Gauge Smith tosses up a reverse lay-in as the Bulldogs mount a fourth-quarter comeback against Pleasant Hill. Gini Davis/The Chronicle
BOYS BASKETBALL
PHHS 66, CHS 64 (OT)
CHS XX, HARRISBURG
The skinny: The Bulldogs 10-game winning streak ended when the Pleasant Hill Billies held off Creswell’s ferocious rally and held on in overtime Tuesday at CHS. Creswell had beaten Pleasant Hill twice this season by an average of 19 points. The tipping point Tuesday was Pleasant Hill holding Creswell’s Tyler Frieze to his season-low of five points, one of only two games where he didn’t score in double digits. Max Smith also produced a double-double for the Billies with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Omani Perkins, who had scored five points combined in the teams’ previous meetings, was 3-for-4 on three-pointers with 14 total points and four rebounds. Perkins and Smith together accounted for more than half of the Billies points and rebounds.
Coach speaks: ”We’ve said all year that we needed to prepare for a team to bring us their best game and I’ve got to give P. Hill credit for that. Execution wise, that was probably their best game they’ve played all year and we failed to do what we needed to do to win,” said head coach Jesse Thomas.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
PHHS 63, CHS 37
The skinny: Creswell found itself down by double digits once again, and the hole was too big to overcome. The Billies finished the game by outscoring the Dawgs 12-4, sealing their sixth straight victory.
Coach speaks: ”The one thing I think I’m finally getting through to them is that we can’t start out the second quarter being down by 15 points. We’ve been starting from behind and even when we play well for the next two or three quarters, we’ve still been losing,” said head coach Tyler Hollingsworth.
WRESTLING
The skinny: Last week when starting preparations for the 3A Special District 3 Boys Wrestling Regionals, Creswell had 12 athletes scheduled to attend. By Friday, it was down to six. Six days and 50% of the Bulldogs were out sick. Corbin Allison, Juan Bautista, Nick Kubishta and Josiah Lee all made it to the second day of competitions but the Bulldogs still had five forfeits that added to other teams’ scores, ending Creswell in last in the team results. Kubishta advanced furthest in his bracket, losing in the third-round match, missing his last opportunity to qualify for state. He lost to Jackson Markham of South Umpqua 12-11. Lee began his bracket by going head to head with the No. 1 seed in his weight class, setting the tone for the difficult road that was ahead of him. Brielle Brick remains the only Bulldog who will be attending the OSAA Wrestling State Championships.
Coach speaks: ”Nick and Josiah had both been in tough brackets all year. To see them make it that far is a testament to how hard they’ve worked. Every time I turned around, Nick was watching YouTube videos, trying to master new moves and get better at takedowns. I was really pulling for him because he deserved to reach the goal he set of qualifying for state. He was the silent leader of our team all year, was ast every match and practice ready to help in any way he could, even if it wasn’t for his benefit,” said head coach Mario Perez.
CHEERLEADING
The skinny: The 2020 OSAA Cheerleading State Championships began with a downhome feel as Cottage Grove cheerleader Natily Bates sang the National Anthem to start the morning session of Creswell’s third competition of the year. After reworking their routine the prior two weekends because they were missing athletes, the Bulldogs full competition team came together for the first time at the most important event of the year. All of the practices and preparation came down to the two minutes and 30 seconds in front of the judges in the final performance of the year. Performing in the small coed division, CHS was competing against schools like 10-time state champs Westview and 12-time state champs The Dalles. Creswell may have ended last in its division but the Bulldogs were one of three schools in the division which didn’t receive any deductions. Out of the 73 teams that performed that day, only 27 could say the same; there were more than 155 deduction points handed out to teams which failed to uphold the safety standards. In almost every division, deductions affected trophy placements, dropping teams like Cottage Grove off the podium.
Coach speaks: ”Every week we had a new obstacle, a new person was sick and there was a new rework to their routine. Countless times that they could have quit and walked away like I’ve seen many teams do in the past. My squad was resilient to every bump in the road and even though it was one of my most challenging seasons as a coach, it was the most rewarding to watch them complete their full routine at state and nail their pyramid. I felt like we were champions, even if we were dead last. To make it out of the other side of the tunnel, all together, had all of us in happy tears,” said head coach Christine Bandey.
