PHOTO:  North Marion guard Julie Melcher drives to the basket Tuesday against Stayton.

By James Hill

With some players in pain and all of them suffering a case of bus lag, the North Marion High School girls basketball team had all the excuses in the world for their game at Sisters Friday.

But the Huskies didn't use any excuses and pulled out a 50-46 Capital Conference win over the Outlaws, lifting their season record to 5-7 and league mark to 2-1. "It was fairly close the whole way," said North Marion head coach Dennis Melcher.

"We had a kind of sluggish first half and had to play right away after a long bus ride. We didn't play as well as we could, but well enough to win." North Marion had been on a bus for five-and-half hours, driving from North Marion to Mt. Hood and down to Sisters thanks to the closure of the Santiam Pass. Normally, the bus ride would have been half that time.

"We played much better in the fourth quarter," Melcher added. "We used our regular game plan - just try to contain their people and play our game."

The Huskies have been hampered by nagging injuries, too. Kristen Kahle, an athletic post, has been out the entire season and should return within a month. Post Melissa Figini is nursing a severe ankle strain and had her wisdom teeth pulled this week, which could keep her out of games this week.

Despite those adversities, North Marion shot the ball well, nailing six three-pointers, and rebounded even better, winning the battle of the boards 44-33.

"The shooting was nice to have," Melcher said. "It opened the inside up a bit better. When they come to our place, we should beat them easier. I think long ride got us off to a slow start."

The Huskies were behind 14-10 at one point before taking the lead for good late in the first period. "After that we got on track," Melcher said. "We started to warm up in our shooting and hit four three's to open things up."

Julie Melcher led North Marion with 16 points, and Figini and Kelley Carpenter each had 10. Also scoring for the Huskies were Heather Koenig with seven points, Vanessa Perales with two and Kami Christopherson with six.

Figini, bad ankle and all, led the team with 12 rebounds, and Carpenter added 10. Melcher and Christopherson each had seven, too.

BOYS WIN A SHOOTOUT:

The North Marion boys basketball team shot down Sisters 77-72 in overtime to remain a game out of first place of the Capital Conference race.

The Huskies are 2-1 in league and 6-6 overall with the win. Adam Kraft was unconscious for the surging Huskies, as the wing poured in 25 points and made five three-point baskets.

Post Ryan Krause also chipped in 20 points and Kory Casto added 14 to the cause. Sisters seemed in control early as it led 15-12 after the first period and 34-24 at halftime.

That's when North Marion turned on the juice with a 20-14 spurt in the third period. North Marion managed to tie the game and send it to overtime, where the Huskies outscored the Outlaws 17-12 to capture their second straight conference win.

Coming up next for North Marion will be games at Molalla on Friday. The girls will start at 5:45 p.m. and the boys will follow at about 7:15 p.m.

By Sean Patterson

If there is a weakness in the Canby High School wrestling lineup, opponents have yet to find it. The Cougars, still undefeated and ranked 10th in the latest Class 4A poll, won their fourth tournament of the season with a dominating performance at a seven-team Milwaukie event last Saturday at Milwaukie High School.

The Canby varsity won seven individual titles in racking up 146 points, easily outclassing runner-up Centennial (90) and third-place Hillsboro (68).

It was the team's second victory in three days, as Canby also won big Thursday night in a Pacific-8 Conference dual with Tigard.

"There doesn't seem to be any letup in our team," head coach Dan Nugent said of his unbeaten Cougars (13-0). "We keep getting better every week. After finishing fourth in this tournament last year, it was a satisfying title.

''Hillsboro didn't bring its whole team because of too many dates in their season. That was a little disappointing because they have a few quality guys we would have liked to have wrestled."

But while the Spartans may have disappointed, the Cougars didn't.

In the lower weights, Lucas Hambleton (10-2) dominated two highly ranked opponents and cruised to a 14-4 major decision of Beaverton's Pat Richen in the finals. Richen was ranked fifth in the state coming in.

Hambleton also got revenge of a preseason defeat by pinning Lupe Rios of Forest Grove in the semifinals.

Also getting a measure of revenge was Johnny Lugo, who avenged a 9-2 early-season loss to Milwaukie's Dylan Sattford by beating him 9-3 in the finals at 125.

