BOYS BASKETBALL
RECAPS
■ Cottage Grove lost to Marist Catholic 75-46 Monday night. Trevor Cooper led the Lions with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Following him was Josh Bruner with 11 points.
■ Creswell knocked down Elmira 56-46 on Tuesday. Senior Tyler Whitson recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Following him was Luke Bailey with 13 points and 2 blocks. Darien Dewey and Tanner Frieze each recorded 9 points. On Friday, they lost to the Pleasant Hill Billies in overtime 51-47. On Monday, the Bulldogs dominated the La Pine Hawks 88-30. Whitson led with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Following him was Ace Arnold with 15 points and Bailey with 12 points.
■ Pleasant Hill beat Creswell 51-47 on Friday and then cruised past La Pine 69-32 on Saturday. Against the Hawks, Riley Smith led with 16 points. Following him was Noah Johnson recording 12 points, Landen Melvin with 11 points, and Gavin Inglish with 10 points.
■ Springfield lost to Eagle Point 61-57 in a league rematch on Friday. The Millers are 0-8 in league play.
■ Thurston won 56-43 against the Crater Comets on Friday. Lucas LaBounty led with 16 points. Following him was Grady Saunders with 12 points and 9 rebounds and Nate Stiffler with 9 points and 8 rebounds.
PREVIEWS
#16 COTTAGE GROVE (9-11)
■ Tipping off: The Lions wind down Sky-Em League by playing the Junction City Tigers for a third time on Friday. The Lions have gone 2-0 against the (6-14) Tigers in their season. Look for standout Trevor Cooper, who scored 31 points against the Tigers in their previous game.
#8 CRESWELL (15-8)
■ Tipping off: The Bulldogs travel over the pass to play Sisters in the Mountain Valley Conference playoffs. The Bulldogs have gone 1-1 with Sisters this season. With a 2-3 league seeding on the line, the Bulldogs will have to rally their troops for this road game. If the Bulldogs win, they’ll face Pleasant Hill again on Saturday. Look for the play of Tyler Whitson, Mason Schartz, and Luke Bailey.
#2 PLEASANT HILL (22-3)
■ Tipping off: The Billies await their final league opponent on Saturday. The Billies are riding a 14-game winning streak with a 10-0 league record. However, their last game with the Bulldogs was a battle that saw the Creswell boys lead 36-30 after three quarters and the Billies winning in overtime. Against Sisters last week, the Billies had to rally to win 50-46. But now, with the postseason looming, look for Gavin Inglish, Landen Melvin, and Riley Smith to turn things up a notch.
#30 SPRINGFIELD (0-19)
■ Tipping off: The Millers close out league play this week. They play host to Ashland on Friday. Earlier in the season, the Millers lost to the Grizzlies by 26 points. The Millers have a home-court advantage for this rematch. Watch for leading scorers Vinnie Trinka and Jonte Arellano.
#2 THURSTON (18-3)
■ Tipping off: The Colts play one of their last Midwestern League games on Tuesday against Churchill. The Colts have a 9-0 league record Meanwhile, the Lancers sit in second place with a 5-2 league record. Double-digit scorers Nate Stiffler, Lucas LaBounty, and Grady Saunders lead Thurston.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
RECAPS
■ Cottage Grove lost to Marist Catholic 56-35 on Monday and continues winless in the Sky-Em League at 0-9.
■ Creswell downed Elmira 53-42 last Tuesday in a league rematch and went 2-0 against the Falcons this season. Mila Nguyen led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Following her was Elliette Kinney recording a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs then edged out the Billies 33-32 at home on Friday. On Monday, they finished their regular season with a 68-34 win against the La Pine Hawks. Kinney led with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Raelee Green recorded 15 points. Nguyen and Brooke Moehlmann each recorded 13 points.
■ Pleasant Hill lost to Creswell 33-32 on Friday. The Billies then downed the La Pine Hawks 64-22 on Saturday. The leading scorer for the Billies was Trinity Hawkins with 14 points. Following her was Karsyn Stapleton with 12 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Brooke Weimer recorded 9 points and 5 steals.
■ Springfield beat Eagle Point 60-43 on Friday. Sailor Hall led with 21 points and 4 rebounds. Following her was Ikunaday Filipe with 15 points and 9 rebounds.
■ Thurston lost to the No.1 Crater Comets (21-1) 68-25 on Friday. The Colts end league play 0-2 against the Comets.
