Creswell, Sports Zone

CHS: Week in Review

Creswell’s Tyler Frieze joined an elite club on Jan. 28, when his 27 points against Pleasant Hill boosted the senior guard past the 1,000-point mark for total points scored in his high school career. Jesse Thomas, CHS boys basketball head coach, presented Frieze with a commemorative basketball honoring his admission to the ”1,000-Point Club” before tipoff of the Bulldogs’ game Feb. 3. Gini Davis/The Chronicle

BOYS BASKETBALL
CHS 75, Harrisburg 52
CHS 59, Santiam Christian 42
CHS 85, La Pine 67
The skinny: After their win on the road at Santiam Christian, the No. 5 Bulldogs clinched first place in the Mountain Valley Conference with a five-game cushion over Pleasant Hill, who is in second place. Tyler Atwood made his first appearance on the court at SC after suffering an ankle injury earlier this season, and Kai Apo nursed an ankle injury of his own on the bench during the La Pine game. Having one of their primary offensive producers out for the night didn’t stop the Bulldogs as senior Dallton Dewey scored a season-high 35 points in one of his last road games for CHS.
Coach speaks: ”We can tell kids that hard work pays off until we’re blue in the face but until they win like that, and actually feel the success from their hard work paying off, that’s when they actually start believing you,” head coach Jesse Thomas said.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Harrisburg, 47 CHS 32
Santiam Christian 35, CHS 22
La Pine 43, CHS 36
The skinny: At home against No. 6 Harrisburg, the Bulldogs went into halftime looking defeated, trailing Harrisburg 26-9. By the time the third quarter ended, the score was 34-24, the Dawgs were down by only 10 and it seemed like a different team had come out in Creswell’s jerseys. Brea Dapron led Creswell with 14 points and 15 rebounds, collecting more rebounds than the rest of the team combined. Harrisburg pulled away in the fourth, with Creswell’s potential comeback falling short against their first Top-10 opponent of the week. When CHS traveled to its second Top-10 team for the week, Santiam Christian, coach Tyler Hollingsworth said the girls brought their best defensive performance of the season. Dapron was out with an ankle injury. To start the fourth quarter, Santiam Christian had a slim 18-12 lead. Creswell struggled in the fourth quarer, allowing the Eagles to stretch their lead during an 8-0 run. Creswell also fell to La Pine on Friday.
Coach speaks: ”We went from one of our best defensive performances at Santiam (Christian) to one of our worst at La Pine. If we had Brea against Santiam (Christian), that’s a tight game. If we played better defense at La Pine, we would have blown them away. These girls are good enough to win any night if they play the way I know they can – I don’t care how many Top 10 teams they’re up against,” Hollingsworth said.

WRESTLING
PHHS 39, CHS 18
South Umpqua 44, CHS 18
The skinny: Between hosting its only home dual of the season, honoring the Bulldogs’ five seniors at the meet and having three girls participate in the OSAA Southern District Girls Wrestling Regionals, it was a busy week for Creswell. Guinevere Devore, Nick Kubishta, Grant Marshall, Carley Wilkerson and Sam Williams were all honored before the duals took place. Devore and Wilkerson were just getting started. Along with sophomore teammate Brielle Brick, two days later they were competing against 60 other schools at Thurston HS in Regionals with the hope of qualifying for the state championships. Brick wasn’t just the only Bulldog to finish in the Top 4, qualifying her for state, she was the first female in Creswell’s history to qualify for girls state in her weight class and the second female to qualify overall in school history.
Coach speaks: ”The best part about these girls is how hard they fight. It doesn’t matter how tough an opponent may seem or how tired they may be after such a long week, they’re going to grit their teeth and give it everything. Guinevere and Carley must have rubbed off on Brielle somewhere along the way and I’m glad I got to be here for their last year. With how girls wrestling has taken off in the last two years, they get to be a part of a huge historical change in the sport,” coach Mario Perez said.

CHEERLEADING
Event: Tualatin Last Chance Competition
The skinny: After illness, injury and multiple routine reworks, Creswell finally felt fully ready for competition. Two weeks before the OSAA State Championships, Creswell had two Saturdays left to compete in the two OSAA-sanctioned competitions required to be able to participate in state. Tualatin’s Last Chance Competition gave Creswell the last chance they needed. While they didn’t place, the Bulldogs came home with their shot to compete for a state title next Saturday. By hitting all of the stunts in their routine, coach Christine Bandey said the girls met their goal that weekend. Even when the routine ended before the music, due to counts being off, she took it upon herself to do a freestyle dance in front of the girls so they ended their routine with smiles.
Coach speaks: ”We’ve had to make changes to our routine every weekend because we were missing someone, so timing is going to be off a little. That’s why you compete before you go to the big dance, so you can make adjustments. I wasn’t going to let them be down on themselves over something that can be fixed when they’d done so well – even if I had to embarrass myself a little to make them smile again,” Bandey said.

EQUESTRIAN
Event: South Valley District Meet 1
The skinny: During the Two-Man Birangle team event, Nikki Woods was bucked off her horse, landing flat on her back. To be on the safe side, coach Laurie Thomas had Woods taken to the hospital to be checked out and cleared by doctors. Thomas said that this particular horse was one that they’d had troubles with over the years, showing the aspect of unpredictability the horses bring to the sport. Teammates Gracie Bones and Jane Marquess took fourth in the Two-Man Birangle event; Woods and partner Natalie Ryan didn’t place due to the fall. Thomas said it’s now just the mental obstacles riders are faced with after being bucked off that they have to overcome.
Coach speaks: ”There is nothing scarier as a coach than to turn around and see one of your kids flat on their back in the dirt. In equestrian, it isn’t just the student-athletes we’re dealing with, it’s the horses too, and their behaviors aren’t as easy to predict. It’s the hard and dangerous part about this sport and why the kids and everyone around them have to be prepared.”

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