Canby sported another champion at 135, as Dusty Price stayed unbeaten on the winter (16-0) by pinning two opponents and getting a major decision (15-3) over Ryan McIntosh in the finals.

In the upper weights, Jared Wilson moved to 13-2 on the year with three decisions at 160, including an 8-6 defeat of Hillsboro's Nick Salzman in the semifinals and a last-second 5-4 win over Ben Lopez of Forest Grove in the finals.

In another dramatic match, Canby's Chris Wilson pulled out an 8-5 semifinal victory over Tom Gardener of Madison when he turned him with a "Big Red" move en route to a title at 189.

Likewise, Steve Schrader used last-second dramatics to pull out his semifinal match at 215, scoring a 4-3 win with an escape in the second overtime. He went on to pin his opponent in the finals.

The team's other title came at 275, where Rath Cyrus beat 12th-ranked Justin Hill of Forest Grove 6-5 in the finals.

Also contributing were four Cougars who placed second in their weights - Drew Bayless (119), Garret Miyake (130), Pete Savory (140) and Jeff Wilson (171).

Miyake wrestled up a weight and lost a close match in the finals to Casey Banks of Centennial. He also recorded a fall in improving to 15-1 on the season.

Bayless, meanwhile, avenged an early-season loss to a Milwaukie opponent with a takedown in overtime, sealing a 3-1 decision.

As for Savory and Jeff Wilson, they both padded their impressive season records, moving to 13-3 and 12-3, respectively.

As a bonus, Canby's second varsity squad also dominated the match, scoring 160 points to runner-up Centennial's 86. Champions included Lance Stewart (119), Brock Ellis (125), Chris Kyllo (130), Nate Krytenberg (135), Josh Gustafson (145), Marc Koch (160), Travis Burke (171), Emiliano Vargas (215) and Aaron Porter (275). Jess Hartsock (140) and Ben Wood (189) were both second.

COUGARS ROUT TIGARD:
It was another easy win for Canby Thursday night in a Pac-8 dual at Tigard.

The Cougars won all but three matches in rolling 52-9 for their third league victory against no defeats.

Pins came from Joe Kuznetsov (103), Hambleton (112), Miyake (130), Price (140), Jeff Wilson (171) and Chris Wilson (189). Winning by decision were Keith Callaway (135), Savory (145), Ben Kraxberger (152), Jared Wilson (160) and Cyrus (275).

The team will no doubt find a tougher challenge this week. After taking on Forest Grove at home Thursday night, the Cougars will be among 20 schools competing in the annual Oregon Wrestling Classic Friday and Saturday at Memorial Coliseum.

Canby opens the Classic with a Friday morning dual against Oregon City, a team coached by Nugent's brother Bill.

By Sean Patterson

Forget that 0-3 start: The Canby High School girls basketball team is back in the Pacific-8 Conference race and looking more and more like a playoff contender.

Friday night, the Cougars won their third straight thanks to some stingy defense and balanced scoring that netted a 42-30 victory over Silverton on its home floor. It was the program's first win over Silverton since the two schools joined the Pac-8 in 1994.

And it couldn't have come at a better time.

"I think this gives our girls reason to believe they can challenge for a (playoff) spot," said Canby head coach Ray Fields, who saw his team improve to 10-5 on the season.

"We're right back in the middle of the pack. There's quite a logjam there, but at least we've given ourselves a chance now. And we've gained more confidence.".

The Cougars are indeed in the middle of the congestive traffic that has become the Pac-8 Conference. Forest Grove sits alone atop the league at 5-1, and both Tigard and Tualatin are just a game behind at 4-2.

After that, it's a four-way tie for third place, with Canby, McMinnville, Newberg and Silverton all locked at 3-3. Only Dallas (0-6) is out of the picture.

Canby helped its postseason chances with two wins last week, beating McMinnville and Silverton on the road.

Friday against the Foxes, Laura Ivancie scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the way offensively. Canby also got a big lift from Kacy Goettel, whose nine rebounds were key as the Cougars controlled the boards.

After sprinting to a 17-9 first-quarter lead, the Cougars relied on their defense to carry them in the second quarter - a period in which only six total points were scored.

