By James Day
The surprising Silverton High girls basketball team is off to a 4-0 start in the Mid-Willamette Conference. The Lady Foxes, in their first year under coach Tal Wold, are 8-5 overall and ranked ninth in Class 5A by the OSAA.
The Foxes took a six-game winning streak into the Jan. 29 game at 4-0 Corvallis, which is ranked second in the state.
“I think the biggest thing is the team has made a conscientious effort to focus on the blueprint, how we will measure if we are successful,” Wold told Our Town. “The group is playing extremely hard and defending well. We still have a long way to go and with how tough our league is things can change quickly.”
So what is going right for the Foxes?
“Alia Parson is really starting to develop on both ends of the floor,” Wold said. “Megan Ratliff has been solid in multiple areas, and Lilly Paradis does so many little things for us. We are also getting great minutes from our bench.”
Kennedy’s girls, meanwhile, are holding their own well in the tough Tri-River Conference. The Trojans are 12-4 overall, 6-3 in the Tri-River and ranked 11th in Class 2A. Still, that strong record is good for just fourth in the conference right now, behind top-ranked Regis, No. 8 Western Mennonite and No. 2 Santiam.
Boys basketball: Silverton has been battling some tough luck on its way to a 1-3 start in the Mid-Willamette. The Foxes lost by one point to Crescent Valley and by three to Dallas.
“The Foxes have been competitive in league so far, but the reality is we sit at 1-3 in league,” Coach Darren Shryock told Our Town. “We have been working very hard but need to avoid little mistakes down the stretch to finish games. I am pleased with how hard they are working overall.”
Senior guard Ian Sucich “is having an outstanding year,” Shryock said. Sucich is averaging 16 points per game and hitting 50 percent of his 3-pointers and 95 percent of his free throws.
“He has been our leader by far,” Shryock said.
Wrestling: Silverton is 3-1 in Mid-Willamette dual meets, is ranked 10th in Class 5A and has eight individual wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their weight classes, led by Austin Reed, who is rated No. 3 at 113 pounds, and Boston Merrifield, who is ranked 5th at 106.
College athletes: Oregon State University quarterback Sean Mannion, whose family lives in Silverton, has announced that he will return to the Beavers for his senior year. Mannion, who likely would have been selected by a National Football League team had he declared for the draft, led the Beavers to a 7-6 record and a victory against Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.
Former Silverton boys hoops star Zach Gengler is averaging 12.8 minutes per game in his freshman year for Portland State. Gengler is averaging 3.8 points per game and has 11 steals and 10 assists. He is shooting 45.8 percent from the field and has hit 5 of his 12 3-pointers (41.7 percent). The Vikings are 8-8 overall and 3-4 in the Big Sky Conference.
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