Cougar boys and TLG girls continue winning streaks
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Last Friday's games in Lyle were a peek into the future, as the Cougars hosted Trout Lake-Glenwood in non-league games which were won by the Cougar boys 62-41 and the TLG girls 48-31. The teams are destined to battle in the new Columbia Gorge league alignment next year when Lyle-Wishram drops to 1B. All four teams are fairly young. TLG boys will lose four to graduation, but there are no juniors on the roster which is filled with sophomores and freshmen.
The girls' game was a rematch from the Mt. Adams Shootout, earlier in the month. That game was dominated by TLG, who won easily, 60-32. Friday's game started similarly as the Mustang-Eagles jumped to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter. But from that point on, it was an evenly matched game. Ashley Barrett was new to the line-up this time around, coming off the bench for Dana Kavanagh. At 5-11, Barrett gives TLG an imposing front line when paired with 6-0 Liz Vogt. She also gives Coach Roger Huffsmith the ability to rest Vogt with Barrett taking over at center, where she looked most comfortable. Vogt scored her usual double figures with 11 points and Barrett put in eight. The scoring leader for TLG was Katie Yarnell who had 12 points. Yarnell was nearly unstoppable at the baseline when she got the ball.
Treane Wells held her own inside to score 10 points for Lyle-Wishram, but the size mismatch on the front line forced the Cougars to look for outside scoring. The backcourt players were evenly matched with Karlee Roth and Brianna Brock directing the Cougar attack and Veronica Glenn, Lindsey Scott and Dakota Jones for TLG. Both teams had good bench support. TLG had nine players figure in their scoring, including Tasha Johnson, who showed she can shoot the three. TLG will finish 2009 undefeated at 5-0.
In the boys' game, TLG came out strong as Andy Wells attacked the basket and helped forge a 10-8 first quarter lead. The Cougars responded in the second quarter with Henry Matai scoring repeatedly following offensive rebounds to lead 30-24 at the half.
TLG showed their youth in the third quarter as discipline went out the window resulting in nine turnovers for the quarter. The Mustang-Eagles managed only eight shots and seven points in the third quarter as Wells failed to take a single shot. Matai continued to play well in the second half, and even sunk a rare three-point shot for the rebounding specialist, when he shot putted a half court bomb that drew only net as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter. Matai finished with 21 points to lead all scorers and Nolan Smith scored nine of his 17 points in the second half. C.J. Schuster led TLG with 14 points and Wells finished with 11.
TLG is off until Jan. 6, when the travel to White Swan. Lyle-Wishram plays on Dec. 29-30 in the Holiday Tournament in White Salmon. The Cougars take on the Columbia Bruins at 5 p.m. for girls and 7 p.m. for boys on Tuesday. Wednesday's games are at 1 p.m. for girls and 3 p.m. for boys against Stevenson.
Timberwolves complete sweep of SCAC east
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
The rescheduled game between the Goldendale Timberwolves and the Columbia-Burbank Coyotes was worth the wait as the final game before the Christmas break was a crowd pleaser. The boys stand 7-1 after the 53-50 win, making it 6-0 against SCAC east opponents. While the girls lost their game against the undefeated Coyotes, they go to the break 2-0 at the top of the SCAC west.
Timberwolf Boys
Columbia-Burbank was a good test for Goldendale as the teams matched up well and played relatively error-free ball. The Coyotes came into the game with a 5-1 record and Goldendale was 6-1. The game was close from start to finish with a four point Goldendale lead at 49-45, the largest lead of the game.
Each team had production from several players who stepped up at different times in the game. Seven Wolves scored in the first half, led by Chase Wing and Zane MacRae, each with four points. The third quarter belonged to Kane Thiele, Blake Lesko and Kaden Milliren, and the final quarter saw Devon Casey and Reed Lindhe seal the win.
Burbank's Trevor Lott was very slick inside, getting off 13 shots, many by rebounding his own misses, for 12 points. He led all players with 11 rebounds. The other big gun for Burbank was post player, Chad Davis, who shot 7-9 from the field to lead the Coyotes with 15 points.
Prior to the fourth quarter, Casey had just one basket on three attempts and Lindhe had three points on 1-8 shooting in the first three quarters. The fourth quarter opened with Lindhe on a nice assist to Chase Wing. Casey drained a three midway through the final quarter and followed it with a steal and two more points.
Lott got free inside but his attempt to tie the game at 49 was blocked by Milliren and Casey was sent to the free throw line with eight seconds left in the game. He made both shots giving the Wolves a four point lead, but Nathan Roberts came right back and hit a three-point shot, his first after missing six in a row.
Lindhe was fouled on the in-bounds pass and went to the line with one second on the clock. Both shots dropped and Burbank couldn't get off a final, tying shot.
