The Current
SPORTS
MARCH 2014 • 23
Orndorff dominates en route to state title By Mike Vlahovich
CURRENT CONTRIBUTOR
University junior 285-pounder Tate Orndorff scarcely broke a sweat on his way to the State 3A wrestling championship during Mat Classic XXVI in Tacoma. Orndorff pinned all four of his foes, only once going beyond the first period. All told, he spent a mere 5 minutes, 24 seconds out of a potential 24 minutes combined for four matches, including pins in :19 and :54 seconds. Austin Stannard (170) won the title that had eluded him a year ago. He had two second-period pins and two decisions, winning 3-1 for the title. Sophomore Cam Sorensen (126) finished second for the second straight year, losing 3-0 in the title match. State veteran John Fairbanks (160) brought home the fifth place medal. Joining them at state were Forrest Rogers (145), surprise regional finalist junior Dylan Rabideaux (182) and Conner Douglas (170). The defending champion Titans earned a fourth place trophy, 14 points behind Spokane champion North Central. Losing a potential seven more state qualifiers, who each finished a win away at regional the week before, thwarted a possible repeat title. State 2A West Valley junior Jace Malek finished second at 220 pounds for the second straight year, losing to Clarkston nemesis Dylan Beeler. He was one of four Eagles qualifiers, including 285-pound, three-time participant Ricky Miller, who finished sixth after placing third last year. Joining them were freshman Drake
Ferguson (160) and junior The Titans methodically Cameron Conner (120). CV NOTEBOOK handled Shadle Park 63-50 to capture championship After losing in the second ONLINE of the GSL-Mid-Columbia round at 118 pounds, East Looking for Conference sub-regional Valley state veteran Rachael and needed one win for a rean update on Coleck, won four straight turn to the State 3A tournaCentral Valley High School matches to place third in the ment in Tacoma beginning winter sports? Contribustate girls tournament. She March 6. tor Mike Vlahovich wrote won and lost by pins, then The night before U-Hi in succession won twice by an all-Bears report for (14-9) toppled Mt. Spokane decision, by pin and 3-1 for The Current’s sister on Robert Little’s 27-point the medal. Elizabeth Goodpublication, The Splash. water also qualified. outburst. Against Shadle it View it online at www. was a balanced effort. Four The Knights had four boys libertylakesplash.com or players finished in double state placers. Sophomore check out the full issue at figures. Trey Meyer took third at issuu.com/thesplash. 145 and Tanner Bauman Michael Isotalo and fourth (160). Gabe Meyer Khalil Williams each had (138) finished sixth and freshman Randy 14 points (he had 11 the night before). Little McDonald (113) was seventh. The other and Ben Kuiper scored 11 and 10 respectively. qualifier was Kenny Martinez (182). U-Hi’s girls also returned to regional after State 1A their 62-52 win over Shadle Park, securing An example of the power of numbers, Freeman had but one state finalist, Markus the third spot. Ashley Woods had a single basket the Goldbach, but with nine qualifiers, six of them top-8 placers, the Scotties landed a night before in a loss to Kamiakin but scored 20 points in the win over Shadle. top-five team finish. Goldbach won twice by pin on his way to East Valley girls advance a second-place finish at 182 pounds. Prior to the rubber match between the Lone senior Josiah Thompson (195) was Knights and Clarkston for the double-elima semifinalist and took fourth. Returning ination District 7 2A girls basketball chamstate placer Teigan Glidewell (220) was pionship, Knights coach Rob Collins didn’t fifth. Preston Hoppman (160) finished sev- want to leave anything to fate. enth, Jesse Schmidlkofer (145) and Kon“We’re going to try and take care of businer Forshag (152) were eighth. Other state ness out of the chute,” he said, fearing a qualifiers were Sebastian Hyta (195), Peyrematch with either West Valley, who they ton Smetana and Joey Sims (both 285). beat 55-37 a day earlier, or Colville. Titans chase state berths That they did by piling up 75 points in No strangers to state tournament play, a nine-point victory that left the Knights a the University boys basketball team is on win away from the eight-team state tournament in Yakima, March 6. the verge again.