PREVIEWS
#19 COTTAGE GROVE (7-13)
■ Tipping off: The Lions play the Junction City Tigers for the third time in Sky-Em. However, the Lions have gone 0-2 with the Tigers thus far and have been struggling with a winless Sky-Em season. If they wish to improve their league seed and at least attain a third-to-fourth-place spot, the Lions will need to beat the Tigers and North Bend on Tuesday before league playoffs.
#11 CRESWELL (16-7)
■ Tipping off: The Bulldogs earned a No. 1 Mountain Valley Conference seed after they rallied to win against the Billies on Friday. Now, they await their final league opponent for the league playoffs on Friday. Against the No. 20 Sisters Outlaws, the Bulldogs are 2-0. Against the Billies, the Bulldogs are 1-2.
#5 SPRINGFIELD (14-6)
■ Tipping off: The Millers play Ashland in a league rematch this Friday. This should be a walk in the park for the Millers’ two double-digit scorers, Darissa Romero-Ah Sam and Sailor Hall, who beat the Grizzlies by nearly a 40-point margin earlier in the Midwestern League (65-26). The Millers have been fighting their way through a killer 5A schedule and have kept afloat in the second-place spot in league, just behind the No. 1 Crater Comets.
#18 THURSTON (9-12)
■ Tipping off: The Colts face Churchill for the last time in the Midwestern League. The Lancers are 0-7 in league. Gabriella Montes, Payton Tovey, and Bridgette Nault lead the Colts. Thurston is tied with North Eugene at 4-5 in league and if they hope for a fourth-place spot, they’ll need to beat their last two scheduled opponents, Ashland and Churchill.
WRESTLING
■ Creswell, Pleasant Hill and Cottage Grove competed at the OSAA Girls 1A-4A Special District 2 championship this past weekend. Creswell finished in 13th place, Pleasant Hill finished in 15th place and Cottage Grove was 17th.
■ Leading Creswell was Chantell Noffsinger (145), earning first in her weight class and a state qualifying berth. Following her was Paige Ledgerwood (114), who placed fourth in her weight class and qualified for state. In addition, Alexus Williamson (235) took home fifth and Brooke Cox (170) sixth.
■ Peyton Buckley (155) led the Billies with third in her weight class and a state-qualifying berth. Following her was Mattie Peacock (155) placing sixth and Zaira Duarte (130) went sixth in her weight class.
■ Cottage Grove’s 2023 state champion, Allison Palluck (120), took third in her weight class and a state qualifying berth. Following her was Julia de Souza Mota (170) earning fifth and Boston Kent (135) taking eighth.
SWIMMING
■ The Cottage Grove boys and girls teams took home the Special District 2 league title this weekend. Lions standout Avery Bengtson broke the school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.95. She also won the 200 medley as well. Following her was Hayes Valley, who won and broke the meet record in the 100 backstroke. Matthew Fergason won both the 200 medley and the 500 free.
■ Thurston girls took second (282) while Springfield girls took third (257) at the 5A Midwestern League Championships last weekend. Standouts for the Millers were Anh Roemen who won the 100 freestyle in 58.11 and Karmeli Leyva had a 6.06% in the 500 free. Colts standouts such as Madelyn Del Castillo won in the 200 freestyle (1:56.71) and 100 breaststroke (1:06.19). Also, Sofia Scott in the 50 freestyle (26.49) and McKenzielee Speldrich in the 100 backstroke (1:04.97).
■ Thurston boys took home third (268) and Springfield boys fourth (266) at the 5A Midwestern League Championships last weekend. Colts standouts were Wayko Sanders who won the 200 individual medley (2:05.08) and 500 freestyle (5:01.69). Also, Quinn Devenport in the 50 freestyle (21.29) and 100 freestyle (47.49). For Springfield, Ewan Norland recorded a 6.48% in the 200 free.
CHEER
■ Cottage Grove took fourth in the 1A-4A Coed Traditional at the Cheerleading State Championships last weekend, earning a 78.70 total score. … Creswell took sixth in the 1A-4A Coed Game Day with an 82.00 score. … Pleasant Hill took sixth in the 1A-3A Traditional with a 77.0 score.
■ Thurston finished third in the 5A/6A Coed Game Day at the Cheerleading State Championships last weekend, recording a 106.50 total score. Springfield finished 24th in the same division with a 56.50 score.
