Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 10, 2018 11A
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Wolves defeat Vikings for first time in nine years
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Kennedy Corrigan, left, tries to use a screen to drive past a Western Washington defender on Saturday.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — For the
first time in nearly a decade,
Western Oregon University’s
women’s basketball team de-
feated Western Washington
54-50 on Saturday.
The Wolves had lost to the
Vikings 18 times in a row —
a streak dating back nine
years. Kennedy Corrigan
scored 11 points in the first
quarter, helping WOU jump
out to a 21-14 lead. Western
Washington pulled to within
one at the half.
The score was tied at 50
late in the fourth before free-
throws by Savannah Heugly
and Corrigan sealed the win.
Corrigan finished with a
game-high 18 points.
Sydney Azorr added 13
points and Heugly recorded
11 points and six rebounds.
Western Oregon lost to
Simon Fraser 81-67 on
Thursday.
WOU (6-6 overall, 2-4
Great Northwest Athletic
Conference) plays at Alaska
Anchorage Thursday at 8
p.m. and at Alaska Fairbanks
Saturday at 2 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
O P E N S YE A R W I T H W I N S :
Western Oregon University’s
men’s basketball team defeat-
ed Concordia 71-60 on Jan. 2
and Montana State, Billings 92-
68 on Saturday.
Vince Boumann had 17
points and nine rebounds
against Con-
cordia. Malik
M o r g a n
added 17
points and
three steals,
and Ali
Fa r u q - B e y
recorded 12
points and
six steals.
Boumann
Six differ-
ent players scored in double
figures against Montana State,
Billings, including Riley
Hawken, who had 12 points
and nine rebounds, and J.J.
Chirnside, who recorded 10
points, six rebounds, five assists
and two blocks.
The Wolves (13-1 overall, 5-1
GNAC) play at Saint Martin's
Thursday at 7 p.m. and at Seat-
tle Pacific Saturday at 7 p.m.
Central: Panthers opened league against Lebanon
Continued from Page 10A
“He brings varsity experi-
ence,” Kreta said. “He gives
us a spark and we get that
much stronger with him.”
Lesmeister was originally
a wing entering high school,
but has converted to a post
player for the Panthers.
The transition was origi-
nally difficult — requiring a
change in thinking and ap-
proach — but one that
Lesmeister has fully em-
braced.
“You have to be strong
and have a quick move,” he
said. “You can’t wait. Once
you hesitate, you’ll have
people on you. You have to
know what you’re doing.”
Lesmeister’s willingness
to change his playstyle
stemmed from a desire to
help his team, regardless of
what it meant doing.
“I think it’s that mentali-
ty,” Kreta said. “We’re not
very tall. We have to have
someone take ownership
and be willing to go bang in
the paint.”
Lesmeister’s return gives
Kreta depth in the paint, and
someone who isn’t afraid to
get physical and is always
looking to improve.
“He’s a student of the
game,” Kreta said. “He
watches and learns. He pulls
coaches aside. Getting to
watch guys when he was
younger, he got to see what
happens when you do
things the right way.”
Central has seen other
players step up in big ways.
Senior Peter Mendazona is a
consistent scoring threat,
while Isaiah Abraham brings
a physical presence who
takes pride on defense and
grabbing rebounds.
“I’m a bit of a bruiser,”
Abraham said. “I like getting
low and getting boards and
helping where I can.”
His energy is infectious,
Kreta said.
“Isaiah is a fantastic ath-
lete,” Kreta said. “He’s jump-
ing over people to get re-
bounds. That kind of energy,
you can’t coach that. He
knows what his role is on the
floor and plays phenomenal
defense.”
Players now turn their at-
tention to MWC play.
“We always want to look
forward to who is next,”
Kreta said. “The guys want
to know what it’s like to de-
fend and hold off and con-
tinue to be hungry. We know
if we take a night off, we’re
going to get stung, and that
could come back to haunt
you.”
The Panthers opened
league play against Lebanon
Tuesday after press time.
Central plays at Wood-
burn Friday at 7 p.m. and at
South Albany Tuesday at 7
p.m. South Albany entered
league play with a 7-3
record.
“Our start gave us the
confidence we needed,”
Abraham said. “Knowing
people will be looking to
knock us off gives us more
pride and makes us work
harder. We love the competi-
tion.”
DALLAS ROUNDUP
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Girls basketball drops close game
Panthers enter league
play with 9-1 record
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PENDLETON — Dallas’
girls basketball team lost a
close game to Pendleton
49-42 on Jan. 2.
