Page eight

photos by Chris JohnsonMorton/White Pass senior Kylon Gillispie scored seven points in their first game of the season.

Vikings win two of three; Wolves win openerby Chris Johnson East County Journal

Mossyrock won two of their three games last week with two more slated this week.

In Napavine the Vikings won their league opener 60-48 last Tuesday night.

The Tigers outscored Mossyrock by three points in both the first and third quar-ters, but the Vikings domi-nated the second and fourth quarters for the 12-point win.

“We got off to a pretty sluggish start on both ends of the floor,” Coach Dustin Workman said. “In the sec-ond half we were able to pick up the defensive intensity and create some easy opportuni-ties in transition to get us go-ing. When we are running the floor, we can be pretty good at times.”

Freshman Jaron Kirkley led the Vikings with 23 points and 20 rebounds.

“What can you say about the kid?” Workman asked. “Jaron comes to work each and every day, and he can really lead some of our guys by example. His work ethic is never ending, and I think that shows by his play on the glass. He’s definitely not your average freshman, that’s for sure.”

Kyler Hazen added 15 points with Ryley Stanley adding nine and Shaun Ste-phens eight.

“Kyler had a great first half (scoring 14 pts),” Workman said. “Offensively, he was aggressive, looked to score, and really helped us trudge through the sluggish start. We need that type of aggres-siveness on the offensive end from him on a nightly basis.”

The Vikings shot 38 per-cent for the game (21 of 56) and made 12 of 20 free throws. Napavine was 17 of 50 (34 percent) from the floor and converted 12 of 22 free tosses (.545).

“It was just nice to go on the road and get an early season victory,” Workman said. “In this league, each and every night is a battle. So to go on the road against a good Napavine team and come away with a win, we have to be happy with that, but also get back to work.”

On Thursday hosting Onalaska, the Vikings lost by a single point 54-53.

“It was your typical Central 2B League game,” Workman said. “High intensity, a great atmosphere, and two pretty good teams duking it out. In the end, a few bounces and whistles didn’t go our way, and we came up on the short end of the stick.”

Onalaska led 12-11 after one and 27-20 at the break.

“I was really proud of the effort that our kids put out on the defensive end,” Workman said. “Anytime you play a team coached by Coach (Dennis) Bower, you know they are going to take care of the ball and play great defense. We were able to pressure them and come away with 16 steals.”

Just four Vikings scored in the game with Hazen scoring a season-high 22 points and Kirkley 16. Stephens added 10 and Tristan Watson five.

“Kyler did a real nice job,” Workman said. “He’s one of those guys that can really set the tone for the rest of the team. When he gets going, things can really roll for him. He stepped up and hit some big shots for us down the stretch when we needed them. Jaron just continues to play consistently every night. He works so hard every min-ute of every game. He’s doing everything we ask him to do and then some, and it just seems that every night he gets better and better.”

Mossyrock shot 37 percent for the game (22 of 60) while

Wednesday, December 12, Twenty-TwelveSports

the Loggers connected for 42 percent (22 of 53). Each team made 50 percent from the foul line.

On Saturday, the Vikings downed Rochester for the second time this season 70-47.

“It was a nice win for us,” Workman said. “From the opening tip, the effort on the defensive end was there from everyone. We did a great job of pressuring the ball, get-ting deflections, and causing turnovers.”

Mossyrock led 24-10 after a quarter and outscored the Warriors in every quarter.

“We’ve had a little trouble finishing in transition lately, but (in this game) we took care of that,” Workman said. “When we created turnovers, we converted most of them which was great to see. That’s something we need to continue to do if we are going to be successful.”

Stephens scored a season-best 21 points with Watson adding 17 points and Hazen 12. Kirkley added seven points and 10 rebounds, Al-len six points, Chace Nichols five, and Brandon Butler two. Mossyrock shot 63 percent for the game (27 of 43). The Warriors hit 18 of 46 field goals (39 percent).

“We have a lot of guys who can score on this team, and this was a great example of that,” Workman said. “It just seems like someone differ-ent is leading us each night. Tristan and Shaun both did excellent jobs of finishing and being aggressive attack-ing the basket. They are so long and athletic when they decide they are going to the basket they usually do. They both did a great job of finish-ing around the basket, and that’s what we need from them night in and night out.”

Mossyrock (3-1 overall, 1-1 league) played Morton/White Pass last night and they host Winlock tomorrow.Morton/WP boysThe Timberwolves finally

made their season debut af-ter a delay from playing in the state football champion-ship and beat Modbury from South Australia 63-31 on Saturday night.

