Pele Gianotti nears Oregon single-season basketball scoring record

Riddle High School's six-foot center Pele Gianotti is closing in on Oregon's all-time single season girls freshman scoring record. She scored 26 in a 62-49 win over Oakridge Jan. 28.

Through 19 games, Gianotti is averaging 24 points per game for the 17-2 Irish, ranked No. 7 in the latest 2A Poll. With four games remaining and a likely playoff berth in hand, Gianotti should surpass the state frosh mark of 515 held by Philomath's Trisha Stevens in 1984.

Earlier this season, Gianotti scored a school-record 38 points in a 73-31 win over North Douglas.

Stevens, who played collegiately at Stanford, totaled 2,483 career points while leading the Philomath program to 61 straight victories. That total makes Stevens Oregon's career all-time female scoring leader.

SIZE DOESN'T MATTER TO TEBBUTT
Though he plays at one of the state's smallest schools, Horizon Christian's Jordan Tebbutt continues to draw interest from major college coaches. To date, the 6-5 Tebbutt has reportedly received scholarship offers from Washington, Washington State, Virginia, UCLA, USC, Colorado, Portland and Oregon State, among others.

The reigning 3A Player of the Year led Horizon to the state title last year and the Hawks are No. 1 again.

Based in Tualatin, Horizon has an enrollment of 130, yet was invited to play in the Les Schwab Holiday Invitational in Portland. At the high-profile event, Horizon lost to 6A powers Central Catholic/Portland (800 enrollment), 67-62, and Sunset (1,920), 63-60, but defeated 6A squads McKay/Salem (2,440), 60-53 and Hillsboro (1,479), 59-51. Tebbutt, a junior, was named to the all-tournament team.

But before Tebbutt opts for college, he might accept a prep scholarship offer from Virginia's Oak Hill Academy, most recently ranked No. 15 by MaxPreps. Oak Hill's alumni list reads like a listing of NBA rosters, including current NBA standouts Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Michael Beasley, Stephen Jackson, Brandon Jennings and Rajon Rondo, among many others.

Tebbutt said he will make his Oak Hill decision at the conclusion of the season.

THURSTON ENDS SOUTH EUGENE'S STREAK, ENDS SPRINGFIELD'S UNBEATEN SEASON
South Eugene, ranked fifth in Class 6A, saw its 42 consecutive league games winning streak come to an end in overtime against Thurston (Springfield) Jan. 27, 52-48. Earlier in the week, Thurston ended No. 1 5A Springfield's unbeaten season. Springfield had won its first 15 games.

JOEY DELGADO WINS MVP
Though his Hermiston team finished runner-up, 135-pounder Joey Delgado was named the MVP at the Reser's Tournament of Champions held at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. Roseburg, with titles from Seth Thomas (152) and Drew Van Anrooy (130), took top honors. Roseburg, the No. 1 6A school in the state, tallied 181 points to finish ahead of 5A No. 1 Hermiston (170.5). Hermiston had three individual champions – Tyler Berger (125), Delgado (135) and Abraham Rodriguez (145). George Swartzlender of 3A Burns won the 285-pound title recording four pins, three in the first period. Rounding out the top five were 6A Sprague (Salem) (114), 2A Culver 112 and 6A Redmond, 107.5.

McKENZIE IS OREGON'S LONE UNBEATEN BOYS TEAM
McKenzie (Finn Rock) remained the state's only unbeaten boys team with a 77-21 win over Alsea Jan. 29. The top-ranked Eagles ran their win streak to 18-0 and improved to 9-0 in the 1A Mountain West Conference. Also owners of the state's best defense - allowing 31 points per game - the Eagles have a margin-of-victory average of 30 points per game.

MILESTONES
* Rogue River's Alli Ehrhardt became the Chieftains' third player to top 1,000 points when she scored 26 points in a recent game against Cascade Christian. Within her sights is school leader Angie Caschera (1,124). Ehrhardt, a 5-8 junior guard, is averaging 18 points and five rebounds per game. Julie Koral (1,026) is the third RRHS player to break the 1,000-point barrier.

