Defense name of game
as CHS wins easily
Photo by Sean Patterson
Canby's Lisa Erwert drives past the Dragons' Nicole Hyland en route to the basket Saturday afternoon. Erwert's 10 points led the Cougars.
By Sean Patterson
Canby Herald
A solid defensive effort propelled the Canby High School girls
basketball team to a convincing 50-28 victory over Dallas Saturday afternoon at Canby High
School.
Canby's various defensive looks seemed to confuse the Dragons, who never established any
offensive rhythm. That allowed the Cougars (6-7) to pull out to an early 11-1 lead and
never look back.
The win was Canby's second in a row after a four-game losing streak, and it lifted the
girls to 3-2 in Pacific-9 Conference play heading into a Tuesday night visit to Woodburn.
"Defense really won the game for us, and I was happy to see us sustain a solid effort
for four quarters," Canby head coach Jim Schmieding said. "When we play good
defense, that just opens doors for us. We're able to get some easy buckets on the
transition game, and we get into a rhythm offensively."
It all allowed the Cougars to hit 20 of 50 shots (40 percent) while Dallas struggled to
reach the 25-percent plateau.
It was evident from the start that Canby was in control, as the hosts pulled out to an
11-1 lead on Michelle Boeckman's three-pointer midway through the first quarter.
Dallas made a modest run to cut the deficit to 11-6 by period's end, but Canby quickly
regained momentum by scoring the first two baskets of the second quarter.
By halftime, the Cougars led 24-10.
The Dragons pulled within 10 early in the third quarter, 24-14, but that was as close as
the visitors would get. Canby's Lindsey Boeckman scored a bucket, and teammate Lisa Erwert
followed with back-to-back baskets to put the Cougars in command, 30-14.
Canby coasted from there, with the final blow coming when Alex Gex converted a three-point
play to make it 37-22 with five minutes to go in the game.
Erwert's 10 points led a balanced Canby attack, and Laura Ivancie chipped in eight points.
Gex finished with seven points, and Lindsey Boeckman, filling in at point guard, scored
six.
Julie Garcia, Hayley Krupicka and Beth Smith each contributed four points to the cause.
About the only thing that didn't go Canby's way were the whistles: Dallas took 22 free
throws to the Cougars' 11.
"That was about the only thing I was disappointed in," Schmieding said. "On
the bright side, 10 of our 11 players got in the scorebook. That was a plus."
At 3-2, Canby is tied with Forest Grove for fourth place in the Pac-9 standings. Tigard,
Silverton and Newberg are all 4-1.
The Cougars are back in action this Friday at home against Tigard. Game time is scheduled
for 7:15 p.m.
Layoff fails
to slow Cougars
By Sean Patterson
Canby Herald
If the Canby High School wrestling team was concerned that a three-week
layoff would take an edge off its fast start, it didn't show Friday afternoon at the
four-team Larry Owings Invitational at CHS.
The Cougars didn't just win their third tournament title in as many tries, they dominated
all three opponents in boosting their season record to 12-0. Canby easily beat Glencoe in
its opening dual (55-6) before dismantling Sandy (65-9) and Oregon City (51-12).
The impressive showing couldn't have come at a better time: Canby faces its toughest test
to date in the coming week, visiting state power Newberg Thursday and taking part in the
24-team Oregon Wrestling Classic at Memorial Coliseum Friday and Saturday.
"After three weeks of holiday vacation, it's nice to get back on the mat," CHS
head coach Dan Nugent said. "We were a little concerned about how we would perform,
but based on the results we have to be very happy. Our team is now 12-0 and getting better
all the time."
And the pollsters have noticed: Canby is currently ranked eighth in the 4A tournament
rankings and seventh in the dual-meet rankings. Newberg, the team the Cougars face
Thursday, is No. 5 and No. 2 in those polls, respectively.
Friday, the Cougars boasted six varsity champions and another eight second-varsity champs
to sweep both competitions handily.
At the varsity level, Stephen Schantin (112 pounds), Ian Gadberry (125), Jeff Wilson (171)
and Garret Miyake (135) all remained unbeaten on the year by sweeping the opposition in
their respective classes.
Two other Canby wrestlers, Lucas Hambleton (112) and Drew Bayless (130), also won all
three of their matches to claim first place.
Schantin was particularly impressive, picking up two pins to increase his team-high total
to 10, and Gadberry's aggressive, relentless style proved too overwhelming for his foes.
He has yet to be tested this year.
Miyake, meanwhile, came up with perhaps the most dramatic win of the day, scoring a
double-overtime victory over Ryan Snegirev. Canby also got a big win when Hambleton
managed to pin highly ranked Joey Lucas of Glencoe.
As for Bayless, he continues to win despite wrestling up a couple of weights. "You've
got to love his attitude and desire to help the team," Nugent said of Bayless.
It all helped the Cougars score 81 points to easily win the tournament. Glencoe was second
with 51 points, Oregon City third with 40 and Sandy last with 14.
