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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
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St. Helens splits with talented Liberty team BY KYLE BOGGS The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — The St. Helens Lions girls won eight of 11 events en route to a 10661 win over the Liberty Falcons at Eisenschmidt Pool on Dec. 13. The St. Helens boys put up a fight against a very talented Liberty squad. Missing one of their top swimmers, senior Devon Brady, the boys lost, 91-78, to a Falcons team featuring two nationally ranked swimmers. The girls won all three relays and picked up two individual wins from junior Patience Marshall and sophomore Brook Hopkins. Senior Emily Spears came up with the other victory.
Marshall’s wins came in the 100 butterfly, which she won by seven seconds, and the 500 freestyle. She beat junior teammate Tori Edwards in the 500. Hopkins went 1-2 with junior teammate Johanna Parkhurst in both of her events, the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. “Brook Hopkins is swimming really well,” said coach Bill Rash. “Jojo Parkhurst did great in the 100 backstroke.” In addition to the 1-2 finishes from Hopkins and Parkhurst and in the 500 free, Spears and Edwards were the top two finishers in the 200 freestyle. Freshman Cameron Lein had the two individual victories for the boys, finishing first in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. He beat sopho-
more teammate Jonathan Prevish by about a half second in the butterfly. Lein led a Lion sweep in the backstroke. Sophomore Dillon Swatski finished second and freshman Trevor Moss was third. The Lions also won the 400 freestyle relay, but couldn’t match up with the firepower of the Falcons. “Liberty has two guys that are nationally ranked. Their medley relay could be the fastest in the state this year,” Rash said. “We did pretty well. We had a bunch of swimmers sick that didn’t swim. The boys meet would have definitely been a little closer than it was. Jared Houghtelling swam well, as did Jacob Zartman.” St. Helens hosts Wilsonville in a dual meet at 4 p.m. on Dec. 20.
St. Helens freshman Cameron Lein picked up victories in the 100 fly and 100 backstroke on Dec. 13. KYLE BOGGS The Chronicle
GIRLS BASKETBALL
BOYS BASKETBALL
Lions hold on for win over Warriors SHHS takes first at
Benson tournament
BY KYLE BOGGS The Chronicle
Scrappy defense helped the St. Helens Lions (4-2) eke out a 41-38 win over the visiting Aloha Warriors (2-5) on Dec. 11. Two nights later, the Lions dropped a 49-42 game to the Wilson Trojans (3-2). It was senior Cody Beisley’s defense in particular that helped St. Helens keep Aloha at bay in the final period. He pressured the Warriors into a 10-second violation midway through the fourth quarter. Then, with 2:30 to play, Aloha rolled the ball up court to keep the clock from running. As the ball and the Aloha player approached midcourt, Beisley dove to the hardwood, wrestled the ball away from the Warrior and called timeout to give St. Helens the ball. “I was just waiting for him to pick it up. Then he got closer and closer, so I just decided to dive on it,” Beisley said. “I can lay out six feet, so I got to it pretty quick, got the ball and called timeout. At first I wasn’t thinking about doing it – I was just gonna play defense.” The steal didn’t lead to any points for the Lions, but it brought forth some momentum and established the defensive intensity with which the team would play the rest of the game. Beisley finished the game with 9 points. Senior Jake Ramiskey had a team-high 13 along with three steals. Junior point guard Tanner Long had
KYLE BOGGS / The Chronicle
St. Helens senior Cody Beisley made two free throws with less than a second remaining against Aloha on Dec. 11 to seal the win for the Lions.
a team-high eight rebounds. After holding a one-point lead at halftime against Wilson, St. Helens was outscored 20-7 in the third quarter. The Lions forced several turnovers in the fourth quarter but couldn’t convert enough of them into points to earn the win.
Senior guard Cody Galvin led St. Helens with 13 points. Ramiskey scored 9. Senior post Nathan Hunter had 7 points and five rebounds. Senior Jared Bonney had a team-high eight rebounds and three steals. St. Helens was at home
FOOTBALL
Dec. 18 against the Gresham Gophers (3-1). The Lions are then off until the Barlow Trail Tournament Dec. 27-29. See full box scores and additional photos at thechronicleonline.com.
Two trips to Benson High School were fruitful for the St. Helens Lions (3-4) as they won both of their games on Dec. 14 and 15 to finish first in a four-team tournament. St. Helens beat North Salem (0-6) 47-36 on Dec. 14, then beat the Rex Putnam Kingsmen (1-4) 43-38 to clinch the tournament. “It was unreal. There were a lot of people there for the championship game,” said St. Helens coach Billy McKinney. “Afterward when I told the girls that not only did they win two games, but they won a tournament, they were all so bright-eyed and smiley.” North Salem kept the first game close until the final period. Improved free-throw shooting from the Lions in the final period helped them seal the victory. St. Helens was 2for-10 at the line in the first three quarters before making 9-of-17 attempts in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Jillian Ross led the team with 15 points. Junior post Lucy Kyle-Milward added 10 and junior guard Nicole Harcourt scored 7. The win set up a game against the Putnam Kingsmen, a fellow Northwest Oregon Conference team. Putnam beat Benson (1-4) 51-33 to reach the finals. Sophomore Michelle Sass led the Lions with 18 points against the Kingsmen. She scored 11 of those points in the third quarter to help St.
