Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Sports at a Glance

All stories by Jean Schurman

Corvallis scores in final minutes to top Broncs

Darby runners set the pace at Corvallis

Blue Devils ‘deviled’ in second half

Stevensville tops Hamilton

Hamilton coach Randy Lint described the Hamilton/Corvallis boy’s soccer match as a non-stop effort for 80 minutes. The two teams played impressive defense for the entire game with neither side giving the other an advantage. But in the final minutes of the game, Corvallis scored and won the valley

Corvallis took 14 shots in the first half without success. At halftime, the team talked about getting the ball to the middle and making better shots according to coach Brock Hammill. “They have a good goalie and they have a good defense,” said Hammill. “We had to get the ball into the middle to make the shots.” Corvallis had the wind at their backs for the first half but Hamilton’s strong defense and their tough keeper, Nash Johnson, kept the ball out of the net. After the break, both teams stepped up their offense and their defense. Forward Cody Pearce took a cross from Drew Zeiler and shot the ball into the net at the 75-minute mark for the only goal of the game. “I was resigned to a tie,” said Hammill. “But we pulled it out. I thought we played a little better in the second half, and had a few more chances.”

Hamilton’s Nash Johnson makes a save during the Corvallis game against Hamilton. Shown are Corvallis’ Estes Bush (7), Hamilton’s Brant Selig (13), Aaron Jessop of Corvallis, Clint Crossman (5) and Hamilton’s keeper Johnson. Corvallis scored a goal to win the game. Jean Schurman photo.

Hammill said Daniel Morris had a great defensive game and was very pleased with his hard work on the back row. He was also pleased with Seth Pelky’s play. Pelky usually plays on the outside but was moved to the middle to help protect the goal.

Lint said he was disappointed for his Broncs because they worked hard. He thought Dace Moerkerke and Clint Crossman had good games and played tough.

“The good news is we get to play them again,” he said. “And now we kind of know what they’re like. We get over the disappointment and get on with it. We’re going in the right direction.”

Hamilton had 11 shots on goal and one corner kick. Corvallis took 22 shots on goal and had three corner kicks. Johnson had 16 saves for Hamilton and David Illgenfritz had five saves for Corvallis.

The Hamilton girls defeated Corvallis, 5-0. Bry Gordon scored the first two goals and Maria Zepeda the last two of the game. Casey Schifflett also scored. Hamilton had 17 shots on goal while Corvallis had 12 shots. Hamilton used two keepers in the game. Ali Stahl had four saves and Sam Pederson had five.

“We had some good passing today,” said Greg Schifflett, coach of the Hamilton girls. “In the second half we put some people in some places they weren’t used to and it kind of broke down a little.”

Hamilton topped Frenchtown on Saturday to hold on to first place in the Southwest A conference. It was Gordon again who scored the first goal for Hamilton. She knocked in the goal at the six-minute mark. She hit the second goal off a penalty kick nine minutes later. Schifflett and Gordon scored again in the second half for the 4-1 win.

The Hamilton boys defeated Frenchtown, 5-1, scoring four goals in the second half. Ethan Selig had the first goal off a Hans Fischer assists. Fischer started the scoring in the second half with a goal five minutes into the half. Also scoring were Nick Recht, Justin Heath and Recht again.

In other soccer action, the Stevensville boys tied Valley Christian, 2-2, on Thursday.

Darby runners set the pace at Corvallis In spite of not being at the best of health, two Darby Tiger runners clocked fast times and came away with the top spot for the boys and the girls at the Corvallis Invitational on Saturday. Corvallis won the team scoring for the boys and Hamilton took first for the girls. Heather Demorest topped a field of 46 runners with a time of 19:16 to take first for the girls. That was 30 seconds faster than second place Olivia Wood of Anaconda. Seth Garbett ran the three-mile course in 15:59. Second was Chris Jessop of Corvallis with 16:29. Coach Steve Gideon of Darby said both ran with specific goals to work on during the race. Demorest was to work on getting out fast and maintaining the speed. She held a commanding lead throughout the race. Garbett worked on the middle of the race and maintaining his pace through that part of the run.

Misha Trotter of Hamilton and Annie Jessop of Corvallis round a turn at the Corvallis Cross Country Invitational. Trotter finished third and Jessop fourth in the event. Jean Schurman photo.

“We were pretty sick this week,” said Gideon. “With homecoming and trying to get in the groove of school, kids were coming down with colds and cough.”

With the commanding performances put on by Demorest and Garbett, Gideon feels his top runners are right on schedule but said they do need to work on different aspects of their race before state. In addition, the two are great leaders for the rest of the Tiger running crew.

“Corvallis is really coming on,” said Gideon. “They have more runners and are able to bring in more. We have a small school with not many kids. Every kid out here wants to be here.”

Corvallis’ Chris Jessop has been improving each week. Spencer Fehr has also stepped up for the Blue Devils, as has Chase Stoker. The duo finished fourth and fifth respectively on Saturday. Annie Jessop and Megan Auch finished fourth and sixth for Corvallis.

Hamilton has the numbers but not the experience according to coach Mark Albert, especially the boys. “Our girls are deep. Misha Trotter had a great run, Maureen Palmersheim didn’t do as well as we hoped but she did have a PR (personal record),” said Albert.

Girls

Team scores – Hamilton 43, Corvallis 62, Anaconda 73, Dillon 88.

