by Wayne Lee – Sports Editor
The Eagle Point High School basketball teams have completed their first round of league play with each team heading in different directions. The Lady Eagles continued their home winning streak with lopsided wins over Ashland and Churchill while the boys’ team continued to struggle.
The Lady Eagles began the week by hosting Ashland Jan. 27. The Grizzlies came into the game winless in league play and left with that record unblemished as Eagle Point jumped out to a 27-6 lead and never looked back. The Eagle Point High School basketball teams have completed their first round of league play with each team heading in different directions. The Lady Eagles continued their home winning streak with lopsided wins over Ashland and Churchill while the boys’ team continued to struggle.
“We played a great game and came out with a lot of energy,” said coach Denise Ledbetter. “We did a full court press to start the game and did a great job getting steals and converting on those steals.”
Ashland was held to single digits in all four quarters trailing 43-12 at the half and 63-21 after the third period. Emary Haning led the offense with 16 points. Jill Garlitz scored 15 (13 in the first half) while adding five steals and four assists. Elaina Almarez added 14 points while Kady Ledbetter posted a double double with 11 points, 14 rebounds and five steals.
Eagle Point then hosted Churchill Jan. 30 in a game that was as one-sided as they come, posting a dominating 54-22 victory. The Lady Eagles came out in a full court press, causing the Lancers to make numerous turnovers as they scored the first 22 points of the game before Churchill was able to sink a single free throw. With a 41-5 lead at the intermission, everyone on the bench got to play significant minutes in the second half as Eagle Point coasted to their third consecutive victory.
The game marks the halfway point of the league season with the Lady Eagles sitting in third place with a 4-2 league record, 10-8 overall. Their only league losses coming at the hands of number one ranked Springfield, which stands at 17-1 overall and fourth ranked Crater at 14-4.
Boys basketball
The boys’ basketball team continues to struggle, dropping a pair of one-sided losses last week. The Eagles hosted Ashland where they dropped a 67-41 decision to the Grizzlies before traveling to Churchill where they fell 71-28 to the Lancers.
Wyatt Terpening led Eagle Point with eight points, all in the fourth quarter, while Wyatt Kirby added seven points and Logan Rund had six points. It was the Eagles 12th consecutive loss to leave them 0-6 after the first round of league play and 2-16 overall.
Wrestling
The Eagles wrestling team hosted rival Crater Jan. 28 where they dropped a 49-24 decision to the Comets. Crater dominated the upper weight classes. Of the five matches from 165 pounds to 285 pounds, Crater won four by fall and the fifth by a technical fall score of 25-9. Crater also won the lighter weights winning four out of five matches by fall. The lone exception was Luke Bray (113) who won by fall in just 1:41 whose six points made the score 34-6. The middle weight classes are where the Eagles soared. Thomas Wippel (138) won his match by a 6-3 decision, Nathan Mallari (144) won by fall in just 1:58, Ethan Metcalf (150) won by technical fall after dominating his opponent 16-0 and Sean McFall (157) closed out the night with a 10-1 decision.
The team then traveled to Clackamas for the Bill Geister Invitational where they finished first out of 25 teams as they accumulated 246.5 points, almost 50 more than their nearest competitor. The Eagles were led by first place winners Nathan Mallari (144), Gavin Pogue (165) and Colby Price (175). Sean McFall (157) and Issac De La Cruz (165) placed second, Ethan Metcalf (150) took third, Cash Nekouie (190) was fourth, Damian Amaral Perez (126) was fifth and Wesley Fitzgerald (106) placed sixth to round out the team scoring.
