Oregon City girls basketball loses home game for first time in 18 years

Clackamas jumped out to a 38-25 halftime lead, then held on to defeat host Oregon City, 68-65 in a key Three Rivers League contest Jan. 25. The loss was the first home loss for the No. 4 Pioneers (12-3) in 18 years. By winning, No. 2 Clackamas (15-1) moved to 7-0 — two games ahead of Oregon City — to put another Pioneer streak in jeopardy: winning the last 17 Three Rivers League titles.

COACHES EARN NFHS PRAISE
Three Oregon coaches who have a knack for winning state championships are among the 21 coaches selected 2010 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

National honorees include Joe Volk, girls cross country coach at St. Mary's (Medford); Rex Watkins, girls swimming and diving coach at Crescent Valley (Corvallis) and Jeff Wood, boys tennis coach at Jesuit (Portland).

Volk has guided St. Mary's to three-straight 3A/2A/1A cross country titles. Watkins has led CV's girls to four-straight 5A State swimming titles. Under Wood, Jesuit has won three-straight 6A tennis titles.



According to the NFHS, criteria for the award includes career coaching record, community service, involvement in school activities, involvement in the profession at the local, state and national levels and basic coaching philosophy.

Several other Oregon coaches were honored as Section 8 (encompassing Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming) coaches of the year. They include: Billy Snow, boys track, Sweet Home; Dennis Murphy, boys basketball, South Medford; Dave Gasser, baseball, Astoria; Eric Johansen, boys soccer, South Salem; Steven Lander, wrestling, Roseburg; John Hamilton, boys golf, Catlin Gabel (Portland); Daniel Zimmer, boys swimming, Henley (Klamath Falls); Cindy Anderson, girls basketball, Wilsonville; Rosie Honl, volleyball, Crook County (Prineville); Dennis Metzger, girls golf, Molalla; and Lee Lowe, 8-man football, Imbler.

State coach of the year award winners from Oregon were Marty Johnson, football, Sheldon (Eugene); Joan Kintz, girls track and field, Gladstone; and Steven Baker, softball, Centennial (Gresham).

The coaches will be honored at the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association awards banquet this spring.

ROSEBURG, HERMISTON STAY ATOP WRESTLING POLLS
Large school powers Roseburg and Hermiston continued atop the 6A and 5A wrestling polls. Hermiston is on track for its fifth straight state title and improved to 10-1 with a dual meet win (69-6) over The Dalles Whatonka. Coach Curt Berger is 280-66 in his 20-year career. Roseburg excelled with a 58-9 dual win over Eagle Point.

MELANCON WINS GATORADE HONOR
Sheldon (Eugene) senior Matthew Melancon, who won the Class 6A boys cross country state title in November, has been selected the 2010-11 Gatorade Oregon boys cross country runner of the year. He is the first Sheldon runner chosen for the award. Melancon, who carries a 3.88 gpa, also won the Concordia/Puma Classic and the Midwestern/Southern Oregon Conference championships. He will attend the University of Oregon on a track scholarship.



SHELDON FOOTBALL COACH RETIRES
Recently named Oregon Prep Football Coach of the Year, Marty Johnson won 137 of 164 games and took Sheldon (Eugene) to the playoffs in each of the last dozen seasons. Under Johnson, the Irish won nine league titles and three state championships (2002, 2007, 2009). Johnson had a winning record in each season, including two perfect seasons and six one-loss seasons. Sheldon won 57 straight league games from 2000-08.

THREE FORMER OREGON PLAYERS EARN NFL ALL-PRO HONORS
Detroit rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was one of three former Oregon High School players to be named first-team All-Pro. Suh was the only rookie named to the first-team. Suh, out of Nebraska and Portland's Grant High School, joins Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu out of Douglas High School on the first team. A former Willamette High School player, Philadelphia safety Quintin Mikell was named second-team.

TITLE IX CHANGES GAME TIMES
In order to comply with Title IX guidelines related to athletics, all Klamath County high schools will use alternating starting times for boys and girls basketball games. Effective immediately, all game times will alternate for contests scheduled when both boys and girls play on the same date and at the same facility.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}STREAKS
* Summit (Bend) recorded a wrestling victory over crosstown rival Bend for the first time in its 10-year school history, 39-33.

* Jefferson (Portland) 48-game "on court" Portland Interscholastic League winning streak came to an end Jan. 21 as Wilson (Portland) defeated the Democrats, 40-36. It was Jefferson's first league loss since the PIL's 5A division was formed in 2006-2007. In a 2009 league game, Jefferson defeated Marshall, 65-11, but later had to forfeit the game.

TOP PERFORMANCES
* Corvallis (15-0, 5A) scored a state-high 103 points in winning its 15th-straight basketball game. McKenzie (Finn Rock) (15-0, 1A) is the state's only other unbeaten boys team after drubbing Crane, 52-29.



* Hermiston's Joey Delgado defeated three-time state champion Eddie Rodriquez in the 135-pound division of the Hillsboro Tournament Jan. 21. A rematch seems likely for the State 6A Tournament next month.

* Newton Allred scored 39 points and pulled down 16 rebounds as Powers lost in double overtime to New Hope, 75-70.

* Megan Hays scored 24 to lead unbeaten La Salle (Milwaukie) (17-0) to a 63-45 win over No. 14 North Marion in a 4A girls basketball game. St. Mary's (Medford) (16-0) also won to remain unbeaten. Jesuit (Portland) (6A) remained unbeaten (14-0) with a 57-33 win over Southridge.

* Unheralded 6A Thurston (Springfield) (11-4) relied on a stingy defense to hand 5A Springfield (15-1) its first loss of the season, 32-30.

* Connecting on 11 of 14 shots from the field, freshman Jaime Nared scored 28 points to lead Westview over Aloha, 56-29.

* Jami Roos scored 30 points in Sprague's 55-43 win over North Salem.



* South Medford (14-2) hit 10 3-pointers in routing No. 3 Roseburg, 64-37. Following the win, South Medford moved to No. 3 in the 6A poll, behind No. 1 Jesuit (Portland) and No. 2 Central Catholic (Portland).

UPCOMING BASKETBALL
* Sunset (Portland) senior guard Dominique Ditlefsen takes his state-leading 26.7 points per game average to top-ranked Jesuit Jan. 28. He had 34 points as Sunset defeated Beaverton, 64-54, recently.

* No. 1 Mazama (Klamath Falls) (4A, 16-1) will play No. 5 Phoenix (11-4) in a key Skyline League boys rematch Friday night in Klamath Falls. Mazama won the first meeting, 55-54.

FOOTBALL RECRUTING
South Salem High's Jake Withnell has verbally committed to Football Championship Subdivision Eastern Washington. The 6-5, 230-pound Withnell made several unofficial visits to college football programs last fall, including Oregon, Oregon State, Portland State and Linfield. As a tight end last season, Withnell caught 31 passes for 487 yards. He also had 17.5 sacks, and blocked four field goals.

Other verbal commitments include: Oregon 5A Defensive Player of Year Marist linebacker Logan Mayes (Washington State), West Salem's Brett Smith (Wyoming), Glencoe's Hayden Plinke (Boise), Newberg guard Brock Lutes (WSU), Reynolds/Portland quarterback Colin Walsh (Central Washington) and Jesuit receiver Cermak Bland (Northwestern).