected to the Independence-Mon- mouth communities as a vol- unteer to many organiza- tions. She will be a great asset to the tennis program.” Everett served as an assis- tant coach for the golf squad last spring and has been a football coach at Central for the past seven seasons. “After being an assistant coach in the program, I de- cided I was ready to apply for the head job and contin- ue the growth that the pro- gram has been having,” Everett said. “We had a great season last year for both boys and girls. Our goal is to send our teams to the re- gional tournament in May.” Nevue has coached women’s tennis at Oregon State University and given tennis lessons in Oregon, Alaska, Mexico and Mary- land. She was also a two-time Oregon high school doubles champion and played tennis at OSU. She has also served as an assistant at Central for three years. See COACHES, Page 14A FRIDAY, DEC. 15 Boys basketball: Abby’s Pizza Holiday Classic (at North Marion): Central vs. TBA, TBA. Dallas at Hills- boro, 7:15 p.m. Ranger Tour- nament (at Dufur): Perry- dale vs. Klickitat (Wash.), 4:30 p.m. Girls basketball: Abby’s Pizza Holiday Classic (at North Marion): Central vs. TBA, 7 p.m. Dallas at Hills- boro, 5:45 p.m. Ranger Tour- nament (at Dufur): Perry- dale vs. Klickitat (Wash.), 3 p.m. Wrestling: Central at Panther Invitational, 4 p.m. SATURDAY, DEC. 16 Boys basketball: Abby’s Pizza Holiday Classic (at North Marion): Central vs. TBA, TBA. Ranger Tourna- ment (at Dufur): Perrydale vs. TBA, TBA. Girls basketball: Abby’s Pizza Holiday Classic (at North Marion): Central vs. TBA, 8 a.m. Ranger Tourna- ment (at Dufur): Perrydale vs. TBA, TBA. Wrestling: Dallas at Lib- erty Tournament, 9 a.m. MONDAY, DEC. 17 Men’s basketball: Alas- ka Anchorage at Western Oregon, 5 p.m. MONDAY, DEC. 18 Boys basketball: Central at Cascade, 7 p.m. Triangle Lake at Falls City, 7 p.m. Girls basketball: Trian- gle Lake at Falls City, 5:30 p.m. TUESDAY, DEC. 19 Boys basketball: Coun- try Christian at Perrydale. 7:30 p.m. Girls basketball: McKay at Dallas, 7 p.m. Country Christian at Perrydale, 6 p.m. Men’s basketball: Alas- ka Fairbanks at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. Women’s basketball: Western Oregon at Central Washington, 2 p.m. WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 Girls basketball: Central at Stayton, 7 p.m. — Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS Perrydale girls ranked eighth PERRYDALE — Perry- dale’s girls basketball team is ranked eighth in the 1A coaches poll released on Monday. The Pirates received 47 votes. Nixyaawii was ranked in the top spot. WOU softball signs seven MONMOUTH — Western Oregon softball coach Lonny Sargeant an- nounced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent on Thursday. The signed players are Madeline Brandner (Ken- newick, Wash.), Alexi Bre- haut (Pendleton), Macy Christianson (Kennewick), Madison Mayer (Mil- waukie), Nalani Muranaka (Salem), Zoie Recolan (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), and Katherine Tidwell (Marana, Ariz.). Players will be eligible to play beginning the fall of 2018. Western Oregon fin- ished the 2017 season with a 29-24 record overall and a 14-14 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Confer- ence play. WOU advanced to the title round of the GNAC Championship be- fore falling to Western Washington. www.polkio.com LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file Devon Alexander will get a chance to play for the Vancouver Knights. A second chance WOU alumni to play basketball for a Canadian basketball squad By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — From the mo- ment he finished his senior season at Western Oregon in 2016, Devon Alexander has had his sight set on playing professional basketball — no matter where in the world it would take him. He’ll get his chance later this month in Canada. Alexander is headed across the border to start training camp on Dec. 27 after signing with the Van- couver Knights, part of the North American Premier Basketball league. “All 17 years of playing basketball was supposed to be towards this,” he said. “The fact that it’s finally hap- pening is amazing.” It’s been far from easy. — When Alexander started this process, he was realistic, but hope- ful. He took part in numerous camps and combines in the U.S., Germany and Canada, kept up on his personal training and patiently waited for his opportunity. It appeared he was beginning to gather serious interest to play over- seas, Alexander said, when a left wrist injury last fall put his playing future in question. There were positives. Alexander earned his bachelor’s degree, began working for a sports marketing com- pany and started training young basketball players. But Alexander began to wonder if his playing days were over. “Doubt creeps into your mind,” Alexander said. “You’re out for two months, you get out of shape quick and you start to question whether it’s worth it to keep going.” The commissioner of the NAPB, which has eight teams, invited Devon to a combine in September. By this point, Alexander had es- tablished himself with a client base that he enjoyed training. Ultimately, the allure of chasing his dream one more time was too much to ignore. See DEVON, Page 14A LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file Former Western Oregon men’s basketball player Devon Alexander will travel to play basketball in Canada later this month. PREP BOYS BASKETBALL Dragons look to toughen up By Lukas Eggen Caleb Kiner drives to the hoop against Churchill on Friday night. The Dragons lost 65-40 to fall to 0-5 overall on the season. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer The Itemizer-Observer Basketball DALLAS — Dallas’ boys basketball coach Trent Schwartz had one message for his players: It’s time to get tough. “We were a little soft in our first four games,” Schwartz said. “We have to be a tough basketball team and (on Friday), I thought we played tough at times. We were outsized, but we put a butt on people and took two charges. We have to get a little nasty.” The Dragons lost to Churchill 65-40, but Dallas showed flashes of the toughness Schwar tz is looking for. The Dragons trailed 23-13 at the half be- fore rallying within seven. The Lancers answered and • Dallas’ boys basketball team lost to Churchill 65-40 on Friday. • The Dragons played Glencoe Tuesday after press time and travel to face Hills- boro on Friday. www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 pulled away. “I saw a lot of intensity,” senior Jack Anderson said. “We were really playing as a team for stretches and get- ting after it.” Dalton Woolner and An- derson helped spark a Dal- las rally in the second half, thanks to some long dis- tance shots. But the Drag- ons couldn’t make them with enough consistency to sustain the rally. See DALLAS, Page 14A www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports