Lady Falcons Roll to 3-0 Record, Seize #1 Ranking in 4A

Junior pitcher Maranda Hanson fired 8 strikeouts in a workmanlike, strong performance as the Elmira softball team cruised to a 6-1 non-league road victory over Creswell.  The victory after two previous in the week, propelled the Lady Falcons to the #1 ranking in 4A for softball.

Despite the fact that game was close through 5 innings, Elmira never seemed to be out of control in a a game they never trailed.  This was even during Creswell's only real threat mounted in the 4th inning.  After being staked to a 2-0 lead on three Lady Bulldog errors, Creswell rallied against Hanson, who had pitched three innings of no-hit ball.  A lead off double, an infield hit, and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs.  Hanson settled down and struck out the next batter, surrendered a single run on a fielder's choice ground out, and then struck out the final batter of the inning to snuff out the rally and hold the lead.  Creswell would not threaten again.

The Lady Falcons' bats were slow to warm up, aided by some questionable umpiring that vexed both teams.  However, Elmira erupted in the sixth inning when they got a run on a lead off homer by Ashley Feltz who crushed a line drive deep over the left field fence.  After a walk and a hit batter, Carly Grossmiller cashed both runners in with a sharp 2-run single to make it 5-1.  Feltz played add on in the 7th, when she rapped an RBI single, scoring Cheyanne White who led off the last inning with a hard double.

The story of the game though wound up being Hanson's complete control of the game.  After putting down the Creswell rally, she gave up no hits, scattering two in the game.  Hanson was 17 of 25 on first pitch strikes and has 24 strike outs already this season. 

The Lady Falcons will participate in the Sandy Softball Tournament next week.  Any parents who are attending the tournament feel free to share photos for publication and photo credits.

Rough Start for Falcon's Baseball

The Falcons game against Hidden Valley High School was cancelled after the bus that was driving the team en route lost control and crashed through a fence and into a tree shortly after leaving Elmira High School.  The driver and one student were transported to a local hospital.  According to head baseball coach Ryan Wolgamott, there were enough minor injuries that the game at Pleasant Hill could not be played because of an insufficient number of players.  Several players will be out for tomorrow's game at North Valley.  Athletic Director Brian Brands suggested that they might make up the game while they were down south at Grant's Pass.  

This was as the Falcon's were seeking to rebound from a moribund season last year.

"Our outlook is good when healthy.," said Wolgamott in an email.  "I expect us to be much improved over last year's 3-19 team that went winless in league.  I believe we
have the potential to finish around .500 in league and challenge for a
playoff spot."

Elmira returns 9 players from last year's team including Gavin Parker and C.J. Smith, both who were second team all conference in the 4A Sky-Em.  

Mixed results on 2019 Boys Hoops Campaign

"I know our boys are disappointed that we didn’t make one of the playoff spots," said Falcon's head basketball coach Nick Garman in and email.  "But I’m not disappointed in them at all."  Garman's enthusiasm on a 9-13 (3-7 in the 4A Sky-Em conference) was based on the Falcons previous year.  

"We were 0-10 in league the year before and we really only returned three kids off that team," Garman explained.  "So we started over in a way and finished 9-13 overall, a pretty dramatic improvement."

Starting Falcons' center, 6-7 Jacob Marr towers above Junction City opponents for a rebound in Elmira's game against the Tigers Tuesday, February 5 at Elmira High School.  Photo by Michelle Ossowski.

The 2019-20 version of the Falcons will move on without starting point guard Paul Ossowski, and loose some length with the graduations of Keegan Cook and Jaden Palmer.  Also moving on will be sixth man  Riley Chambers.

There is evidence that the progress made this season will not be a one season aberration.  Starters Christian Davis and Jacob Marr return this year.  Davis showed flashes of devastating offense but also had periods where his shot abandoned him.  Defensively he is long and aggressive.  Marr will be a junior and with a year of being a starter in the rugged Sky-Em conference, he will be ready to up his game which at times seemed unstoppable.  However, the 6-7 sophomore needed work defensively and sometimes struggled against offensively versatile centers.

Junior wing Christian Davis scores against two defenders in the Falcons' victory over the Vikings, Tuesday February 12.
Photo by Michelle Ossowski

Others playing a key role next year will be Gannon Harpole, 6-5 Cobyn Herbert, Mason Smart and Keaton Warner, as well as JV players Jacob Admire and Josiah Hernandez.

