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Hoops wrap-up: area squads shine at state tournaments

It was another banner year for basketball at Silverton and Kennedy. All four teams made it to state and three of the four squads brought home a trophy.

Here’s how it looked:

James DayThe Silverton boys took third in the Class 5A event at Gill Coliseum, moving up one slot from a year ago when the Foxes finished fourth. Silverton defeated Crater 57-39 in its opener, lost to eventual champion Wilsonville 50-45 in the semifinals, then came back to down Willamette 60-41 in the game for
third place.

“I thought we played three really well played games in the tournament,” coach Jamie McCarty told Our Town. “We held the leading scorer in the tournament (Crater’s Nate Bittle) to 17 points on 17 attempts which was outstanding. We played a really well-played game against Wilsonville as well. A few things go a little different and it would have been a different outcome.

“The boys rallied back and fought through all of the emotions of losing the hope of a state championship and showed their true character and played a flawless game beating a really good Willamette team for third place by almost 20 points. One of our main goals and the reason we got there was to be the best defensive team in the state. We were able to finish #1 in the state in the final stats of the state tournament by more than 4 points.”

Silverton allowed opponents to score just 43.3 points per game in the tournament. Wilsonville was second at 47.7. Also, the 50 points Wilsonville scored against Silverton in the semifinals represents their lowest total of the season.

Foxes senior post Levi Nielsen was named second team all-tournament. He was fourth in the tournament in rebounds with 24 and fifth in field goal percentage (11 for 19, 57.9 percent).

The Foxes are 50-5 overall in the past two seasons and 29-1 in the Mid-Willamette Conference.

The Kennedy girls squad, which was seeking a second consecutive Class 2A title, wound up third in Pendleton. The Trojans, who entered the tournament as the top seed, downed Central Linn 39-31 in the quarterfinals but were upset 41-35 in overtime by No. 4 Coquille in the semifinals. Kennedy came back to defeat Enterprise 49-31 in the game for third place to finish 28-2.

Trojans junior Sophia Carley was a first-team all-tournament pick, while sophomore Hailey Arritola earned a second-team slot. Carley was third in the tournament in rebounds with 26.

The Kennedy boys, meanwhile, finished fourth at Pendleton for the second consecutive year. The Trojans, who earned an at-large berth in the tournament after falling to Santiam in the Tri-River playoffs, lost their opener 72-42 to top-seeded Columbia Christian of Portland. But just like a year ago the Trojans rallied to win two in a row, downing Oakland 55-44 and then getting revenge against Santiam, 39-28, in the game for fourth place.

“I thought we played tough over there in Pendleton,” coach Karl Schmidtman told Our Town. “I think we were a little surprised with the athleticism of Columbia Christian in our first game. They kind of got us on our heels in that first half. I liked how we responded to close out that game and then carried that momentum into our consolation bracket games. Bringing home another 4th place trophy is something we are proud of.”

Trojans senior post Rocco Carley was named second-team all-tournament. The 6-6 Carley was third in the tourney in rebounds with 29.

The Silverton girls, meanwhile, went 0-2 in the Class 5A tournament, a bit of a surprise given that the Foxes took home trophies the previous four years, winning the state title in 2016.

The Foxes lost 57-46 to eventual champion La Salle Prep in the quarterfinals, then lost in the elimination round to Mid-Willamette Conference foe Crescent Valley, 49-45.

“It’s odd going two and out because it almost feels like a failure,” Foxes coach Tal Wold told Our Town. “However, with time and looking at the big picture we had an incredible year. To win 20 games, make it to the final eight, those are accomplishments to be proud of. We went 12-19 last summer, so we were not sure how we would do, so 21-5 is pretty good. More than winning and losing though, it was one of the most fun and easy groups to work with. Great kids!”

The Foxes had just one senior on the roster, Jori Paradis, and will return four starters, Truitt Reilly, Riley Traeger, Ellie Schmitz and Josslyn Ames.

“We will have a good group,” Wold said. “If we want to be great we will need to have some girls make a commitment to improve their individual skills in the off-season. We have the right girls with great heart and work ethic.”

Signings: Kennedy High standout distance runner Alejandra Lopez has signed to compete in college at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Lopez, who won the Class 3A-2A-1A cross country championship last fall, also is a standout in the 1,500 and 3,000 during track and field. She finished second in both events at last spring’s Class 2A state meet. Lopez ranks No. 2 all-time in Kennedy cross country at 5,000 meters and is second in school history in the 1,500 and 3,000 as well.

Meyer reunion: Silverton’s Dustin Meyer, a senior infielder at Pacific University in Forest Grove, got a chance to square off with his younger brother Colton earlier this month. Dustin’s Boxers captured a three-game series from Colton’s Linfield squad, with Dustin belting his first homer of the season in the Sunday game. Dustin, who has started all 18 games, is hitting .182 and is second on the squad in stolen bases (5) and 4th in runs scored (10). The Boxers are 12-6 overall and 6-3 in the Northwest Conference. Colton, a freshman pitcher, is 1-2 with a 4.07 earned run average for Linfield. He is second on the squad in strikeouts (30) and innings pitched (24). Pacific won the series, but Colton did strike out his older brother during Saturday’s contest.

Running: More than 325 runners and walkers participated in the 5-kilometer run/walk and 10K run on March 2 in Mount Angel as part of the Volksfest celebration. Donald Jay, 33, of Redmond was the 5K winner in 19:02.5. Deanna O’Neil, 54, of Canby was fourth overall in 19:04.0 and was the first female finisher. Ben Harvey, 17, of Clackamas captured the 10K in 37:08.3. Sophia Patterson, 23, of Salem was 9th in 43:23.1 and was the top female finisher.

Follow me on Twitter.com @jameshday.
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