High School Sports Coverage
EUGENE – What does building a legacy mean to you? For Cottage Grove track star Carter Bengtson, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. After breaking the 31-year-standing Sky-Em district meet record — as well as his own school record set earlier this year — in the 3000m, Bengtson has the opportunity to further cement his legacy next weekend at state.
“It’s gonna be fun, like we have our core group of four guys in the distance. This is basically what the state meet will be,” Bengtson said. “It’ll be fun to see these guys again, but I think we’re gonna drop some more time at state.”
PLEASANT HILL – After an up-and-down start through non-league play, the Pleasant Hill Billies girls basketball team found itself on a three-game winning streak heading into Friday’s game against Oakland. Despite trailing by 9 points at halftime, the Billies dominated the second half to win 41-29.
The Billies outscored the Oakers 11-2 in the third quarter, and 14-3 in the fourth. Billies coach Paxton Miller said the comeback was all about the players’ competitive spirit.
It was a clash of the titans last Wednesday night as the final two undefeated girls volleyball teams in Class 3A faced off.
The Valley Catholic Valiants took on the Pleasant Hill Billies in a five-set match that saw the Billies win 3-2 (25-21, 26-24, 15-25, 20-25, 15-12).
The sixth-ranked Pleasant Hill Billie girls faced off against No. 11 Nyssa on Saturday afternoon, falling 33-22. With a strong defensive effort for both teams, the Billies’ offense was unable to break through to take the lead.
The Pleasant Hill Billies volleyball team has had the Creswell Bulldogs’ number this season, sweeping the Bulldogs in both of the matches they’ve played. As both teams advanced last Saturday night, they’ll face off in the quarterfinals early Friday morning for a third and final time.
THURSTON – The Thurston Colts boys basketball team – riding high on a 12-game winning streak – went into Saturday’s playoff game against No. 15 Centennial blazing hot. They did not expect the Eagles to be equally en fuego.
The higher-seeded Colts trailed most of the game due to the Eagles’ strong effort, but Thurston was able to edge out Centennial 50-48, extending the winning streak to 13 and securing their ticket to the Class 5A state tournament at McMinnville this weekend.
EUGENE—In Thurston’s final test before the postseason, it traveled to Willamette to take on the 7-1 Wolverines. Last week, Thurston coach Justin Starck stressed the importance of beating Willamette, stating, “That’s all that matters.”
Unfortunately for Starck and the Colts, the team stumbled out of the gate. Thurston gave up three unanswered touchdowns and the Wolverines led 23-0 at halftime. Things improved in the second half, but Thurston still lost 23-15.
PLEASANT HILL – After losing in the quarterfinals the past two years, the Pleasant Hill Billies were facing a familiar foe Friday – fifth-ranked Sisters – and ended up winning 4-1 and advancing to the state semifinals for the first time since 2019.
“That was a big hump to get off our backs,” Billies coach Johnny Bowden said. “We’ve been struggling in the quarterfinals; we’ve been on the road a lot in the quarterfinals. We kind of made a commitment that every game was important this year because we wanted to host home playoff games, and honestly I think it paid off.”
CRESWELL – The Bulldogs girls basketball team continues to have Harrisburg’s number this season as they earned their second 20+ point win over the Eagles with a final score of 66-39 last Friday. Creswell’s defense was stout, turning Harrisburg turnovers into easy looks on the other end all night.
“We try and play harder than anyone else,” Creswell coach Tyler Hollingsworth said. “We want to put pressure on everyone. So we use that as almost like an offensive catalyst, so we try and get into people early and make them feel uncomfortable. Our girls have bought in – they’re probably one of the hardest-playing groups I’ve coached in the last couple years.”
CRESWELL – Last season the Creswell Bulldogs football team marched into rival Pleasant Hill’s home and won 14-7 in a rain-soaked rivalry win. This season the Billies returned the favor, winning 27-14 at Creswell last Friday night – eliminating Creswell from playoff contention while keeping their postseason hopes alive with their 4th win of the season.