* Another southern Oregon cager recently passed the 1,000-point mark - 6-5 senior Logan Winter of Eagle Point. He is averaging 18 points and 10.5 rebounds per game for the 5A Eagles (9-9).

HONORS
* Bend pole vault coach Fred Canfield, 67, has been named the 2010 National High School Pole Vault Coach of the Year at this year's Pole Vault Summit, a national convention for pole vault coaches and athletes. Canfield has spent the last 21 years coaching at Bend High. Prior that, he coached at Portland's Jesuit High School.

* Powder Valley (North Powder) senior setter Kaycie Kitzmiller and coach Lasa Baxter were honored as the Class 1A Volleyball Player and Coach of the Year. Also honored was sophomore teammate Jessica Pedro. Representing state champion Cove was senior Jamie Murchison. Rounding out the first team were St. Paul senior Jensen Smith, Crane senior Hannah Buermann, Damascus Christian senior Anna French and Ione junior Joanna Patton. Both Cove and Powder Valley finished the 2010 season 21-4.

TOP PERFORMERS
* Jami Roos scored 36 points in back-to-back games as Sprague won both. It was her third-straight 30-plus game and the fifth time this season Roos has scored more than 30 in a game. Averaging 23 points per game, she has a high game of 44.

* The No. 6 Baker (Baker City) boys (13-3) routed Ontario, 101-48, to become the third Oregon team to score 100 points or more in a game during the 2010-2011 season.

* Kelli Christenson scored 30 in Western Mennonite's win over Culver, 55-46.

* No. 1 Jesuit (Portland) (15-1) shut down the state's top 6A scorer in winning 74-37 over Sunset. Dominique Ditlefsen managed just four points in losing to the top-ranked Crusaders. Averaging 27 points per game, Ditlefsen scored 34 in his previous game.

* Andy Agvi scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Woodburn ended Corvallis' perfect season in boys play, 74-70. Corvallis is 16-1. Earlier in the week, Agvi scored 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Woodburn (11-6) defeated S. Albany, 66-52.

* Megan Hays scored 24 as LaSalle (4A) remained unbeaten in 18 games with a 72-53 win over Madras. The 6-3 Hays, averaging more than 22 points per game this season, has scored 77 in her last three outings.

* Junior guard Andrew Andrews scored 36 to lead Benson Tech over Franklin, 98-58, in 5A PIL boys play. Andrews has verbally committed to the University of Washington.

* Chandler Gabrio scored 23 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as No. 4 Creswell upset No. 1 Salem Academy, 52-40, Jan. 29. In PacWest Conference play, Salem Academy is 12-1 and Creswell 11-1. Overall, Creswell is 16-2, Salem Academy, 18-2.

UPCOMING SHOWDOWNS
* Leading the Southern Oregon Conference boys race, No. 3 ranked 6A South Medford (16-2, 6-1) faces Roseburg (12-4, 5-1) on Feb. 4. Each team has a win over the other this season.

* Unbeaten and No. 1-rated Jesuit (Portland) (16-0) meets No. 6 Beaverton (15-2) Feb. 4 in a key Metro League game. Both teams own 3-0 records.

SOFTBALL RECRUITING INFO
* Jessica Slate, 4A Pitcher of the Year, will attend Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. The Pipers are a Division III school, and compete in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. As a junior, Slate led Cascade (Turner) to the 2010 OSAA 4A State Championship going 23-0 on the mound. She also batted .416, with 25 RBI.

* Redmond High's Aubrey Nitschelm verbally committed to Portland State. An infielder, Nitschelm, is a three-time all-league performer and was named 6A second-team all-state in 2010 when she hit .600 for the 19-9 Panthers. She has a 4.0 GPA.