Morton/White Pass led 32-9 at the half and won easily.

“For only having five practices it wasn’t too bad,” Coach Tony Gillispie said. “It could have been a lot worse. We’re not in basketball shape yet, but we did a good job of getting the ball up and down the floor. Defensively, we had a pretty good first half. I thought we caused a little bit of pressure with our defense so that was good.”

Freshman Kaleb Poquette scored 18 points in his high school debut on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor and 6 of 6 at the line. Kalen Dunlap added 16, with Zach Counts (team-high nine

rebounds), Kylon Gillispie and Jesse Eveland all getting seven points apiece and Brian Reynolds three. Zach Walton made one free throw.

“I’ve been stressing de-fense, and that’s one of our big goals,” Gillispie said. “We had a little lapse in the second half and gave up 22 points. It’s hard to play with a big lead sometimes, and defense is usually the first thing that goes. Overall, we came out with good intensity and played better than antici-pated.”

The T-Wolves shot 35 percent for the game (20 of 58) and 56 at the line (14 of 25). They outrebounded the Australians 39-36, and turned the ball over just 11 times. Modbury was limited to 28 percent shooting (14 of 50).

“It was a good game for a first game,” Gillispie said. “It was good for us to get in a game like that because we have some tough games com-ing up.”

The Timberwolves (1-0 overall, 0-0 league) played at Mossyrock last night, will host Wahkiakum in Morton tomorrow, and on Saturday they’ll visit Rainier.

Mossyrock girlsThe Vikings won one of

their four games last week finishing the week with a win over Rochester.

They started the week with a 28-25 loss to the Rainier Mountaineers.

Mossyrock scored 22 first half points, but then were limited to three for the entire second half.

Against the Tigers from Napavine, the Vikings fell behind early and never led in their 73-33 loss.

The Tigers jumped ahead 15-1 before Mossyrock made a field goal and led 25-7 after a quarter. The Vikings went on a 12-0, three-minute run as Napavine missed five straight field goals. They drew to within five points at 29-24 with 1:48 left in the half. The Tigers scored the final seven points of the half and led 36-24.

“We gave up 25 points in the first quarter; that killed us,” Nelson said. “We made a great run in the second quar-ter to close the gap, but we had a rough second half.”

Napavine scored the first eight points of the third quarter (19 to 4 overall) and outscored the Vikings 37-9 in the second half.

Moorcroft scored 13 points and grabbed nine of Mossy-rock’s 19 rebounds.

“You can’t win ball games

when you don’t rebound,” Nelson said. “We were ex-cited about being able to gain some ground on a great team like Napavine in the second quarter. However, basketball games are 32 minutes long, not five or six. It is our hope that those few minutes of great defense showed the girls how good they can be.”

Calli Hensch scored eight points, Kylie Blackburn four, Tori Nelson three, Shayne Fried two and Kylee McCoy one. They shot 10 of 29 for the game (.345), and commit-ted 28 turnovers.

Demi Sahlinger scored 19 for the Tigers who finished 16 of 42 shooting (.381).

At Onalaska on Friday, the Vikings lost 54-26. The Log-gers scored in double figures in every quarter and limited Mossyrock to single digits.

“Our mission was to shut down Autumn Durand,” Nel-son said. “Mission definitely not accomplished. No one seemed to have the desire to play great defense. Her teammates did a great job of setting her up and getting her the ball. We did nothing to stop it.”

Durand finished with 30 of the 54 Onalaska points. They shot 39 percent for the game (23 of 59).

Moorcroft was one of three scorers for Mossyrock scor-ing 17 points to go with eight rebounds. Hensch added seven points and Fried two. The Vikings were held to 26 percent shooting from the floor (10 of 38).

On Saturday night in Mossyrock, the Vikings picked up their first win on the season with a 39-34 decision over the Rochester Warriors.

“Rochester was short-handed, and we took advan-tage,” Nelson said. “We start-ed off a little slow and didn’t adjust to their defense. But in the second half, we were able to get them in foul trouble. This was the first night we had people step up and score some points. Tori (Nelson) knocked down some big shots (nine points), as did Shayne (eight points). Kylee (Mc-Coy) played great defense. She and Ginny (Quinlan) re-

ally worked their point guard. She was worn out and was forced to take a lot of jump-ers. We desperately needed a win, and we got one. It was a team effort and that makes us the most proud.”

Moorcroft scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, with Hensch scoring eight and Quinlan four. They shot 30 percent (14 of 46) for the game.