Helens swing a four-point halftime deficit into a threepoint lead entering the fourth quarter. Sass made three 3pointers in the game, two of them in the third quarter. Junior Brittney Bartolomucci finished with 9 points and Harcourt scored 8. The tournament victory followed a tough 44-39 loss to the Hood River Valley Eagle Indians (5-1). McKinney said his team played well early and had a chance to win it toward the end, but felt the game slipped away a little bit. Ross led the Lions with 16 points. Harcourt scored 12. St. Helens has its next four games at home. The first of those is at 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 21 against the Jefferson Democrats (2-3). – Kyle Boggs 1st 2nd 3rd 4th SHHS 8 5 17 9 HRVHS 8 11 14 11
F 39 44
SHHS NSHS
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 7 13 12 15 12 8 9 7
F 47 36
SHHS RPHS
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 11 6 18 8 10 11 11 6
F 43 38
ST. HELENS: Harcourt 12, Ross 16, Sass 1, Amick 4, Sharp 4, Kyle-Milward, Tupper, Bingaman, Bartolomucci 2
ST. HELENS: Ross 15, Kyle-Milward 10, Hembree, Sharp 5, Bartolomucci 4, Harcourt 7, Sass, Roth, Tupper 3, Amick, Bingaman 3
ST. HELENS: Harcourt 8, Ross 5, Sass 18, Amick 2, Bartolomucci 9, Tupper, Roth 1, Hembree, Bingaman
SOCCER
St. Helens, Scappoose players St. Helens sand team finishes recognized for scholastic work second at national tournament PORTLAND — Scappoose High School senior Matt Blaser won the National Football Foundation’s Portland chapter’s 2012 Scholar/Athlete of the Year award at a Dec. 12 banquet. Also honored at the banquet was St. Helens High School senior Andrew Gray, one of 14 finalists recognized from the Portland metropolitan area. Blaser, an All League offensive and defensive lineman, received a $3,000 scholarship to go along with his award. In addition to his accomplishments on the field, Blaser is a member of the National Honor Society and carries a 3.98 grade point average. He also plays tuba in the district honor band and trumpet in the Scappoose High jazz band. Gray won a $1,000 scholarship for being one of 14 finalists selected from the 63 candidates nominated. He earned All League honors as a linebacker and offensive lineman for the Lions this season. He is also a member of the National Honor Society and carries a 3.98 GPA. In addition, he is a member
Courtesy photo
Scappoose High School senior Matt Blaser receives the 2012 NFF Scholar/Athlete of the Year award from Hall of Fame coach Ad Rutscman during a banquet on Dec. 12.
of the Key Club and helped coach a seventh-grade football team. Blaser is the third Scappoose High football player to win the award. Sam Lawson won it in 1999 and Nathan Hannah won it in 2005. Guest speakers at the banquet included former Oregon Ducks and NFL quarterback
Joey Harrington, former Portland State and NFL quarterback Neil Lomax, and current Portland State head coach Nigel Burton. This was the NFF Portland chapter’s 52nd annual banquet. Nominations are taken from 79 high schools in the See NFF, Page A11
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The St. Helens U14 SwagJackers beach soccer team took second place at the Major Beach Soccer U14 National Championship tournament Dec. 15-16. The St. Helens squad won its first three games before a dramatic championship match. The Swag-Jackers trailed 4-1 entering the third and final 10minute period. The Swag-Jackers scored three unanswered goals to send it into overtime. Unfortunately for the SwagJackers, their opponents scored first in the sudden death overtime, giving the St. Helens team silver medals. The championship game was against IMG Academy of Bradenton, Fla., the same team the Swag-Jackers beat 2-1 to reach the finals. Tied 1-1, Mara Buchco hit Ashley Giesbers for the game-winner. It was Giesbers’ second goal of the match. IMG Academy is a private training institution that recently underwent a $7.5 million expansion. “I think it was phenomenal for us to go into their turf. To me it’s like coming in and beating a well-oiled machine,” said St. Helens coach Rich Buchco.
ERIKA REARDON / For The Chronicle
The St. Helens U14 soccer in the sand team includes, from left, Lydia Reardon, Georgie Gross, Justice Russell, Mara Buchco, Nicole Hamilton, Athena Duggan, Ashley Giesbers, Relina Brown and Alyssa Enyart.
Buchco said his squad’s cohesiveness was its biggest strength. “Together they’re so tight, they’re all good friends and they play so well together,” he said. St. Helens won its first match of the tournament on Friday, 4-2. Later that day, the Swag-Jackers won 5-3 with three goals from Lydia Reardon. The nine players on the team were Reardon, Giesbers, Buchco, Georgie Gross, Justice
Russell, Nicole Hamilton, Athena Duggan, Relina Brown and Alyssa Enyart. St. Helens qualified for the national championships by winning the Nationwide Soccer in the Sand Tournament in Seaside in June. The team put on several fundraisers in the area to pay for its trip. Buchco said that fundraising covered the cost of airfare, lodging and meals. Read more at thechronicleonline.com. – Kyle Boggs