“Rivalry wins are always fun, and so special for the kids just being in two small towns. I’m super happy for our kids,” said Pleasant Hill head coach Jeremiah Heacock, who claimed his first win in the rivalry series in his second year at the helm.
The Pleasant Hill Billies girls basketball team took care of business on Friday night, crushing the Creswell Bulldogs 44-21. For the Billies, it was a particularly great showing on the defensive end as they notched a plethora of turnovers and held the Bulldogs to just five points in the first half.
“The past week or two, the message to our players has been (that) we do play a solid 2-3 zone. We have a lot of length, we have a lot of girls that will go get a rebound and that’s all great, but there does come a point where you’ve gotta be able to play straight up five-on-five man-to-man,” Pleasant Hill head coach Paxton Miller said. “…So I thought tonight was our best effort of the season of flying around, jumping to the basketball, getting in passing lanes and making multiple efforts defensively.”
PLEASANT HILL – Friday night’s homecoming game was a big night for Pleasant Hill as it faced its crosstown rival, Creswell. The Billies were not very gracious hosts, blanking the Bulldogs 36-0.
The victory was due in large part to freshman running back Kai Davis, who rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown.
PLEASANT HILL – Anna Baltrusch, one of the most-decorated high school girls volleyball coaches in Oregon during her tenure at Creswell High School, said she was often beset with one question from boys.
“Boys forever would ask me, ‘Why can’t we play volleyball? Why isn’t there a league for us?’” Baltrusch said. “Even at the club level rarely have we had an all-boys team. My daughters are in their 40s now, and for that length of time there has hardly been even any boys club teams in this area.
CRESWELL – It might have been the quintessential high school basketball doubleheader last Tuesday at Creswell High School – particularly if you’re supporting the Pleasant Hill Billies boys and girls teams, who won their games in the Bulldogs’ gym.
On the first stormy Friday night lights of the season, the Thurston Colts took their home field for the final time in the regular season to take on the South Eugene Axe. The Colts raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead and finished with a 42-0 win, moving to 5-2 on the season and bringing them one game closer to their sixth-straight league title.
JUNCTION CITY – The Cottage Grove Lions boys basketball team went into Friday night winless in Sky-Em League play at 0-2. Looking to secure their first league win, the Lions traveled to Junction City to face the Tigers.
COTTAGE GROVE – The threat was real.
The undefeated Cottage Grove Lions, playing in Class 3A after moving from Class 4A, were riding high when Sisters came to town last Friday. However, they finished the first half of the game with only 8 points and trailed the Outlaws by 5 points.
Instead of panicking, coach Steven Turner and his team outscored Sisters 20-6 in the second half and won 28-19.
CRESWELL – After losing their first battle against Coquille to open the season, the Creswell Bulldogs girls avenged that loss Saturday night, winning 61-41 to advance to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. According to head coach Tyler Hollingsworth, the win was a testament to how far the team has come since their first game.
SPRINGFIELD – The No. 4 Springfield Millers were riding high as they went into halftime up 13-0 against the No. 13 Lebanon Warriors in the first round of the state playoffs. Springfield’s lead soon vanished however, as Lebanon scored all of 14 of its points in consecutive offensive plays in the first three minutes of the second half, finishing with a final score of 14-13.
CRESWELL – With only three games remaining in the 2023 season, Creswell Bulldogs head coach Scott Worsham is looking ahead to competing in the final games – an outlook one might expect after a 41-6 loss to Sisters this past Friday, the team’s fifth straight defeat.
“I told them there’s three weeks left, let’s make those the best three weeks of the season,” said Worsham, who said he’s optimistic the Bulldogs can finish out strong. “Let’s keep coming out and working hard. If I were a senior, I’d want to come out here and just play hard; the window of time playing football is closing, so let’s make the most of it.”