Mossyrock (1-4 overall, 0-2 league) plays at Morton/White Pass tonight in Morton and hosts Winlock on Friday.

Morton/WP girlsThe Timberwolves won

two of their three games last week.

The week began in Adna with a 62-29 win over the Pirates.

The Timberwolves out-scored Adna by at least eight points in every quarter. Lina Hieronymi led the way scor-ing 22 points. Ashley Kelly and Whitney Elledge each added 11, with Darian Atkin-son scoring eight. Christine Robbins scored four and Madison King two. They shot 27 of 45 from the floor (.600) with the young Pirates shoot-ing 33 percent (13 of 39). Nei-ther team made a free throw in the game as Morton/White

Pass was 0 for 3 and Adna missed their lone attempt.

“I thought that we played very well,” Coach Darin Al-len said. “The girls are start-ing to see that we have to play without turning the ball over. Whit, Darian, and Ashley played very well. Lina scored well. I was impressed with the guards only having two turnovers with 13 assists.”

In Pe Ell on Friday, the T-Wolves trailed 31-28 at the half and were outscored 37-29 in the second half losing 68-57.

“We played them very tough on the road,” Allen said. “We did a good job handling their press. Our goal was to play them tough on the road. We are doing a good job learning the system, and we will be tough down the stretch. Ashley and Darian played very well along with Whit.”

Kelly scored 20 points with Atkinson adding 17 (5 of 9 three-pointers). Hieronymi scored nine, Robbins six, and Elledge five. They shot 49 percent for the game, but at-tempted just 35 shots making 17. They were 14 of 24 from the line.

Alissa Brooks-Johnson led Pe Ell with 25 points and eight rebounds, with Sami Robinson getting 19 points. The Trojans were 19 of 44 from the field (43 percent), and made 37 trips to the free throw line making 24 (65 percent). Pe Ell forced 22 turnovers and outrebounded the Timberwolves 47-17.

Morton/White Pass played Modbury from Adelaide, Australia on Saturday night and needed a Hieronymi bucket as time expired for the 35-34 win.

“That was a big win,” Al-len said. “We won ugly, and I would rather win ugly than lose pretty. The girls battled for the win, and Lina hit a game-winner. I think that we were tired from the Pe Ell game (the night before). A win is a win, and we have a huge week ahead of us to get to 3-1 in league. That is what we are looking for.”

Elledge led the T-Wolves with 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Hieronymi and Kelly each scored eight, with Atkinson adding five and Samantha Eveland one. They were 12 of 58 (.207) from the floor. Modbury made 18 of 42 field goals (.429) and out-rebounded the hosts 54-31.

Morton/White Pass (2-2 overall, 1-1 league) hosts Mossyrock tonight in Morton and Wahkiakum on Friday in Randle.

MWP Football BanquetThe Morton/White Pass football banquet will be held

this Sunday (Dec. 16) afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Morton High School Gymnasium. The banquet will be a potluck and is open to the public. The T-Wolves high school team, runner-up in the state, will be honored along with the the cheerleaders and junior high football team.

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Mossyrock junior Shaun Stephens puts up a shot against Onalaska last week in their one-point loss.

Mossyrock senior Autumn Moorcroft looks to pass the ball against Napavine last week.

December 12, 2012 - East County Journal - page 7

by Chris Johnson East County Journal

MWP’s Powell named MVP in Central League

photos by Chris JohnsonMorton/White Pass junior Ben Powell wrestles down a Napavine runner this year in Randle.

After leading his team to a second straight state champi-onship game, Morton/White Pass junior defensive end Ben Powell (6-0, 200 lbs) was named the defensive most valuable player in the Central 2B League.

Powell was in on 97 tackles (three games in double figures) for the Timberwolves’ defense that allowed 5.1 points and less than 110 yards per game. He also recorded 7.5 sacks for 71 yards, to go with four fumble recoveries, and a blocked punt. Offensively, he was a first team selection as a tight end catching a team-high 20 passes for 360 yards, and was fourth on the team scor-ing 10 touchdowns.

“I’ve had several coaches tell me after the game that they had to set up a specific game plan to either (a) get Ben blocked or (b) make sure they don’t run to his side,” Timberwolves’ coach Aaron Poquette said. “That tells you a lot about what kind of player Ben is, when offenses are game-planning against him, and he still had some of the numbers that he had. He’s a great football player, a great kid, and I’m real proud of him.”

