By James Day
It’s been quite a couple of years for girls basketball at Mark Twain Middle School.
The Mark Twain eighth-grade girls basketball team finished an undefeated season Jan 17. The Vikings were 11-0 in regular-season games and 6-0 in the jamboree.
“The team had 10 girls who were tough players and defense was the strength of the team,” said coach Dave Zehrung. “All 10 girls had the ability to start (and did) and there was no drop off when substitutions went in.”
Team members include Hannah Munson, Alex Perez, Ashtin Alexander, Madelyn Arrington, Rachael Brockamp, Haley Smisek, Kayce McLaughlin, Julia Kuenzi, Elena Smisek and Jaeda Leggett.
As seventh graders the team finished with a record of 8-0.
In addition, Mark Twain’s 8B team had an 8-1 record this season, coached by Darren Goff and Wes Holman. The 7A team, coached by Dan Miller, turned in an 8-3 record.
In other news:
The Silverton High boys basketball team is 6-0 in the Mid-Willamette Conference, after defeating two-time defending state champion Corvallis heading on Jan. 23 and South Albany Jan. 25. The Foxes are 12-4 overall, with three of the losses to Class 6A teams.
Silverton is ranked No. 5 in Class 5A behind Jefferson of Portland, Churchill, Mountain View and Eagle Point. The Foxes lost to Churchill in December but have beaten No. 7 West Albany, No. 12 Milwaukie and No. 14 Crescent Valley. Corvallis is ranked 18th.
The Silverton girls hoops squad is 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-Willamette.
The Kennedy High girls basketball team is 10-7 overall and 6-1 in the Tri-River Conference at the end of the first half of the league season. The Trojans’ lone loss was to perennial power Regis, and the Trojans and Rams faced off again Jan. 25 in Mount Angel after press time. The Kennedy boys team is 6-11 overall and 1-6 in the Tri-River.
Former Silverton High standout Jason Martin is a strong contributor for the George Fox men’s basketball team. Martin, a 6-4 junior who transferred to the Bruins from Chemeketa Community College, is averaging 7.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game through games of Jan. 19. He is second on the Bruins in 3-pointers with 24.
Martin has played in all 15 games for George Fox and has started twice. The Bruins are 9-6 overall and 5-2 in the Northwest Conference. George Fox is in second place in the NWC, trailing undefeated Whitworth (8-0) by 2.5 games.
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