Siuslaw hoops splits with South Umpqua

Dec. 27, 2022 — It was a quiet week for Siuslaw athletics with a light holiday schedule for both the basketball and wrestling teams.

First on Tuesday, Dec. 20, the Vikings hosted the Lancers from South Umpqua for a non-league doubleheader.

The Viking girls took the court first.

Siuslaw got down early, having issues with the South Umpqua press. It was 14-2 Lancers at the end of the first period. The Viks made some adjustments and things got better from there.

“After a rough start adjusting to their full court press, we settled down and began to play much better,” said Viking coach Aaron McNeill. “I was really pleased with how we ran our man offenses, scoring on different options and from different sets. We created a lot of good shots around the basket within a variety of offensive sets, including inbounds plays, but struggled to reward ourselves and make shots consistently.”

Siuslaw scored their second-highest number of points in any game this season but fell 48-24. SHS sits at 1-6 on the season.

Sophomore Makayla Bender led Siuslaw in scoring with 9 points. Senior Mary Jo Fontenot was leading rebounder with 10. She also added 7 points for the Viks.

Game two was a match-up between the Viking and Lancer boys.

The first half was tight with scoring going back and forth during first quarter. Siuslaw built a lead in the second quarter and never looked back. The Vikings won 56-46.

Junior Andrew Jensen-Norman had another dominating performance for Siuslaw with 25 points and 19 rebounds. His front court mate, fellow junior Landon Severy, scored 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

The Siuslaw wings also turned in solid performances. Senior Jimmy Allen had 5 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Sam Ulrcih, also a senior, had 7 points and 5 steals.

Next up for both Viking hoops teams is the three-day Bandon Dunes Tournament. The girls open the tournament Dec. 28 at noon versus North Douglas; the boys first game is at 1:30 p.m. against Kennedy.

The next day, on Dec. 21, a banged up Siuslaw wrestling team headed up Highway 101 for the Warrenton Holiday Duals.

According to Viking coach Neil Wartnik, SHS traveled to the meet with a “skeleton crew” as the result of sickness and injury.

Details from the dual meet are limited but, according to Wartnick, those that did compete did exceptionally well.

Lady Viking sophomores Macali Lade and Abby Riggs each went undefeated in their matches.

Seven boy wrestlers competed, four of which are new to the Siuslaw wrestling program this year. The four newcomers include juniors Derrick Vanduch and Kenden Huff, senior Logan Harris and freshman Jacob Mann.

Wartnik highlighted the performance of two of those newcomers.

“Mann had a pair of impressive wins and was undefeated on the day,” said Wartnik. “Vanduch was 2-1 on the day and showed huge improvement over his performance at Grants Pass.”

Senior Mason Buss remained unbeaten on the season and junior Dayne Muller was undefeated for the day.

“The team has been hindered due to injuries at North Bend and Grants Pass,” said Wartnik. “Hunter Petterson, Lucian Murphy, and Cort Waggoner have been sidelined temporarily. We also have a number of kids sick or traveling. Hopefully we will regroup effectively after the holidays.”

Next up for the Viks is their first home event of the year. Elmira, Marshfield and Stayton will join Siuslaw for a dual meet on Dec 29. Matches start at noon.