Lady Timberwolves
The Lady Timberwolves had a disastrous start to their game against Burbank, shooting 1-9 from the floor and getting beaten 10-4 on the boards in the first quarter. After shooting just 26 percent through three quarters, Goldendale got it going in the final quarter. But a 20 point deficit was too much to overcome against the fundamentally sound Coyotes who remained undefeated with the 48-42 victory.
Burbank led each of the three quarters behind the leadership of a pair of seniors, Monica Houser who directed the offense from her point guard position, and Tiffany Idler who proved unstoppable in the key.
Goldendale came roaring back when the Wolves' big guns broke out of their slump with 7-10 shooting from the field and 8-10 at the free throw line to wrest momentum from the Coyotes. Lexi Cameron scored just four points in the first half with zero steals. She stole the ball twice in the fourth quarter and scored nine of her team leading 15 points. Similarly, Tate Bailey scored four points in the first half and seven in the fourth quarter. Sadie Shattuck was almost invisible in the first half, with no shots. She was a perfect 3-3 from the floor and 2-2 from the line, blocked a shot, had an assist and pulled down two rebounds in the fourth. But there wasn't enough time to do more than make the game respectable.
Mabton and Highland
League play began last week at Mabton. For the boys, it was a bump in the road, their only defeat on the young season. The Vikings overcame a five point half-time deficit during a run-away third quarter that ended with a six point Mabton lead. The story of the game was speed. The Vikings were too quick for Goldendale in the second half, mixed in with a good dose of three-point daggers. Any chance to keep the game close was left at the foul line as the Wolves struggled to shoot 50 percent on free throws. The final score was 66-57 for Mabton.
There was no obvious effect on the team as they took apart Highland the following day, 62-34. The game fell apart for the Scotties in the second quarter as the Timberwolves showed good movement away from the ball, a trademark of their season, and good passing resulted in easy baskets inside.
Highland had trouble setting up any kind of offense and fouls began to take their toll. The Scotties found a little success at the start of the third quarter, but a 6-2 turnover margin ended any hopes of a rally. Casey showed off his ball handling skills and scored 14 points to go with Lindhe's 16.
The Lady Timberwolves had an exciting finish of their own when they played Mabton. The Wolves fought off a furious, fourth-quarter comeback by Mabton to hang onto a 52-51 win in the Friday night game. The teams matched up with size inside, thanks to the return of Shattuck, who missed last week due to illness. Shattuck finished the game with 14 points to tie Bailey for the team lead. Cameron provided the outside shooting, pouring in 12 points and coming up with five steals.
A stout defensive effort held the Vikings to just eight points in the third quarter, proving to be just enough for the win. Goldendale helped their cause by shooting 12-15 from the free-throw line. The Vikings took a long shot for the winner at the buzzer but it wasn't close.
The girls made it five wins in a row the next night, defeating Highland 37-29. Bailey started and ended strong. She began by hitting the first shot of the game for three-points, then struggled until the fourth quarter. Both teams were cold in the fourth quarter. Goldendale was 0-8 from the field, but for the second straight game, they were sharp at the free-throw line. Bailey was a perfect 6-6 while the Scotties were 0-5 in the final quarter.
Bailey led the Wolves with another 14 point performance. Cameron hit three, three-point shots in the third quarter and finished with 12 points.
The Wolves play in the Holiday Tournament in White Salmon on Dec. 29-30. The girls will play Stevenson at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and the boys play at 3 p.m. Wednesday's games will be against Columbia at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. for the girls and boys, respectively.
Spaulding-Jimenez posts only win for Wolves vs Zillah
Goldendale's wrestlers got a taste of what it takes to be a champion when they took on the Zillah Leopards last week and were soundly thumped 65-3. Only Torey Spaulding-Jimenez was able to put points on the board for the Timberwolves, using his quickness for four take-downs and an 8-3 win over Juan Nicholas.
Zillah, who looks to contend for championships at several weight divisions, used a well-practiced take down move to put the Wolves directly to their back in nearly every match, often locking up a cradle for near falls and pins. Goldendale wrestlers were pinned at 171, 285 and 152 with Zack Smith, Kyle Ross and Nolin Bare losing to an experienced trio of Leopards: Kyle Kluver, John Myers (2009 State medalist), and Rodney Treece, respectively.
Billy Monroe was shut out by another State medalist, Nate Deardorff at 215. Monroe was in commanding positions several times in the match, but got too high and was reversed twice in the 6-0 loss. Kirk Giese put up a spirited attack against Juan Diaz at 112 in a match that was fairly even except for an early take down and a second one with five seconds left in round two. Diaz won on points 6-2.
Braydon Ross had the unenviable task of taking on two-time State champion, Chris Castillo. Ross wrestled with aggression and was only once in danger of being pinned in the match that was won by Castillo 14-2.
Goldendale will have their first home match against Naches Valley on Jan. 7, at 7 p.m. |
