Wolves continue their remarkable turnaround
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
If there is an award for the best turn-around of the season, it might as well go to Goldendale right now. The Timberwolves won their games at Highland and in the SunDome against Cle Elum last weekend, raising the records of boys and girls teams to 7-2 in league play. The boys are 13-3 overall and the girls are 11-5.
The boys’ weekend games were similar with big leads posted in the first half and steady play to the end for a 52-35 win over Highland and 56-32 over Cle Elum. Goldendale’s defense continued to shine, holding the Scotties to nine points in the first half and the Warriors to just 11. Offensively, the Wolves shared the load with Reed Lindhe scoring 16 for top honors against Highland and Chase Wing’s 20 leading the way against Cle Elum. Sophomore guard, Devon Casey, pressed into more floor time with Kane Thiele suffering a shoulder separation in the win against Mabton, scored 11 points against Highland.
The girls also followed a similar pattern of first quarter domination. The team was able to keep their edge in the Cle Elum game, winning each quarter except the third and finishing up 56-37. Highland presented a bit of a scare, however, as the Scotties won the second and fourth quarters causing Goldendale to hang on for a 40-38 win. Lexi Cameron shook off the pressure and hit a pair of free-throws with five seconds left in the game to break the 38 point tie.
Both Timberwolf teams boast the second best record in the SCAC west behind Granger’s unbeaten girls and boys teams. Goldendale’s boys placed sixth last year, well out of the playoffs with a 3-9 record, 7-13 overall. With three games left, they already have guaranteed a top four finish and are ranked 10th in the state by the Associated Press. The only other ranked SCAC team is number three Granger.
The girls were also 3-9 in 2009, finishing just out of the playoffs in fifth place and they were 8-12 overall. A combination of a Timberwolf win or a loss by Mabton or Naches Valley in the final three games will guarantee the Timberwolves a playoff spot.
Naches Valley will get the first shot at the Timberwolves on Friday in Naches. Then it’s off to Zillah’s on Saturday. The final league game is at Granger on Feb. 9.
Gorge League mystery, who are the TLG girls?
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
On Jan. 23, Bickleton rolled into Glenwood for a convincing 66-56 drubbing of TLG’s girls basketball team. TLG won the rematch four days later, 49-44.
On Jan. 8, TLG’s girls won a hard-fought 33-30 game over Klickitat. Last Friday, the Vandals ran all over TLG in a crushing 59-40 win.
So, as the District playoffs approach, the number one question in the Gorge League is “who are the TLG girls and who will show up at the league tournament?”
Two things seem certain for the tournament: 1) Sunnyside Christian is the heavy favorite for the championship, since they are 5-0 against the three Klickitat county teams with a 34 point average margin of victory, (TLG has one more go at the Knights this Saturday and they have done best against the Knights in a 38-27 loss in Sunnyside); 2) it is going to be an exciting tournament as Bickleton, Klickitat and TLG fight it out for the second berth to the State tournament. If Bickleton can defeat Klickitat this Friday in Klickitat, each team will have split with each other.
TLG starts three seniors, Amy Keithly, Dana Kavanagh and Katie Yarnell. Junior, Liz Vogt is the anchor in the middle and Veronica Glenn, another junior is often the playmaker guard, but Coach Roger Huffsmith runs several options to this line-up, sometimes with freshman Dakota Jones at guard and often with Ashley Barrett at forward in place of Kavanagh. With Barrett in the line-up, TLG has the size to dominate the boards. The team has arguably the deepest bench with Krissy Yarnell, Lindsey Scott and Tasha Johnson also seeing action. When the Mustang-Eagles are pressing, they are at their best, but they have also been hurt by teams that press, which was part of the problem in the loss against Bickleton. Even though the team has great scoring potential in Vogt, who is usually around 20 points and Katie Yarnell, who scores in the teens, and Barrett, it is their defense that wins games.
Last week’s game at Bickleton was a fierce battle between the Pirates and TLG. Bickleton led 24-21 at the half, but Katelynn Clinton was already in foul trouble with four. Star Kibby, who scored 30 points the first time around, was held to five points by the smothering defense of Katie Yarnell. Barrett began to dominate the boards in the second half helping TLG to a 12-7 rebounding edge and 35-33 lead after three quarters. Clinton fouled out with 3:27 left in the game and Vogt was gone 16 seconds later. TLG hit 6-14 foul shots while Bickleton was 1-7 for the TLG win.
The early scoring told the story at Klickitat as the Vandals led TLG 33-26 at the half, on pace to a high scoring game. The Mustang-Eagles came apart at the seams in the third quarter as Klickitat pushed the lead to 14 points and the final quarter was an anticlimatic 9-4 for Klickitat in their 59-40 win. Samantha Brewer scored 22 points to lead three Vandals in double figures with Charice McConville scoring 14 and Tia Spino 10.
District playoffs begin on Feb. 12 at Sunnyside High School. It is a double elimination tournament with a key game on Feb. 16, at White Salmon with the winner going to the championship game and the State tournament. Will TLG be there? It just depends who shows up.
TLG boys on a roll, Klickitat boys falter
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
It would seem that TLG and Klickitat boys’ teams are heading in very different directions. The Mustang-Eagles moved to 5-2 in the league following wins over Bickleton (48-45), Klickitat (54-52), and Yakama Tribal (59-55). Meanwhile, the Vandals have lost eight in a row, following Monday night’s 69-29 loss at White Swan.
But looks may be deceiving. Three of Klickitat’s last four losses came at the hands of 2B White Swan, 2B Lyle-Wishram, and league powerhouse Sunnyside Christian. TLG’s wins were by a total of nine points, and includes a scare at winless Bickleton where they were down 13-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Klickitat knows that everyone is 0-0 once District starts, but the Vandals must still defeat Bickleton this Friday to clinch the final district spot. TLG will likely be the number two seed in the playoffs. After a shaky start to the season, TLG hopes the strong second half will carry them to a top two finish at District and a trip to State. |