The Dragons led for
most of the game before
Pendleton rallied during
the final four minutes. Jor-
dan Dippel led Dallas with
13 points. Mikayli Laizure
and Emma Classen scored
nine points each.
“ We were up by six
headed into the fourth
quarter, but we had a little
foul trouble and could not
control their inside post
player, Kalan McGlothan,”
coach Tim Ehlers said.
McGlothan finished
with 25 points.
The Dragons also failed
to make a field goal over
the final two minutes of
the game.
“It was another tough
loss, but being in tough
and close games will hope-
fully help us get ready to
start league play,” Ehlers
said.
Dallas
finished
the non-
l e a g u e
season
with a 6-3
r e c o r d
overall.
The Drag-
Dippel
o
n
s
opened league play
against Corvallis Tuesday
after press time. Dallas
plays at Friday at 7 p.m.
and at Woodburn Tuesday
at 7 p.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL FIN-
ISHES NONLEAGUE PLAY
WITH LOSS: Dallas’ boys bas-
ketball team dropped its final
nonleague game of the sea-
son, falling to Pendleton 57-
47 on Jan. 2.
Evan Courtney scored a ca-
reer-high 21 points, and the
Dragons forced 27 Pendleton
turnovers.
“Our full-court pressure
looked the best it has all sea-
son, and we were able to
come back from a 16-point
deficit to make it a seven-
point game early in the fourth
quarter,” coach Trent Schwartz
said. “I was happy with how
the kids stuck with it getting
down and battling back, but
we just couldn't get over the
hump.”
The Dragons finished non-
league play 1-8.
Dallas opened Mid-
Willamette Conference play at
Corvallis Tuesday after press
time.
Dallas hosts Crescent Valley
Friday at 7 p.m. and Wood-
burn Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“We learned we need to
play good team defense for
32 minutes every night to
have a chance to win when
we aren’t shooting the lights
out. That must be something
we do each night,” Schwartz
said. “... We’re learning that,
during stretches of the game
when we have struggles scor-
ing, that we must have excel-
lent shot selection, offensive
execution, defense, and confi-
dence. I think we played a
tremendously tough pre-sea-
son schedule ... I guarantee
we will not be intimidated
against any opponent the rest
of the way.”
SWIM TEAM COMPETES
AT PHILOMATH: Dallas’ swim
team competed at Philomath
on Friday.
Gabe Applegate placed
first in the
boys 200-
y a r d
freestyle
with a time
of 2 min-
utes, 26.04
seconds.
Te a m m a t e
Jakob Lloyd
Dressel
placed sec-
ond
in
2:29.09. Lloyd also took sec-
o n d i n t h e 5 0 f re e s t y l e
(28.38).
Isaiah Dressel finished sec-
ond in the boys 100 breast-
stroke in 1:28.51 and third in
the 100 freestyle (1:03.88).
Hans Garrison took seventh in
the 100 freestyle (1:14.77)
and eighth in the 100 back-
stroke (1:24.72).
Guinevere Bagnall took
fourth in the girls 50 freestyle
(49.61) and seventh in the
100 backstroke (2:27.06).
Dallas will compete at Taft
on Jan. 18 at 3:15 p.m.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE —
Central’s girls basketball
team defeated West Albany
72-58 on Jan. 3.
The Panthers finished
nonleague play with a 9-1
record and the top ranking
in the OSAA’s power rank-
ings.
Central’s lone loss came
against Stayton on Dec. 20.
The Panthers opened
Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence play against Lebanon
Tuesday after press time.
Lebanon entered league
play undefeated.
Central plays at Wood-
burn Friday at 5:30 p.m. be-
fore hosting South Albany
Tuesday at 7 p.m.
WRESTLING COMPETES
IN LEAGUE MATCHES: Cen-
tral’s wrestling squad compet-
ed against South Albany,
Woodburn and Crescent Val-
ley on Thursday.
The Panthers lost to South
Albany 41-29 and Woodburn
38-28. Re-
s u l t s
against
Crescent
V a l l e y
were not
available.
N o a h
Worthing-
ton (113
Ca. Sedlacek p o u n d s ) ,
Alan Vargas (145), Cael Matta
(152), and Caleb Sedlacek
(285) picked up wins against
South Albany. Corbin Sed-
lacek and Angel Huer ta
picked up wins by forfeit.
