By James Day
The Silverton Independent Youth Athletics Silver Foxes eighth-grade girls basketball team took home a state championship March 9-10 in Bend.
The Foxes won all four of their games in the invitation-only event, which was being held for the first time. Silverton downed Burns 58-42, Carter 53-43 and Sheldon 69-52 in pool play before outlasting Stayton 60-53 in the gold division championship game.
The Foxes had lost to Sheldon earlier in the year and the title game win broke a four-game losing streak against Stayton.
“The girls played the best four games I had seen in three years,” said head coach John Brockamp. “The girls just put it all together, and the best thing was that all four games were team wins. Every one of them did something to make sure we won.”
Team members included Rachael Brockamp, Ashtin Alexander, Elena Smisek, Hailey Smisek, Jaeda Leggett, Stephanie Zitzelberger, Chryssi Wagner, Lexy Donaldson and Jasmine Kelly.
Coach Brockamp was assisted by offensive coach Jason Alexander and defensive coach Brandon Smisek. Silverton finished the season with a 23-8 record. It won three tournaments and took second in three others.
* Silverton took fourth place in the Class 5A small division at the OSAA dance and drill championships, held March 13-16 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. The Foxes finished with 74.56 points. Marshfield won the title with 78.53, followed by Milwaukie (77.94), and The Dalles Wahtonka (76.08).
* Spring sports are under way and it will be a whole new ballgame for small-school track. Class 3A-2A-1A historically held its state meet at Western Oregon the week before the big schools competed at Hayward Field in Eugene. Now, all six classes will be in a trackapalooza May 23-25 at Hayward. It’s a win-win situation said veteran Kennedy High coach Steve Ritchie.
“It’s going to very exciting for our athletes to be able to run at Hayward Field and discover the magic that is Hayward,” said Ritchie of the facility that has hosted numerous NCAA, USA and Olympics trials events. Ritchie noted that the 3A, 2A and 1A athletes “will be seen by more people” and that the small-school athletes will get a chance to see the 4A, 5A and 6A kids, “which is a nice side benefit.”
It seems likely that Ritchie and the Trojans will be going to Hayward hoping for more than just soaking up some history. Kennedy finished third at last year’s meet.
“We have high hopes,” said Ritchie of his girls squad. “We have almost everyone back and we hope that have a little better depth this year, especially in the field events. Given the quality of the athletes we have we should be a top five team at state.”
