Oregon Republican Reporter, Mt. Morris Times
SPORTS
SECTION B
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Hawk bowlers finish third to earn sectional spot By Andy Colbert Reporter In a new format established by the IHSA, bowling teams must advance through regionals before moving onto a sectional. Previously, all teams started in at a sectional. The move will allow for a more equitable state tournament and weeds out some sectionals with poor competition. Though Oregon coach Al Nordman sees the purpose of it, the Hawk bowling program will have a much tougher road to state. Oregon did advance out of the Dixon regional with a third-place finish (top four teams advance), but now head to Rockford sectional where they will see some of the elite programs in the state. One of those schools, Rockford Guilford won the Dixon regional with a score of 6510 pins in the 6-game set. Freeport was second with 6303 and Oregon close behind at 6285. Rockford East edged Dixon by 19 pins for the final sectional berth. “I’m glad we got out,” Nordman said. “If Guilford doesn’t win state, I’ll be the most surprised person around.” The top scorer for Oregon
was Ian Starkey, who had a 1331, good for fourth overall. Chris Wiley of Freeport was individual champ with a 1379. “That’s two weeks in a row for Ian,” said Nordman, referring to Starkey’s high finish at the conference meet. “He had a 179 average coming out of the dual meets, but his game has come together. Besides a new ball, he’s changed his line and the way he shoots spares.” As a team, the Hawks were a model of consistency. They came within four pins of averaging at least 200 per bowler. Ryan Bennett was second behind Starkey at 1274. Justin Provo 1263, AJ Nordman 1221 and Joe Miranda 1196 rounded out the scoring on the Plum Hollow lanes. “It was a team effort,” Nordman said. “The bottom two guys (Bennett, Miranda) had the top scores in the afternoon. AJ had a strong morning, but couldn’t get a strike to fall. Justin was steady and consistent.” Of anything, it was picking up spares that enabled Oregon to earn a sectional berth. “Oh, that won it for us,” Nordman said. The Hawks led the entire tourney after the second game
before Guilford began to pull away. “Guilford lit it up in the third game and took control in the fourth and fifth game,” Nordman said. Oregon and Freeport were virtually deadlocked after the fifth game and the Hawks rolled a good No. 6. However, according to Nordman, Freeport shot great in the final game. “Realistically, third place was about as high as I thought we’d finish,” Nordman said. Now, Nordman and his bowlers have their sites on the Park Lanes in Rockford, site of this Saturday’s sectional. “It’s one of the highest scoring houses around,” Nordman said. “Guilford, Harlem and Hononegah will be way up there. Six teams make it to state, so we’ve got an outside shot.” Besides the six top teams, seven individuals not on an Oregon’s Ryan Bennett releases his ball during regional competition Jan. 18 at Plum advancing team, also go to Hollow, Dixon. Photo by Michael Krabbenhoeft state.
Lady Hawks defeat Eastland By Andy Colbert Reporter Sam Lambrigtsen and Emy Wright combined for 27 of Oregon 29 first half points against Eastland Tuesday. In the second half, the pair also got into the assist business, leading the Lady Hawks to a 69-53 nonconference win. “That was a fun one, getting everyone involved,” Oregon coach Kristy Eckardt said. “We needed to do that when they started keying on those two.” Lambrigtsen found Kimmie Janke under the basket for an easy basket to
start the second half. Wright then had consecutive assists to Madeline Sanders and split the defenders herself for another basket. Sanders advanced Oregon’s (15-7) third-quarter lead to 46-27 on another Lambrigtsen feed and an unexpected rout of one of the top 1A team in the area was on. “It was very difficult to stopping (Lambrigtsen),” Eastland coach Colleen Finn Henze said. “Every time you think you have her stopped, she takes one more explosive move.” In the first four minutes of the game, Lambrigtsen had