Helping the Canby cause were eight individuals who finished second in their weights. They
included Joe Kuznetsov (103), Brock Ellis (140), Chris Kyllo (145), Pete Savory (152),
Jared Wilson (160), Marc Koch (189), Steve Schrader (215) and Scott Doman (275).
"Kuznetsov is getting better with every competition, Ellis and Kyllo are competing
very well, and Doman proved he can compete with the best in the state, giving third-ranked
Tom Bates a battle," Nugent said.
Putting an exclamation point on the afternoon was Canby's second varsity, led by champions
Jason Callaway (112), Sterling Meeks (130), Josh Gustafson (160), Travis Thomas (140),
Ross Doman (152), Brian Sauvain (171), Justin Ables (189) and Aaron Porter (275).
Looking ahead, Canby will square off with Newberg, the defending district champs, Thursday
beginning with junior varsity matches at 6 p.m. The Cougars are scheduled to open the
Classic tournament Friday at 9:30 a.m. in Portland.
It's a 'Dunn' deal in Dallas
By Sean Patterson
Canby Herald
Dallas' quickness and athleticism got the better of
Canby's balance in a Pacific-9 Conference boys basketball matchup Friday night at Dallas
High School.
The Dragons' Jeff Dunn scored 28 points, including 13 in the opening quarter, to pace
Dallas to a 60-48 victory that dropped Canby to 2-8 on the season and 1-2 in Pac-9 play.
The Cougars, locked in a 26-26 game at halftime, watched as Dallas outscored them by nine
points in the third quarter and 12-3 in the decisive final moments of the fourth.
The Cougars actually pulled within 48-45 midway through the final period, only to see Dunn
and Dallas pull away from there. Dunn wound up with eight points in the fourth quarter,
four of them coming from the free-throw line.
"We didn't do a good job of denying him the ball," said Canby head coach Dennis
Burke of Dunn, a first-team all-league player last season. "We need to redefine what
it means to deny someone the ball. We also need to find some spark. We did a lot of
staring and lacked initiative.
''Give Dallas some credit - they were quicker and really hustled. But we hurt ourselves
with some poor decisions on both ends.''
Canby missed out on a chance to make a comeback when it surrendered back-to-back easy
baskets after pulling within three in the fourth.
The Cougars then started fouling, giving Dallas a chance to pad the lead from the line,
where the Dragons would convert 16 of 23 attempts on the night. Conversely, Canby took
just six shots from the line, making three of them.
The Dragons were also efficient from the field, where they made 20 of 37 shots. They also
won the rebound battle 22-14 while forcing 17 turnovers.
On a positive note, Canby's Todd Ricksger enjoyed a good all-around game, scoring 14
points on six-of-eight shooting. He also had six rebounds and three steals.
Buck Stone, filling in at point guard for the absent Jese Kirsch, finished with 10 points.
Jon Warren ended up with nine despite taking only four shots, and Tyler Stewart finished
with eight points.
Burke was also pleased with the play of Brett Henry, who came off the bench to spell Stone
at point in the final period. He wound up hitting a three-pointer and playing steady at
both ends.
The Cougars were home for Woodburn Tuesday night and are on the road against Tigard this
Friday. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m.
Huskies can't
hold off 'Cats
By Jon Horton
Canby Herald
In the final tuneup before league play, the North Marion boys basketball
dropped a 62-56 decision to Wilsonville last Friday night in Aurora.
"It was a close game throughout," North Marion head coach Jason Scanlon said.
"They got up by 12 in the fourth and we closed it to three, but they hit their free
throws down the stretch."
The Huskies jumped out to a 21-13 first-quarter lead and led 29-28 at halftime.
But the Wildcats came out in the third and fourth quarters and started hitting their
shots, and the visitors outscored North Marion 17-11 in the third quarter and built a
12-point lead in the fourth.
"One thing that hurt us was we only shot three of 10 from the free-throw line in the
first half," Scanlon said. "So that one-point lead should have been a lot
higher, but we couldn't make those shots. They (Wilsonville) also started hitting their
shots in the second half."
Free-throw shooting has plagued the Huskies all season long, and this game was no
different as they shot less than 50 percent, going 11 for 23.
Leading the way for North Marion was Ryan Krause, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Adam
Kraft had 14 points, and Josh Miller had 13 points and eight rebounds. Jeremy Miller had
eight points and nine rebounds.
"Josh and Jeremy Miller and Ryan Krause did a great job on the boards for us,"
Scanlon said. "I am pleased with the progress of the kids so far.
We are where we want to be offensively and defensively. We just need to shoot better from
the free-throw line. We are shooting only 50 percent from the line, and that has cost us
three games.
''We are taking good shots and the kids are doing a lot better job of blocking out and
rebounding on the defensive end.''
The loss dropped North Marion to 6-5 on the season heading into Tuesday night's Capital
Conference opener against defending league-champion Sweet Home.
The Huskies have a bye Friday and are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at home against
Cascade.