6-5 sophomore Cobyn Herbert battles two Siuslaw defenders for a rebound in the Falcons' 23 point blow out Tuesday February 12. Photo by Michelle Ossowski

The real revelation of the season was the ascension of Bryson Forsman during the last third of the season.  Not big or long, Forsman nonetheless became a vital scoring weapon for the Falcons down the stretch including a 25 point outburst in a victory against Junction City.  It will be interesting to see how coach Garman utilizes him next year.  Forsman's real contribution was an almost frenetic and fearless energy.  Smaller than most front liners, Forsman would courageously take forays into the paint, attacking the opponent's rim.  He also has a competent outside game to complement his aggression and, despite his size, he is a frustrating defender. 

Bryson Forsman shoots a three pointer off a screen by Riley Chambers in Elmira's big win over Siuslaw, Tuesday, February 12 at Elmira High School.  

"It probably seemed like Bryson did come out of nowhere," Garman commented.  "But that was mainly due to a lingering illness that kept him out of most of the first two weeks of the season. He then had to play catch-up in a couple of ways. One, he had to get in basketball shape and was two weeks behind in some ways and two, he had to learn our system and style of play as a transfer kid. He is an excellent penetrator, a decent three-point shooter and an above average pull-up jump shooter. He improved a lot defensively and is an excellent rebounder, especially for his size. He is a pretty tenacious kid. 

All this portends an even more successful season for Elmira Hoops in 2020.

Injury Halts McDougal's Championship Quest

On the verge of being a dominant factor in girl's 4A wrestling in only her freshman year, Anna McDougal's season ended suddenly just 1 minute and 29 seconds into the )SAA Girls Championship wrestling match at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Saturday night, February 24. 

Elmira freshman Anna McDougal is declared victor in a match earlier this season.  McDougal was the state runner up in the girls division.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

"She (Hood Valley senior Grace Miller) had me on my back," described McDougal.  "I was arching to get a reversal and that's when it happened, like a stinger."  The sudden paralysis in her arms turned the festive nature of the state championship tournament into a harrowing time of silence as McDougal was attended by paramedics on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital, McDougal's suspicion of a neck stinger was realized. 

"I had to wear a neck brace for a week," McDougal noted with disgust.

The loss in the championship round does nothing to lessen the astounding success of the youngster from Veneta.  All the freshman did was compile a 30-9 record in her first season.  This included a staggeringly dominant 26 pins.  McDougal has recovered nicely as of press time and that means three more seasons of strong showings going forward.  When asked if she thought she was going to win the championship match against Miller, McDougal only smiled coyly. 

Falcon Boys Make a Statement Against Siuslaw

At 5-13, no one is going to mistake the Siuslaw Vikings with the Golden State Warriors.  However, it was important for the Elmira Falcons basketball team to show that their resurrection from an 0-5 start wasn't a fluke and that with the second half of the conference schedule on tap, they still could find themselves in the upper tier of the 4A Sky-Em Conference.  The Falcons took a step in that direction by eventually dismantling hapless Siuslaw 70-44 at Elmira High School, Tuesday, January 22.

Elmira guard Bryson Forsman goes up to dunk on a breakway as the Falcons overwhelmed Siuslaw 70-44, Tuesday, January 22 at Elmira High School.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

On first glance of the statistics, Elmira's poor shooting under 40% would be a cause for concern.  However, the new strategy was clear: bombs away.  The Falcons chucked up a season high 66 shots, converting 26 of them.  Three players scored in double figures for the Falcons.  Jacob Marr who only scored 5 points in the first half, rebounded to finish with 16.

Christian Davis fires up a 12 foot jumper... one of his 14 shots on the night... in Elmira's 70-44 victory over Siuslaw, Tuesday, January 22 at Elmira High School.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

Keagan Cook and Christian Davis were the primary bombardiers though, firing up 27 shots between them and scoring 14 and 11 respectively.  Paul Ossowski chipped in 7 points and got to the line twice. 

6-6 Jacob Marr posts up for two of his 16 points in the Falcons 70-44 victory over Siuslaw, Tuesday January 22 at Elmira High School.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

The victory left the Falcons 7-9 (1-3 in conference play) going into a Friday night tilt on the road against 4th ranked Marshfield.  It is the first of three games on the road, including a non conference tilt with Crow, before starting the second half of the conference schedule.  A victory over the Pirates in Coos Bay would be a staggering, but not unrealistic, expectation for Head Coach Nick Garman's team.  Considering their start, and the quality of their improvement since the beginning of the year, the story is still yet to be written. 

