By James Day
Under new coach Tal Wold, the Silverton High girls basketball team, has rebounded from an 0-4 start to win three of its past four contests.
“The team is really getting better daily,” Wold told Our Town. “The growth from day one to today has been incredible. We have some weaknesses that we are working on and have seen improvements in those specific areas. We need to continue to get better against pressure and just be more fundamentally sound.”
The Lady Foxes also have been road warriors this season. Silverton played its first seven games away from home before scoring a convincing 56-37 win Jan. 7 against Lakeridge in the home opener.
Wold gave a lot of credit for the team’s development to “two great captains, Lilly Paradis and Megan Ratliff. They are both great girls and hard workers.”
Wold also offered praise for the rebounding and defense supplied by starting posts Tessa Oster and Sequoia Rysdam.
The Foxes closed out the nonleague season after Our Town’s press time on Jan. 10 at St. Helens and opens Mid-Willamette Conference play on Jan. 15 against West Albany.
Wold said the Mid-Willamette Conference is the best Class 5A league in the state, with four teams in the OSAA’s top 7: No. 2 Corvallis, No. 4 Lebanon, No. 6 Woodburn and No. 7 Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Kennedy girls team is making its presence felt in the Tri-River Conference. The Trojans are 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the Tri-River heading into a weekend road trip at Culver on Jan. 10 and Santiam on Jan. 11. Both games were after Our Town’s deadline. Kennedy is ranked 12th by the OSAA, but the strong Tri-River also has Santiam at No. 2, perennial power Regis at No. 3 and Western Mennonite at No. 7. Regis is the defending Class 2A state champion, and the Rams beat Western Mennonite in the semifinals. Kennedy visited Western Mennonite on Monday on Jan. 13 after Our Town’s press time, and the Trojans host Regis on Jan. 21 in Mount Angel.
Silverton wrestling: The Foxes look to have a solid crop on hand as they attempt to equal their fourth-place district finish in 2013 and their eighth place finish at state.
Silverton returns six state qualifiers: Austin Reed (113), Jacob Brundridge (132), Ben Griesenauer (138), Cayman Goin (145), David Horsey (170) and Cameron Clokey (285).
Assistant Coach Jesse Davis told Our Town that the Foxes have “some talented newcomers as well. We believe our boys have the potential to finish in the top three in our conference, battling with Dallas and Lebanon for the district championship.”
Silverton has home conference dual meets against Corvallis (Jan. 22) and West Albany (Jan. 29). The Foxes visit Dallas on Feb. 5. Other key dates for the Foxes include the Feb. 21-22 Mid-Willamette Conference district championships at Crescent Valley and the Feb. 28-March 1 OSAA state meet at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
All-state football: Silverton, which advanced to the Class 5A semifinals, placed six players on the all-state first team, including tight end/linebacker Matt Craig, who was honored on both sides of the ball. Other first-teamers were wide receiver Logan Munson, offensive lineman Joseph Kuenzi, defensive lineman Cameron Clokey and defensive back Mathis Kuenzi. Running back Max Wilson and offensive linemen Matthew Willis and Levi Stadeli earned second-team honors, while quarterback Cole Chandler, defensive back Cort Martin and Willis (defensive line) received honorable mention.
On the Class 2A all-state team, Kennedy running back Ty Sawyer, tight end Blake Traeger and defensive lineman Sam Moreno received honorable mention.
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