Pago 8
The INDEPENDENT, March 1, 2000
Loggers make it to District play-offs; Hightower makes All-League
The Vernonia High School six rebounds and three assists
boys varsity basketball team to add to his statistics. Senior
played what head coach Scott Jason Busch had 11 points,
Finlay called “the toughest and freshman David Koch had
game of the year," Feb. 25 nine points, seven of which
against Knappa at Concordia came in the third quarter, as
well as five rebounds. Senior
College.
team
captain Bryan Dinger had
The first game of the district
playoffs ended in defeat for the seven assists.
Vernonia Loggers, as they lost
By the end of the third quar
78-59 to “the other Loggers,”
ter, Vernonia was down 57-49,
Knappa High School.
and with four minutes remain
“Even though we lost, we
ing in the game, found them
played one of the best games
selves within eight points of
we’ve played all year," said Fin
Knappa.
lay. “We played a team that
Unfortunately, Vernonia was
had beaten us by 40 points or
more each time we played unable to score near the end of
them, and went into the second the game. “They got lay-ups
and shots to earn the points,
half down by only four."
Senior Travis Hightower led and we had to either force
the scoring with 27 points, plus them to the line, or stop the
clock,” said Finlay.
“In some ways, this season
has been one of the most frus
trating for me as a coach,” said
Finlay, “but it has also been
one of the most rewarding.”
The team lost five players
over the course of the season,
but Finlay said it was extreme
ly satisfying for him to see the
remaining players overcome
frustrating situations and play
well enough to end up in the
playoffs.
The Feb. 22, 58-51 win
over City Christian put the Log
gers in the district playoffs
“This was an excellent win,”
said Finlay. “I told the team that
we have two down and two to
go.
Senior Kelly Baska had
Johnson, Vandehey each place second
Vernonia High School senior
Justin Johnson and junior
Blaine Vandehey each placed
second in the state champi
onship wrestling tournament
Feb. 25-26 at Memorial Colise
um in Portland. Going into the
tournament, the two wrestlers
ranked number one in their re
spective weight classes, but
each lost one match by deci
sion.
Vernonia ended the tourna
ment ranked 16th in the 2A
wrestling division.
“I’m satisfied with the place
ment we earned in the district
tournament,” Johnson said.
However, I cannot be satisfied
with a second place finish, and
I take complete and total blame
for not being prepared for that
match. There is no excuse for
lack of concentration.”
This was Johnson’s third ap
pearance at the state tourna
ment, and he’d had his sights
set on being number one for
the third time. He was defeated
by Jacob Boyles of Lowell.
This was Vandehey’s first
appearance at the state tour
nament, and he made it to the
championship round only to
lose by decision to Gold Beach
wrestler Tyler McGinnis.
“It is encouraging to come
so close and realize my train
ing is paying off,” said Vande
hey. “I’m not totally satisfied
because I didn’t achieve the
goal I had set. I will use this
shortcoming as motivation in
my future training.”
Vandehey, 160 pounds, and
Johnson, 119 pounds, each
placed first in the district tour
nament at the top of his class.
Rumors have been heard
around VHS that Johnson had
been sponsored to attend the
national wrestling tournament.
Not true, he said, “I have not
been sponsored for the nation
al tournament, and I do not
know where this rumor came
from, but it it not true. I do plan
to attend the tournament and
would gladly take sponsors into
consideration provided that I
qualify to wrestle with our na
tions best wrestlers.”
The Feb. 18-19 district tour
nament at Nestucca was a
good one for Logger wrestlers.
“Everybody got within one
match of placing,” said head
coach James Brookins. Some
notable finishes were Johnson
and Vandehey’s champion
ships, and sophomore Jeremy
Brennan’s third place finish.
Brennan was down by three
with thirty seconds to go, and
came back strong for a third
place finish in the 103 pound
class.
Freshman Joel Mack placed
fifth in the 130 pound class,
while senior Jesse Templin
placed fifth in the 160 pound
class. Juniors Luke Ellis and
Brass Sears placed fourth and
sixth respectively in the 215
pound class.
“The team started the sea
son with almost 40 members,
and ended with only 13," said
statistician Randee Parker.
“That just shows that wrestling
is a very tough sport and a lot
of people can’t handle it.”
Season of learning ends for Lady Logger jayvees
The Vernonia High School
junior varsity Lady Loggers
ended their season with a SO-
18 loss to Portland Christian at
home.
“Last time we played Port
land Christian, we lost 70-18,”
said coach Jeff Cheney. “We
achieved our goals for the
game though.”
The leading scorer was
freshman Kim Normand, with
10 points.
Normand was moved to the
Lady Loggers varsity squad to
finish the season. Nicole Sway-
ze, also a freshman, made the
transition to the varsity squad
as well. Cheney said he ex
pects the girls to start from that
level next season.
“A lot of the players who had
gotten fewer minutes in other
games had a chance to play in
this one,” said Cheney.
Against Knappa, Feb. 15,
the girls suffered a 41-39 loss.
Although six players fouled
out during the game, the
jayvees were able to make a
comeback in the fourth quarter,
closing the scoring gap to just
two points near the end.
Sophomore Megan Peura
attempted a three point shot at
the buzzer and, just as it
looked like a win, the ball
bounced out of the hoop. “It
was in the basket. If it hadn’t
bounced out, we would have
won the game,” said Cheney.
High scorer again was Nor
mand, while freshman Heather
Forster brought in nine points.
Forster was 7-11 at the line.
high points for the game, with
18. Hightower followed with 13
points and 11 rebounds, while
Dinger made 11 points and six
assists, and Koch brought in 10
points and eight rebounds.
“Early in the game, we rode
on Kelly’s shooting,” said Fin
lay. In the first half, Baska
made four three-point shots.
“Kelly countered what the Li
ons were trying to do, which
was trying to keep Travis from
being able to do anything.”
By the end of the first quar
ter, the Loggers were down by
five, but by the end of the sec
ond quarter, they were up by
five.
Late in the game the Lions
came on strong, trying to get
back into the game by putting
the Loggers at the foul line. In
the fourth quarter, the boys hit
five of their last seven free
throws.
“We played excellent bas
ketball,” said Finlay, “and were
blessed by the basketball gods
to make it to the playoffs de
spite such a tough record.”
Two members of the jayvee
team were moved to the varsi
ty level, freshman Eric Weller,
and sophomore Darcy Kunkel
to finish off the season.
Hightower, the team’s lead
ing scorer and rebounder, was
named to the third team All-
League.
Dinger also received an
honorable mention.
The Loggers enjoyed the
Feb. 19 playoff game against
Warrenton, coming home with
a 71-60 win.
Hightower had high points
with 23, plus eight rebounds
and three assists, while Baska
followed with 14 points, five re
bounds and four assists.
Hightower had a personal
high of 29 points, with 11 re
bounds and four assists. Busch
scored 11 points.
Vernonia suffered a 98-45
loss Feb. 15 against the Knap
pa Loggers.
Hightower slammed in 21
points and 11 rebounds, while
Busch contributed 13 points
and six rebounds.
“Knappa was unreal,” said
Finlay. “They were hot in the
first, and capitalized on any
mistake the boys made.”
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