ONE LITTLE VICTORY; THE GREATEST THAT CAN BE (apologies to the rock band Rush)

Led by Sydney Greene's 3 three pointers in the first half and an angry, tenacious defense, the Lady Falcons managed to hold off a plucky but over matched Siuslaw squad 36-34 at Elmira High School, Tuesday January 22.  The win broke an 11 game losing streak and raised the Falcons' record to a humble 3-13.

Lady Falcons senior Sydney Greene fires a three point shot from above the key in Elmira's 36-34 victory over Siuslaw, Tuesday January 22.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

However, Elmira almost let the Lady Vikings off the hook.  At one time holding a comfortable 8 point lead in the third quarter, the Lady Falcons found Siuslaw cutting into the lead with the help of a back court press and tenacious play by Brea Blankenship and 5-9 Gracie Freudenthal.  Both teams suffered from poor shooting and sloppy ball handling.

Elmira's Eden Blunt slashes to the basket in the Lady Falcons 36-34 victory over Siuslaw, Tuesday, January 22 at Elmira High School.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

The key to victory however was clear.  When Maranda Hanson was on the floor, the Lady Vikings simply didn't have easy lanes to the rack, with sophomore center collecting 4 blocked shots on the evening and redirecting the several more.

Falcons front line players Maranda Hanson and Alexis White battle Siuslaw's Mia Corrine for a rebound in Elmira's 36-34 victory over the Lady Vikings, Tuesday, January 22.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

The win over lowly Siuslaw doesn't reconcile a difficult, injury plagued season, but it does get them in the win column and end that treacherous 11 game string of futility.  The Lady Falcons need to covet the feeling because their next endeavor will be daunting as they travel to Coos Bay to play the #1 ranked team in the state, Marshfield on Friday night.

A WEEK OF WOE

Boys Basketball: Marrs Attacked

Sophomore post man, Jacob Marr had a breakout game, pounding inside and scoring 20 points and swatting 3 blocks on 8 of 16 shooting against Marist Catholic on Friday, January 11 at Elmira High School.  Mysteriously though, he played scant minutes in the fourth quarter.   The Falcons' inability to perimeter defend and the rest of the team's 7-17 shooting allowed Marist to rally to beat Elmira 47-35.

If the Marist game was a revelation for Marr, the Junction City game was a nightmare for him.  6-2 Tiger senior center, Cameron Gibson had a field day schooling the younger Marr in the art of post play, scoring virtually at will.  Gibson's 28 points allowed Junction City to rebound from a game that the Falcons seemingly had under control only to fall 57-51 at Junction City High School, Tuesday January 15.

Cottage Grove raced out to a 16-0 start on 9-12 shooting early and never trailed against Elmira  Marrs faced a triumvirate of Lion centers all 6-5 or taller.  Jasper Ferguson, Creed Lufkin, and 6-8 Shambay Trapp combined for 31 points in the Lions' 53-40 victory over the Falcons at Cottage Grove High School, Friday January 18.  Marrs had a horrid night shooting only 2 of 8, not getting to the foul line and having two of his shots redirected by the Leo's tri-towers.  Keegan Cook and Christian Davis scored 13 and 10 respectively for Elmira in the loss.

After rallying over the Christmas break from 0-5 to 6-6, the Falcons now find themselves 6-9 with a winnable game Tuesday night against the Vikings of Siuslaw.

Girls Basketball:Losing Streak Plummets to 11 Straight 

The Lady Falcons kept good company with the boys with consecutive losses to Marist, Junction City and Cottage Grove.  Short handed with Alexis White and Carly Grossmiller out, lost 51 -34 to Marist Friday January 11th in the conference opener for both schools.  

Grossmiller returned after a month recovering from a knee injury to suffer a dismal shooting night as the Lady Tigers mauled Elmira 67-33 at Junction City High School on Tuesday January 15. 

Alexis White returned to the line up and for much of the game the Falcons had the makings of a supreme upset over the 9-6 Lady Lions of Cottage Grove.  Though she struggled shooting, Grossmiller provoked the offense for the Falcons, getting to the free throw line 7 times.  Sydney Green also showed no shortage of aggressiveness, not only firing up 16 3-pointers, hitting on 5 of them but also getting a rare technical foul in the game.  Green led all scorers with 17.  A surprise contributor to the offense was Ashley Feltz who scored 10 points including 2 old fashioned plus 1 three point plays.   

Though the wins haven't testified to the effort and progress shown in the game against Cottage Grove, the intensity and crispness of the Lady Falcons has been improving now that the injury bug has been sequestered.  A tasty opportunity for victory lurks Tuesday January 22, as the 4-13 Siuslaw Lady Vikings come to Elmira off a grizzly 77-24 drubbing at the hands of Marshfield.