"We started settling for the perimeter shot and they weren't falling," Fields said. "Really, the big story for us of late has been the return of Kacy (Goettel). She is just now getting back in basketball shape and really playing solid for us in the middle.".

Canby extended its lead in the third quarter, winning it 13-9 to make it a 34-20 game with eight minutes to play.

Ultimately, it was Canby's defense that dictated the contest, as none of Silverton's primary scorers could get on track. Jennifer Bingham finished with nine points, but she was the only Silverton player remotely close to double figures.

Meanwhile, Katie Skinner and Chris Beck each had six points to back Ivancie. Beck also came up with six rebounds.

It was Canby's third straight win and comes as the girls prepare for a home date with Tigard this Friday at 7:15 p.m. The Cougars were off Tuesday night.

CANBY BEATS GRIZZLIES: Canby climbed back into the Pac-8 Conference race with their second win in as many games Tuesday night.

The Cougars beat McMinnville 53-49 on Tuesday behind the 21-point performance of Ivancie and some clutch free-throw shooting by Lupita Sanchez and Beck.

Ivancie scored 14 of her points in a dazzling second quarter and wound up hitting eight of her 13 shots. As a team, the Cougars enjoyed their best shooting game of the season, hitting 51 percent of their chances from the field and 76 percent of their free throws.

Sanchez made perhaps the biggest shot - a three-pointer with under two minutes left that gave visiting Canby a four-point lead. She also made a couple of late free throws.

"We played three-and-a-half quarters of great basketball," Fields said. "We were up by 12 with about four minutes to go and up by only two with a minute left, but we held on.".

Beck finally sealed it when she connected for two foul shots with 15 seconds left.

Goettel enjoyed her best game since returning from a knee injury, collecting nine points and eight rebounds despite foul trouble.

Skinner was also effective, coming off the bench to get seven points and five rebounds.

By Sean Patterson

Though he endured his first loss of the season, North Marion wrestler Jason Roberts still led the way for his team at a 16-team tournament last Saturday in Seaside.

Roberts won all but one match - a setback that came down to the wire against Newberg's Louis Vendrell - in placing second at 130 pounds. He is now 18-1 on the season.

The Huskies as a team wound up 10th in the bracketed tournament, scoring 64 points. Sherwood won it with 177.5 points.

"It wasn't one of our better weeks, but we had our share of strong individual efforts," North Marion head coach Mike Robinson said. "A few of our guys are still unbeaten in league at 3-0, which should help their seeding for the district tournament. If they can win another match or two, they should get high seeds.".

Among them are Roberts, who remains unbeaten in Capital Conference action through three duals. He didn't compete in a loss to Molalla last Thursday because of illness, but he returned in time to reach the finals of Saturday's tournament.

Once there, he gave up a late takedown and an escape in dropping a 9-8 decision to Vendrell of Newberg.

Still, he was by far the team's highest placer, as no other Husky competitor finished among the top four in his respective weight.

The next highest finisher was Justin Willis, who won three of his four bouts to get fifth at 160 pounds. Kyle Russell (119), Zach Martushev (135) and Andrew McLaren (189) were all sixth in their class.

Robinson also commended the performances of Orin Newkirk, who went 2-2 at 140, and Clayton McKeon, who posted the same record at 152.

"It was a quality tournament, with teams like Molalla, Sherwood and some Newberg jayvees there," Robinson said. "It was a good test for us.".

Two nights before, the shorthanded Huskies lost their second straight Capital match with a 43-30 loss to the Indians at home.

With Dallas Branum (injury) and Roberts (illness) out, North Marion was hard-pressed to keep up with their guests, although a couple of Husky wrestlers pulled out close victories.

At 112, Andrew McBride came up with a 12-9 win over Kyle Crawford, and at 135 Martushev improved to 3-0 in league with a 9-6 decision of Chance Dettwyler.

The team came up with some more convincing wins in the middle and upper weights, as Newkirk cruised 17-2 at 145, Willis won by a fall at 171 and Jason Ellingson prevailed by injury default at 275. McLaren was also a winner at 189.

The Huskies (1-2 in Capital matches) were back in action Tuesday night at Cascade. They are off now until Jan. 27, when they host Stayton.