Powell was joined on the first team defense by senior defensive lineman Ben Wright (6-2, 260 lbs), junior linebacker Gianni Bertucci (5-10, 165 lbs), and junior defensive back Rylon Kolb (5-10, 165 lbs).

2012-13 Mossyrock Girls Basketball / Coaches: Tori Nelson (first year), Wayne Nelson and Julianne Mc-Curry / front row left to right: Meghan Trombley, Ginny Quinlan, Megan Blackburn, Kylee McCoy, Clementine Schultz, Tori Nelson, Cali Kaech. Back row: Rylee Hendricks-Young, Tessa Lamping, Randi Smith, Shayne Fried, Autumn Moorcroft, Calli Hensch, Kelsie Moorcroft, Kylie Blackburn, McKenzie Ripley, and Ashley Brown. Not pictured: Anna Harper.

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Wright, a three-year starter, was in on 69 tackles this season and recorded two sacks. He was also a first team offensive selection from his left tackle posi-tion and was a main cog in the line that blocked for the Morton/White Pass running game that amassed 3,115 yards on the ground on 435 carries (7.16 ave) and 52 touchdowns.

“Ben was solid on both sides of the ball,” Poquette said. “He’s the guy when-ever we needed to get a few short yards that we’d often-times run behind him. And way more times than not we were successful. He’s a good kid, and he worked hard. He was a leader on that offen-sive front. He’ll be missed

next year for sure.”Bertucci recorded 35 solo

tackles and assisted on 62 others for the Timberwolves. He was named on the first team as a return specialist, and a second team running back. He returned 16 punts averaging 23 yards per attempt, and fielded five kickoffs averaging 35 yards. Offensively, he rushed 59 times for 559 yards (10.96 ave), and caught 14 passes for 419 yards (29.9 ave). He was consistent throughout the year scoring in 12 of their 13 games, and finished with 17 touchdowns and 102 points.

“Gianni was one of those guys who always makes plays from the outside line-backer spot,” Poquette said. “He does well dropping into coverage or with run support. He played through injuries, and I’m sure glad he’s on our team and not the other team.”

Kolb intercepted three passes and blocked two punts, while finishing with 30 solo tackles and 31 as-sists. He was also named the first team quarterback throwing for 1,164 yards on 59 of 105 passing and 18 touchdowns. He ran 73 times for 248 yards and 11 TDs. He also caught one pass for 24 yards and an-other touchdown.

“As a defensive back Rylon was as steady as they come,” Poquette said. “He almost became a shutdown corner for us. He didn’t get thrown at very often, but when they did he was always there making plays. Offensively, I thought he

came a long way this year at quarterback. He progressed nicely from last year, and we were able to do a little bit more in the passing game. He started to get a real good grasp of what we were trying to do with the pass routes. He’s a good leader of the offense, and I’m proud of him for getting selected first team.”

Second team defensive selections for Morton/White Pass were senior linebacker Spencer Seymer (team-lead-ing 99 tackles, one fumble, one blocked punt), junior lineman Zach Counts (59 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two fum-ble recoveries), junior line-backer Brian Reynolds (91 tackles, interception, three fumble recoveries, blocked punt, blocked field goal), and junior defensive back Kalen Dunlap (29 tackles, interception).

The Timberwolves also picked up four honorable mention defensive selections in senior defensive back Ty-ler Barnett (66 tackles, team-leading five interceptions), senior defensive back Jeff Fenbert (60 tackles, fumble recovery, blocked PAT), junior lineman Tommy Sea-man (60 tackles, three sacks, two fumble recoveries), and junior linebacker Bryson Goble (55 tackles).

Reynolds was also a first-team selection as a running back. He rushed 153 times for 1,389 yards (9.1 ave), with 23 touchdowns. He caught nine passes for 83 yards and another touch-down, and also threw a 24-yard touchdown on his lone completion of the season.

“I thought Brian was a sure-fire first teamer,” Po-quette said. “He runs the ball hard and plays football with heart and determina-tion. He’s one of those rare running backs that can lower his head and get you some yards up the middle, or he also has the speed outside to break one for a long gain or a touchdown. He has the rare mix of speed and power and it showed this year for us.”

Counts was also a sec-ond team selection for the Timberwolves on the offen-sive line.

Honorable mention selec-tions on offense for Morton/White Pass were junior line-men Seaman and Tanner St. Clair, and senior running back Seymer (43 carries, 267 yards, two touchdowns).

“I was proud of each

Timberwolves’ senior Ben Wright (above) was first team all-league on both offense and defense, and junior Gianni Bertucci (below) was first team on de-fense and as a return specialist.