Alex Rankin (see accompanying story) scored a career high 30 points, nearly double her season average, improving EV’s season record to 19-3. Maddie Bastin pitched in 16 points and Jordan Phelan had 11 rebounds. West Valley’s girls (17-5) and boys (158) both ended their seasons with losses to Colville.
Freeman plays on The Freeman girls basketball team advanced to a game against Lynden Christian March 1, with the winner headed to Yakima March 6-8 to be a part of the final-eight state tournament. Senior Katie Vold led the way in the 1A Bi-District tournament, scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds in a pivotal loser-out matchup against Cascade Feb. 21. The Scotties won that game 62-42 before dropping a 63-52 contest to Okanogan the following day, meaning the team took the fourth and final seed from districts into the round of 16. In boys 1B postseason action, Valley Christian just missed the cut on advancing from the District 7 1B tournament to a regional berth following a 59-56 loss to Wilbur-Creston in a loser-out game. Nick Cox led the way with 21 points and Grant Marchant added 14 in the loss. The Panthers had stayed alive behind 17 points from Bo Piersol in a 52-50 win over Curlew earlier in the district tournament.
Titan state gymnasts Demri Oglesbee led University’s threegymnast contingent to state in Tacoma. Oglesbee competed on uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. She was joined by Shantel Singh on bars. Singh also vaulted. Jaden Stevens competed on beam.
Soccer skills translated well for EV girls bball squad By Mike Vlahovich
CURRENT CONTRIBUTOR
East Valley girls basketball coach Rob Collins isn’t necessarily big on soccer. But you’ve got to believe he appreciates what soccer players have meant to his Knights. “I’m not a huge soccer fan, but I’ll tell you what: I’ve been pretty successful with soccer players,” he said. More than half of this year’s roster came from a girls soccer team that shared the Great Northern League championship, three of them first team all-league selections, including MVP Alex Rankin. Well-conditioned from the non-stop nature of soccer, the players transitioned nicely into basketball, where they raised defensive havoc. The result was another GNL regular season title and pursuit of a State 2A berth the first weekend in March.
“They press, get their hands on the ball as much as possible, get in the passing lanes,” Collins said. “I think it goes right along with soccer. They play tough, hard-nosed basketball for 32 minutes.” And they’ve done so with only one senior, Rankin, who is also the Knights’ scoring leader at 15.7 points per game. “She’s a four-year starter, captain, works hard, is a great leader and a great defensive ball player,” Collins said. “At the end of last season, she figured out she could score, too.” Other soccer notables on the roster include junior All-GNL Taylor Morscheck, sophomores Hannah Burland — who scored a shade under 10 points per game in basketball during the regular season but injured a knee and is questionable for the playoffs — twins Skylar and Madison Bastin and soccer all-leaguer Chelsea Love.
The only outlander in the starting lineup is sophomore two-sport standout Jordan Phelan, the Knights’ third leading scorer. “The first three off the bench are the Bastin twins and Chelsea,” Collins said. “We’re a pretty athletic group.” Madison Bastin was the expected point guard, but a dislocated ankle kept her from playing until January. In her stead, freshman Elle Burland, Hannah’s cousin, took over. Elle scored in double figures her first four games and six times overall. At 18-3, EV lost three regular season games by a combined nine points, dropping their first league game to Clarkston at home, but reversing the outcome on the road 75-58. The teams played a rubber match for the district championship Feb. 21, and East Valley prevailed 75-66 be-
hind a career-high 30 points from Rankin. Collins embraces the challenge of sharing athletes in an era of specialization. “At a small school, you can’t put demands and make them choose,” he said. “You fit what’s best for the group, adapt and change as needed.” Because of the talents befitting his roster, the Knights played more man-to-man defense than in previous years and ran more on offense. “Every year, I start by saying we’ll play more man but get stuck doing what we normally do,” the laid-back coach said. “The kids have basketball savvy and like it. They work hard in practice and it carries over into games.” In this case, hustle paid dividends on two sports.