Creswell’s Tyler Frieze goes up for a basket at Elmira on Saturday night. The Bulldogs beat the Falcons 66-63, leading comfortably for much of the game. PAUL JOHNSON/THE CHRONICLE
BOYS BASKETBALL
RESULT: CHS beat Waldport at home 82-51 on Dec. 10.
RECAP: Creswell didn’t waste a moment before applying pressure to the Waldport Irish, throwing them a full-court press that was like pressing down on the gas pedal until it hits the floor. ”We did a good job of overwhelming their guards which forced them into bad spots and they couldn’t really get any offense going,” said head coach Jesse Thomas. The Bulldogs saw Waldport struggling to maintain a rhythm so they picked that up too and off they went. Creswell held onto the rhythm Waldport had been grasping at for the rest of the game and never looked back. Thomas said, ”It’s always nice when you get to put some guys in that maybe don’t play as much and they were in for almost the entire fourth quarter, playing solid.”
Kai Apo had 19 points and 9 rebounds, Tyler Frieze had 21 points and 3 rebounds, and Payden Criddle had 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Zak Holsey led Waldport with 28 points.
REFLECTIONS: ”The way we executed on both sides of the ball was awesome. We limited their offensive rebounds, we defended well. Everything that we’d talk about over the last week was played out just like it should have been,” Thomas said.
RESULT: Creswell’s home-court advantage opened up Horizon Christian for a 74-40 beat down on Dec. 12.
RECAP: Creswell pressured Horizon Christian into 19 turnovers and it shot 3-of-22 from behind the three-point line. ”When you play good defense and the other team doesn’t even have a chance at finding an offensive flow, you can still win games even if you yourself are having an off-offense night,” said Thomas. ”We had a ton of deflections that led to steals that eventually led to us finding our offensive rhythm.”
Four players tied for top-scorer: Apo, Dallton Dewey and Frieze from the Bulldogs all had 16 points apiece. Horizon Christian’s Max Peterson led the Hawks with 16 points as well.
RESULT: Creswell rounded out its second week into the season with a three-game winning streak after winning 66-63 at Elmira on Dec. 14.
RECAP: The final score was a bit deceiving as Creswell, leading by 17 points, emptied its bench for most of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs still led by 12 with only two minutes remaining. ”We imploded a little bit defensively. Our shot selection wasn’t great, we rushed through our offense, and we ended up having our worst shooting performance of the season so far.” Stats included Apo with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals; Frieze had 31 points, Dewey had 8 points and 6 rebounds. Bryson Forsman led the Falcons with 21 points.
REFLECTIONS: Thomas said: ”Ultimately, we got a win on the road. They played better than we did in the fourth quarter. When it’s late in the game and we’re trying to run down clock, we know that we can’t give them any opportunity to claw their way back.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
RESULT: The Bulldogs defeated Waldport, 35-28.
RECAP: Breanna Dapron had 11 points, 20 rebounds and 2 blocks. Emme Whitson had 12 points, Kylee Whitson had 7 rebounds and 6 steals.
RESULT: CHS ended a three-game winning streak when it lost to Horizon Christian at home on Dec. 12.
RESULT: Creswell lost at Elmira 45-33, and is 3-3.
WRESTLING
EVENT: At Jefferson HS
RECAP: The Bulldogs took third out seven team that competed. It may be head coach Mario Perez’s first year with the Bulldogs but he seems to have caught on quickly when it comes to important rivals. ”We were missing two of our seniors at Jefferson and I have a feeling that if they’d been there, we might have been able to squeeze past Pleasant Hill,” he said. The sophomore made a large impact as Jurny Halvorson won first place in the 126-weight class, Camrin Marple took second in the 138, and Brielle Brick took fourth in the 145. Brick continues to stand out among the athletes and not exclusively for being a girl on the wrestling team. She took fourth overall in the varsity tournament and her two wins were by pins. ”She really blew everyone away. Someone from Umpqua Community College walked in, saw her on the mat and wanted to talk to her. She’s just an amazing athlete and competitor. She’ll get out there and wrestle anyone, showing no fear while she’s doing it,” Perez said.
REFLECTIONS: ”We’ve been working on our fundamentals and I think now we’re really going to have to focus on being fully mentally prepared before we step onto the mat,” Perez said.
– Jordan Lampe,
The Chronicle