Morton/White Pass junior running back Brian Reyn-olds (above) and quarterback Rylon Kolb (below) were both honored as first team picks in the Central 2B League.

Mossyrock wide receiver Cody Shriver was a first-team selection in the Central 2B League.

and every one of the guys recognized,” Poquette said. “They deserved what they got, and they took us a long way this season. Those se-niors are going to be hard to replace. The leadership that they provided set the stage for the next several years of MWP football. The guys that are coming back I look for them to get even better next year.”

Mossyrock was repre-sented on the first team defense by senior linebacker Tuff Walker (5-10, 200 lbs, 155 tackles, 82 solo, 14.1 per game, two sacks). Senior lineman Riley Spahn (75 tackles) was a second team selection, with sophomore linebacker Logan Goot-geld (100 tackles, 52 solo) earning honorable mention honors.

“I believe Tuff’s numbers were probably the best in the league,” Coach Curt Spahn said. “With us getting fifth in the league it would be tough to give him MVP honors. He had a really outstanding year defensively. He has severe asthma so we just used him on defense. He put together a great season, and he was definitely the leader for our defense.”

“Riley was a big kid and a solid player,” Spahn said. “A lot of times he was double-teamed and at times I even saw him triple-teamed, and that says a lot in itself. He had solid numbers defen-sively.”

Senior wide receiver Cody Shriver was the lone first team offensive selection for Mossyrock. He caught 29 passes for 256 yards (three TDs), and rushed 49 times for 470 yards and five TDs.

“Cody filled our H-back spot really well running

and catching the ball,” Spahn said. “We actually incorporated him at fullback this year to block for Kyler (Hazen). He was definitely a multidimensional player.”

Junior running back Ha-zen (1,368 yards rushing, 5.56 ave, 21 rushing TDs, 25 total) and senior offensive lineman Ricky Munoz were second team selections, with lineman Spahn and quarter-back Shaun Stephens (911 yards passing, 10 TDs, 626 yards rushing, 4 TDs) being honorable mention picks.

“Kyler was outstanding and a workhorse,” Spahn said. “The kid ran hard. There were times that he got hit hard, bounced right back up and was ready to run again.”

Wahkiakum coach Eric Hansen was the coach of the year in the Central 2B, and Mules’ quarterback Lars Blix was the most valuable player on offense.

Mossyrock senior linebacker Tuff Walker led the Cen-tral 2B League with 155 tackles last season.

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page 6- East County Journal - December 12, 2012

2012-13 Mossyrock Boys Basketball / Coaches: Dustin Workman (third year), Joel Garrison, Brad Allen, and Jonah Bradley / front row left to right: Timmy Allen, Rylen Hurd, Kade Senter, Hunter Fuchs, Bryant Bowman, Fidel Ortiz, Brandon Butler, Mac Dunlap, and Jacob Turner. Back row: Brett Callies, Josh Church, Ryan Donahue, Shaun Stephens, Tristan Watson, Kyler Hazen, Jaron Kirkley, Lucas Allen, Ryley Stanley. Not pictured: Chace Nichols.

2012-13 Morton/White Pass Girls Basketball / Coaches: Darin Allen (first year), Bob Dow and Tom Griffith / front row left to right: Jesseeka Hughes, Haley Kolb, Colby Armstrong, Madison King, Kylie Allen, Whitney Elledge, Darian Atkinson, Kerrie Harper. Back row: Taylor Brooks, Ashley Kelly, Christine Robbins, Samantha Eveland, Lina Heironymi, Sam Rice, Brook Squires, Sharon Hazen, and Tatym Smathers.

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2012-13 Morton/White Pass Boys Basketball / Coaches: Tony Gillispie (Eighth year), Chad Cramer and Kevin Dunlap / front row left to right: Alex Hirte-Uhlorn, Manual Miguelez, Derrick Erskine, Donovan Guz-man, Uriah Osborne, JC Morris, Tanner St. Clair, and Kevyn Murdock. Middle row: Michael Black, Rocco Ber-tucci, James Sword, Gage LeClef, Michael Kiehn, Bryce Collette, Kolby Dunlap, Cody Rolfe, Braiden Elledge, Jacob Weber. Back row: Ben Wright, Zach Hanson, Kalen Dunlap, Kylon Gillispie, Kaleb Poquette, Zach Counts, Zach Walton, Jesse Eveland, Rylon Kolb, Austin Coleman, and Brian Reynolds.

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