Ty Pearson (126), Xander
Hall (195), and Corbin Sed-
lacek (285) earned wins
against Woodburn. Worthing-
ton and Caleb Sedlacek won
by forfeit.
Results from the Aloha
Dual Challenge on Friday
were not available.
The Panthers will compete
at Corvallis Thursday at 6 p.m.
before traveling to the Nick
Lutz Invitational at Siuslaw
High School in Florence on
Saturday.
Falls City: Mountaineers look to continue growth
Continued from Page 10A
For the seniors, this sea-
son is as much about teach-
ing their younger counter-
parts giving advice that,
while things may seem diffi-
cult now, they will get better.
“It was really awkward at
first (for me last season),”
Potts said. “I didn’t know
anybody. I hadn’t played bas-
ketball since, like, seventh
grade. Everything was hard. I
was out of shape, I was trying
to learn how to shoot right
and work on my footwork. I
got the hang of it, but it was
difficult that first day.”
Making that learning
process more difficult is the
lack of a junior varsity team,
but players have seen steady
progress.
“We have really good en-
ergy,” Houghtaling said.
“That win streak was kind of
a turning point in our sea-
son. We saw a different ener-
gy. We’re a young, but expe-
rienced team. Every team
has its setbacks, but we’re
learning how to face them
and grow.”
The team has made sig-
nificant strides. What started
as a more disjointed offense
has evolved into a smoother
flowing system, and as play-
ers gain experience and con-
fidence, Falls City has shown
it can hang with some of the
l e a g u e’s b e s t , p l a y i n g
Crosshill Christian and Jew-
ell, the Casco League’s sec-
ond- and third-place teams
entering the week, close.
The team’s next step is
knocking off the Casco
League’s top teams. The
Mountaineers host Perry-
dale, the league’s first-place
squad, Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
“We have a couple of hard
games coming up, but we’re
not going to get anywhere
w i t h o u t f a c i n g t h e m ,”
Houghtaling said.
Most importantly, the
Mountaineers want to see
continued growth and de-
velopment and to not be
afraid to stay aggressive, re-
gardless of the score.
“Instead of saying do this
instead of that, we’re telling
each other, ‘you got this,’”
Houghtaling said. “We’re
thinking about the way we
talk to each other to stay
positive. Playing with this
team is fun. We have good
times. I’ve enjoyed it.”
Dallas: Dragons focused on chasing greatness
Continued from Page 10A
“A lot of (my focus) is about
the team,” Earhart said. “It’s
improving a little bit every
day. It’s seeing that improve-
ment and doing whatever I
can to help the team and help
others improve. … I’m always
adding little things. We’re
working on a move until we
can do it without even think-
ing about it.”
Earhart is one of several
wrestlers who is making his
presence felt.
Joseph Foster is ranked
third at 132 pounds, while
Jacob Jones is third at 138
pounds. Cael Morrison is
ranked fourth at 106 pounds,
and Ryan Bibler (fourth) and
freshman Haydn Miller (fifth)
are ranked at 113 pounds.
“We didn’t know what we
could be (at the start of the
season),” Earhart said. “But
we start to find it in ourselves,
push each other and start to
get a sense that we can com-
pete with other teams. That
pushes us even harder to be a
little bit above them.”
Finding that extra level
can be challenging.
Practices test wrestlers
on a daily basis. The bond
teammates share is strong,
but once practice begins,
friendships are put aside
and the focus is on per-
fecting a move, learning
something new and build-
ing endurance.
“You can’t be buddies with
everyone,” Earhart said. “It’s
not time to be nice with
everybody. It’s not beating
each other up, but we get
after it.”
While that can lead to in-
tense experiences, the desire
to improve drives them for-
ward.
“Our mindset is wanting
to be great,” Earhart said. “If
you’re mentally weak, you’ll
have trouble getting through
a tough practice. You won’t
win those close matches. The
successful programs, they
have that mental strength.”
All the work is rewarding
when they triumph after a
tough match, and despite the
challenges, Earhart is taking
special care to approach
each day with a smile.
“I try and enjoy this every
day,” Earhart said. “It only
lasts for so long. For most of
the seniors, this will be our
last time wrestling. I don’t
want to take anything for
granted.”
Dallas will compete at
South Albany Thursday at 6
p.m. before traveling to the
Oregon Classic on Friday and
Saturday in Redmond.
“We just need to keep im-
proving,” Earhart said. “We
want to keep that upward
slope, keep pushing and every-
thing will take care of itself.”