two steals, two blocks and seven points on her way to a game-high 27 points. Wright then took charge, scoring the next 10 points on accurate outside shooting. Lexis Macomber, a 6-foot post player who finished with 25 points, scored two quick baskets to start the second quarter and cut Oregon’s lead to 17-13. Not to worry, though, with Lambrigtsen on the floor. She was fouled and converted two free throws. On the next trip down the court, the all-state candidate split two defenders for another score. That drew the ire of Henze, who called timeout, slammed
her clipboard in disgust and chastised her defense. “We didn’t not play defense as well as we should,” Henze said. “We turned the ball over too much and didn’t get as many rebounds as we should with our height advantage.” Following the timeout, Lambrigtsen made it 23-14 in favor of Oregon off an acrobatic steal. She closed the half out with a two more baskets, the final coming on a Sanders steal and assist. Sanders chipped in 13 second half points to lead to Lady Hawks. Her most impressive basket came early in the fourth quarter after Turn to B2
Hawks lost to Milledgeville 53-28
The Oregon boys basketball team fell to Milledgeville and Byron last week. On Saturday, Jan. 18, Oregon traveled to the West Carroll Shootout to face Oregon’s Sam Lambrigtsen goes up for a shot Tuesday Milledgeville. night against Eastland. Photo by Chris Johnson The Hawks lost the game
53-28. Oregon was outscored 2816 in the first half of the game and were down 14 points after three quarters. The leading scorer for Oregon was Trevor Otten with 11 points. He had a trio
of 3-pointers. Jessie McKinley had nine points including three from the floor and a 3-pointer. Donovan Roby had three points, Matthew Wasilewski had two points and Billy Heeg had one point. In a game against rival Byron Jan. 15 the Hawks lost 71-33.
Byron outscored Oregon 33-15 in the first half and had a 49-25 lead after three quarters. McKinley lead the scoring for Oregon with 14 points. Otten and Adam Bettner each finished the night with five points. Skylar Short, Matthew Murray, and Josh Drew each had two points.
Wrestlers host 4-team meet By Randy Holland Correspondent
Hall of Fame Induction
Above, Doug Engle, center, is pictured with with his family after being inducted into the ITCCCA Hall of Fame. Engle’s children traveled to Chicago to be there for their dad. From left to right in the photo are: Jason Engle, Linda Engle, Doug Engle, D.J. Engle, and Kristin Way. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on Engle’s birthday. At right, Oregon High School’s three Hall of Famers Art Carlson, Doug Engle, and Joe Mortimer pose for a photo. Oregon High school is the only class A school with 3 or more ITCCCA Hall of Famers. Photos courtesy of Darren Moser
Oregon hosted the annual quad meet against Princeton, Rockford Lutheran, and Riverdale on Saturday and defeated the Tigers and Rams, but missed an opportunity to knock off the 20th ranked Crusaders. Starting with Princeton, Oregon rolled up a 48-13 lead before the low weight forfeits made the final 48-25. In the last match, the Hawks cruised 49-24. But in the middle match, the Hawks came up two points short, 42-40. Lutheran was undefeated on the day, defeating Riverdale 43-30, and Princeton 47-20. The Rams took the Tigers 43-27. Oregon started in a hole against Princeton, giving up a forfeit at 120 and a 9-0 major decision at 126, Zim Granados taking the loss. The Hawks turned it around from there. At 132, Nathan Clark worked the butcher at 2:45 to get six for Oregon. The butcher also worked for Corey Grady at 138, reloading it at 3:45 for the fall.
Dominic Marchetti kept it rolling at 145 with a wing at 1:58. Tyler Staley took a forfeit at 152 to extend the lead to 24-10. Garrett Rude had a battle, hitting a turk for two backpoints with 30 seconds left in the match for a 2-0 win. John Ghibellini lost a reversal to his back for three points and he dropped a 7-2 decision. Jake Diehl was scoreless in the second when he hit an outside single to the back in a half nelson at 2:33. With a cradle at the first period buzzer, Tyler Blume added six points for Oregon to make the lead 39-13. Travis Burke drove his man to his back at 2:32 to extend the lead. Michael Smith had an escape and a takedown in the second to take a 3-2 win to finish the wrestling. Oregon forfeits at 106 and 113 wrapped up the meet. The Lutheran meet started with two exhibition matches. Skylar Carlson reversed out of a cradle to the back at Turn to B2