The Silverton and Kennedy basketball programs are coming off sterling seasons. The girls and boys programs at both schools finished in the top four in the state, with the Trojans’ girls squad taking home their second Class 2A title in three years.
The Trojans lost seven seniors off of that championship team, but they have started fast, opening 5-0 and earning the early No. 1 ranking in Class 2A.
“We have always prided ourselves on improving all season and to hang our hats on defense,” coach Peter Hall told Our Town. Peter shares coaching duties with his wife, Kerry. “So far this group has played very good defense, made some mistakes, but has improved in some way every game.”
There are just two seniors on the roster, Kalyssa Kleinschmit and Clarissa Traeger. Kleinschmit is averaged 16 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Hall credited her for putting in significant offseason work. Traeger is the point guard, with Hall noting “she has been doing an excellent job so far.”
Another key contributor for Kennedy is sparkplug sophomore guard Ellie Cantu, who is averaging 16 points, 5.5 steals and 3.5 assists per game.
The Kennedy boys, meanwhile, who finished fourth last year at the 2A tournament in Pendleton are 2-2 overall, and have a wealth of talent returning.
Senior Carson Hall and junior Luke Hall are top shooters, while 6-6 Rocco Carley and 6-4 Nick Suing, the team captains, will hold down the fort down low.
Angel DeLaRosa, Bruce Beyer and Brandon Salazar will be key guard contributors, coach Karl Schmidtman said, with sophomores Brady Traeger, Dylan Kleinschmit and transfer John Tallon adding depth.
The Trojans will play without junior guard Emorej Lynk, who injured his knee in the 2A football championship win against Santiam.
“Losing him is obviously a big blow to our team,” Schmidtman said. “He is one of the best players in the state. Luckily, we are a deep team this year and this loss will require our other players to fill slightly different and/or larger roles.”
Silverton’s girls squad was third in last year’s Class 5A tournament and took a 3-1 record and the No. 14 ranking into the league season.
The Foxes will miss four-year starters Maggie Roth and Brooke McCarty but have three starters back, Ellie Schmitz, Jori Paradis and Riley Traeger. Truitt Reilly and Josslyn Ames also return,
“Each of them is going to need to progress in all areas,” Foxes coach Tal Wold said. “We need more leadership from them, and we will need them to do more also on both ends of the floor. Your leaders set the tone and urgency daily. Not just how you will compete in games but how hard you are going to practice and what kind of expectations we will have for each other.”
The Silverton boys, fourth in Class 5A a year ago, have started 4-0 and are ranked ninth in Class 5A.
“I’m really proud of our guys up to this point in the season,” said second-year coach Jamie McCarty. “We have had a strong start. We have overcome a lot of adversity and injury and are still finding a way to perform at a high level and give our very best. We have to continue to improve on the defensive end and play every position with focus and grit. Our rebounding has to become more consistent as well. Those are the two things we are focused on.”
Top returners for the Foxes include point guard David Gonzales, post Levi Nielsen and versatile wing Josiah Roth. Three-point sharpshooters Grant Dunn and Drake Ulven also return, as does Tashaun Treat, a two-way lineman on the football team who is being counted on to do a lot of the physical work down low that Clay Martinson handled a year ago.
Football: Kennedy’s stirring run to the Class 2A football title yielded numerous awards on the all-state team, including coach of the year for Joe Panuke.
Emorej Lynk of the Trojans was named offensive player of the year, while Nick Suing earned defensive line honors.
Lynk was a first-teamer at running back and linebacker, Suing was on the first team offensive line as well as the defensive line, and wide receiver Rocco Carley and defensive back Bruce Beyer also were first-teamers.
Running: More than 180 runners and walkers participated in the Dec. 1 5-kilometer run/walk held in conjunction with the Hazelnut Festival in Mount Angel. Gwilym Horner of Portland led all runners in 18:55.7, about six seconds ahead of runner-up Tom O’Neil of Canby. Deanna O’Neil of Canby was fifth overall in 19:49.6 and was the first woman finisher.
Follow me on Twitter.com @jameshday.
