HSSZ: Week of Dec. 21 Capsules

BOYS & GIRLS BASKETBALL PREVIEWS

Pleasant Hill Billies boys: 7-1, ranked #2

■ Tipping off: The Billies boys team, fresh off a Battle of I-5 Tournament win, head down to Medford for the Cascade Christian Tournament. Pleasant Hill opens against No. 13 Catlin Gabel on Thursday, and with a win would likely face Class 4A No. 9 Phoenix in the semis. 

Springfield Millers girls: 3-3, ranked #5

■ Tipping off: The Millers girls basketball team finishes off the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Ariz., on Thursday. Last season, the Millers lost their first two games of the tournament before winning their past two. 

BOYS & GIRLS RECAPS

Boys Basketball
■ Springfield’s only game last week was a 57-49 loss at Class 6A Grants Pass. Sophomore Jayden Robinson led the Millers with 13 points, and Vinnie Trinka added 11.
■Thurston went 0-2 against a tough slate, losing at No. 10 Mountain View 71-51 and Class 6A No. 15 Ida B. Wells 78-72. Nate Stiffler finished the MV game with 19 points and 5 rebounds, and Noah Blair contributed 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 steals.

Girls Basketball
■ Springfield fell to Class 6A No. 13 Grants Pass 46-36 last week before flying to Arizona for the Nike Tournament of Champions. The Millers started their tournament 0-2 in its higher bracket from last year with losses to Cherokee Trail (CO) and Centennial (NV). Diamond Wright recorded 15 points and 7 rebounds against GP, and 17 points against CT.
■ Thurston earned two victories, one by winning a game and one from a retroactive forfeit. On Friday, Dec. 8, the Colts lost to McNary 68-51, but McNary used a player who exceeded its daily participation limitation, so the game was changed to a forfeit last Tuesday. The Colts then traveled to Woodburn on Thursday and won 54-40 behind 14 offensive rebounds.

Wrestling
■ Cottage Grove wrestled at the Grants Pass Winter Kick-Off, with the boys coming in 17th out of 39 schools and the girls finishing 16th out of 38 teams. Nathan Abrams was the top point-getter for the boys, finishing 4th in the 285-pound bracket. Allison Palluck got her second straight tournament win for the girls, going 4-0 in the 120 bracket with three falls.
■ Creswell made the short trip to Lowell HS for the Covered Bridge Invitational. The girls won their competition behind six individual winners: Paige Ledgerwood, Cruz Kinney, Jennalyn Kruger, Chantell Noffsinger, Brooke Cox, and Tywyn Bowels. The boys finished third thanks to two winners – Brodyn Roberts in 106 and Brock Stubbs in 157. 
■ Springfield competed at two tournaments – Coquille’s Holiday Send-Off and Central’s Van Holstad Invitational. The girls finished third at both events as Lydia Stewart won the 115-lb. bracket at both tournaments and Devani Cash won at 135 at Central. Joseph Plueard (132) and Jamen Love (165) had the best finishes for the boys, each in second at Central.
■ Thurston hosted the LaMont Simons Dual Tournament on Saturday, winning both the girls and boys competitions. The boys went 4-0 in the dual meet, with Mason Hakki (120), Holton Halstead (144), and Brando Lopez (215) all going 4-0 on the day. The girls won their invite by 100 points behind seven winners: Rubie Winterburn (105), Teagan Merritt (115), Kassidy Hadden (130), Kristal Zamora (145), Izabella Castlebery (155), Katelyn Dow (190), and Katiry Day (235).

CONFERENCE CALL

Weekly tidbits from around our area teams’ conferences:

Crater boys outduel defending 5A wrestling champs
■ The Crater Comets boys wrestling team, members of the Class 5A Midwestern League, traveled to North Bend for the two-day Coast Classic tournament. The Comets boys took first out of 30 teams, and beat defending Class 5A champ Redmond by 4.5 points. Crater had three individual champions, freshman Aidan Godley at 126, sophomore Jaxon Godley at 144 and sophomore Kutter Christensen at 150. Godley took down two defending state champions en route to his win at 126.

Elmira girls extend win streak to five
■ The Elmira Falcons girls basketball team, a member of the Class 3A Mountain Valley Conference, is off to a 6-1 start to the season – including five wins in a row. Last season, Elmira went 11-9 on the year and finished fourth in the MVC, missing the playoffs. This season’s fast start has the Falcons ranked No. 10 in 3A. In last Tuesday’s 55-22 win over South Umpqua, the Falcons were led by junior point guard Layla Burgess, who scored a game-high 13 points. Madilyn Stockinger and Jayden Breaux each scored 9 for Elmira in the win.

RESULTS AND SCHEDULES