Top 20 individuals – 1. Heather Demorest, Dar, 19.16; 2. Olivia Wood, Ana, 19:46; 3. Misha Trotter, Ham, 20.04; 4. Annie Jessop, Cor, 20:45; 5. Maureen Palmershim, Ham, 20:49; 6. Megan Auch, Cor, 21.20; 7. Dara Anderson, Ana, 21.22; 8. Sara Del Rae, Ham, 21:41; 9. Jill Harmon, Ham, 22:02; 10. Cheyenne Oliver, Dar, 22:03. 11. Heather Handy, Cor, 22:21; 12. Ellen Hollifield, Dil, 22:34. 13. Kenzee Gray, Dru, 22:37; 14, Bridgette Oberweiser, Dru, 22-42; 15. Katie Hawkins, Dil, 22:43; 16. Abbi Morgan, Dil, 22:48, 17. Paige Squire, Cor, 22:59; 18, Sara Amish, Ham, 23.04; 19. Caitlin Sullerier, Ana, 23.25; 20. Jennalynn Apedail, Ham, 23.39.

Boys

Team Scores – Corvallis 35, Darby 51, Anaconda 81, Dillon 87, Hamilton 90

Top 20 Individuals

1. Seth Garbett, Dar, 15:59; 2. Chris Jessop, Cor, 16:29; 3. Doug Raymer, Dar, 16:48; 4. Spencer Fehr, Cor 17:41; 5. Chase Stoker, Cor, 17:44; 6. Cameron Harder, Ham, 17:52; 7. Sean Abrahamsen, Dar, 18:01; 8. Cramer Clark, Ana, 18:01; 9. Sean Hansen, Dar, 18:15; 10. Jared Noyd, Ana, 18:19; 11. Emmett Stoker, Cor, 18:20; 12. Collin Johns, Ham, 18:55; 13. Devan Williams, Cor, 18:58; 14. Kody Drokels, Ana, 19:02; 15. Morgan Larson, Dil, 19:098; 16. Jamie Schumacher, Dil, 19:11; 17. Michael Wiggins, Dil, 19:17; 18. Fischer Elliott, Cor, 19:23; 19. Tyler Kelly, Dil, 19:24; 20. JW Henningsen, Dil, 19.358

The Corvallis Blue Devils were host to the Ronan Chiefs for their Homecoming game. On the opening kickoff, Mahlone Jessop took the ball at the 10-yard line and returned it for a Blue Devil touchdown. Although the kick failed, the boys in Blue were on the board. They then recovered a fumble on the next Ronan possession but couldn’t turn that into points.

Corvallis kept the defensive pressure on and with Rodee Anderson back at the wide receiver position; Ronan had their hands full defending any pass. Anderson scored early in the second quarter on a 10-yard pass from Keenan Strong but again the conversion failed. Although young, the Blue Devil defense kept the Chiefs out of the end zone for the first half and created one more scoring opportunity for Corvallis. It was another return, this time a punt, for 65 yards and the touchdown. The Mahlone Jessop kick was good and Corvallis had a 19-point lead going into the halftime break.

Rodee Anderson of Corvallis stretches for the pass during the Homecoming game against Ronan. Ronan won, 22-19. Jean Schurman photo.

Ronan went right to work in the second half. Xavier Morigeau, who played for Victor the last three years, pushed through for a touchdown and the two-point conversion was good. Ronan scored twice more in the fourth quarter to steal the 19-22 victory from Corvallis.

“We jumped out and we played well that first half,” said coach Russ Henderson of the Blue Devils. “As soon as we gave up that first touchdown, it’s like we forgot what to do.”

Hendrickson said Dan Sanderson really stepped up this week. “We’ve had different people step up each week. Last week it was Jeffrey Markette, this week it was Dan. If we keep doing keep doing that week after week, that’s our goal.”

Hamilton defeated Libby, 35-21, in another non-conference game. Josh Brenneman had 151 yards and was 11 of 25 passing. Paul Donaldson had scoring runs of six yards, nine yards and seven yards. Cody Noffsinger scored from three yards out and Josh Peterson caught a 29-yard pass from Brenneman.

Florence defeated Superior, 21-14, in their first conference game. Spencer Burns found the end zone from one yard out in the first quarter, The Zach Newbary PAT was good and the Falcons had the lead. Kendall Cotton then raced 16 yards for another Falcon score. Burns scored the final Florence score with a five-yard romp.

Stevensville’s Josh Haynes battles an unknown Whitefish Bulldog during the Yellowjacket’s homecoming game. Whitefish won, 25-14. Michael Howell photo.

Darby’s Tyler Bergren steps back to pass against Boulder during the Tiger’s homecoming game. Boulder won, 20-7. Alyce Leonardi photo.

The Lady Yellowjackets claimed a conference win over Hamilton on Thursday night. After dropping the first game, 22-25, Stevi rallied to take the next three and the match. They were led by Brittney Chilcott’s 10 kills and five blocks. The team dedicated the win to coach Lindsey Day and her new baby. Long-time assistant and former head coach Jim Chisholm is sitting in for Day.

“They wanted this game really badly,” said Chisholm. “It’s homecoming and they kind of dedicated it to coach Day. They’ve been working really hard to get here. But they believe in themselves.”

Hamilton is in a rebuilding year with several new players on the court. Coach D’Ette Monson said she expected Stevensville to be tough but that her team is stepping up. The Lady Broncs were led by Nicole Hood’s four kills and Tiffani Keimig’s four aces.