The Santiam Christian boys basketball team was in control from start to finish as the Eagles defeated visiting Chemawa, 61-52, on senior night.
With the victory, SC claims the PacWest Conference crown with a 16-2 league record.
Blanchet entered play Monday at 15-2, but the Eagles hold the tiebreaker.
"It was special for our nine seniors to get a win on senior night," said SC coach Anthony Baugher.
SC's Jared Kuenzi led all scorers with 18 points.
Santiam Christian will host Blanchet in a league playoff game on Saturday.
Santiam Christian 61, Chemawa 52
Chemawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 12 12 19 - 52
Santiam Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 20 15 11 - 61
Chemawa: Lowley 10, Garcia 10, Shields 12, Helms 14, Boatwright 6, Bixby, Cruise, Boneito.
Santiam Christian: Jared Kuenzi 18, Hendrix 16, Schroeder 9, Wonsley 6, Risinger 5, Ropp 5, Waite 2, Hovelsrud, Wyatt, Faddis.
Jacob Howard and Cody Manzi both won twice as Santiam Christian wrestled Waldport, Jefferson and Pleasant Hill on Thursday.
No team scores were kept, no individual scores were available and no pin times were posted.
Waldport vs. Santiam Christian
132: James Henderson, Wal pin Sam Howard, SC; 145: Ryan Ballentine, Wal pin JJ Reams, SC; 145: JJ Reams, SC pin Tommy Miller; 145: Jacob Howard, SC maj dec. Robbie Ballentine, Wal; 160: Xiao Zhen, SC pin Eli Tucker, Wal; 170: Michael Armour, SC pin Eli Tucker, Wal; 170: Dillon Goforth, Wal pin Oren Hills, SC; 182: Jacob Woosley, Wal tech fall Sam Givens, SC; 195: Cody Manzi, SC pin Brey Syverson, Wal; 285: Christian Houston, Wal pin Luke Burrow, SC
Jefferson vs. Santiam Christian
126: Tanner Briley, Jef pin Sam Howard, SC; 132: Tyler Martin, Jef pin Will Whitley, SC; 145: Jacob Howard, SC pin Tanner Falls, Jef; 160: Dylan Aguilar, Jef pin Caleb Krussow, SC; 160: Dylan Aguilar, Jef dec Marcus Rigor, SC; 170: Oren Hills, SC pin Lupe Yzaguirre, Jef; 195: Cody Manzi SC pin Talmadge Tilley, Jef; 195: Talmadge Tilley, Jef pin Jon Serry, SC; 285: Aaron Wolfer, Jef pin Luke Burrow, SC; 285: John Perry, SC pin Aaron Wolfer, Jef
Santiam Christian vs. Pleasant Hill
120: Chad Way, PH pin Luke Penner, SC; 126: Marcus Blas, PH pin Sam Howard, SC; 132: Julius Ittel, PH pin Will Whitley, SC
The Santiam Christian boys basketball team made an adjustment to its full-court press midway through the fourth quarter that keyed their 45-42 road victory over Creswell in a PacWest conference contest.
"It was a good win to hold them to five points in the fourth quarter and scoreless in the last five and a half minutes," said SC coach Anthony Baugher.
Jeff Hendrix led the Eagles with 14 points.
Santiam Christian (18-4, 14-2) plays at Jefferson on Saturday.
Santiam Christian 45 Creswell 42
Santiam Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 11 6 15 - 45
Creswell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 14 13 5 - 42
Santiam Christian: Jeff Hendrix 14, Schroeder 13, Kuezni 9, Waite 5, Wonsley 4, Hovelsrud, Faddis, Ropp.
Creswell: Tomar 10, Pruitt 8, Foster 7, Willamson 6, McFadden 6, Jones 3, Teal 2, England.
Two Santiam Christian seniors are finalists for the Oregon Sports Awards, held Sunday in the Tiger Woods Center at the Nike World Headquarters near Beaverton.
Sara Almen and Jeff Hendrix were each nominated for respective Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year 4A/3A/2A/1A awards.
They are each among a group of eight finalists.
Almen was named to the 3A volleyball all-state first team for the second straight season after helping the Eagles to fourth place at the state tournament.
Almen, who has signed to play volleyball at Oregon State, was the 3A state player of the year in 2010.
She also won her second straight 3A high jump title at the end of the track and field season last spring.
Hendrix kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired to give Santiam Christian a 31-28 win against Dayton in the 3A football state championship game Dec. 3 in Hillsboro.
Hendrix, a receiver and defensive back, was later named the 3A co-offensive player of the year and the first team all-state kicker.
He was also a first-team all-state kicker in 2010.
Hendrix was a 3A baseball first team all-state infielder last spring. He plans to play baseball at Oregon State.
He was an all-PacWest Conference second-team pick in basketball last year. The Eagles are currently tied for first in the PacWest.
Santiam Christian 60, Toledo 28
TOLEDO — Santiam Christian led 32-16 at halftime and cruised to a road victory in PacWest conference play.
The Eagles’ Jared Kuenzi led all scorers with 19 points.
Santiam Christian (17-4 13-2) plays at Creswell on Thursday.
Santiam Christian 60, Toledo 28
SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 19 13 20 8 — 60
TOLEDO 7 9 7 5 – 28
Santiam Christian: Jared Kuezni 19, Wonsley 11, Schroeder 10, Hovelsrud 4, Hendrix 4, Faddis 4, Ropp 3, Waite 3, Wyatt 1, Hufanga 1
Toledo: Young 13, Willamson 6, Eherman 2, Edwards 3, J. Cross 2, Turner 2, C. Cross, Shirman, Ammon, Brant
Santiam Christian 47, Toledo 36
TOLEDO — Darci Woods scored 11 points and Nicole Whitney added 10 as Santiam Christian rallied to defeat Toledo in a PacWest Conference road game.
The game was tied 28-28 after three quarters, and the Eagles (19-3, 14-1) fell behind early in the fourth quarter. However, they outscored Toledo 19-8 in the fourth for the win.
“We didn’t come ready to play basketball, but I give them credit to bring it out in the end,” coach Melissa McClain said. “I hope it was a good learning experience for my team going into the playoffs next week. They need to come ready to play.”
The Eagles head to Creswell on Thursday night.
Santiam Christian 47, Toledo 36
SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 12 7 9 19 —47
TOLDEO 6 11 11 8 — 36
Santiam Christian: Woods 11, Whitney 10, Griner 8, Land 5, Magnuson 3, Schroeder 3, Kessi 3, Deskins 2, Kreger 2, Humelbaugh
Toledo: Rizzio 10, Estelle 10, McMillan 8, Hreynko 4, Sjostrom 4, Stretch, Kroepf
Harrisburg likes to work the ball, leading to long offensive possessions and causing the defense to play with some extra patience.
Santiam Christian was up to the task Monday, controlling the game for three quarters then holding on for a 41-32 PacWest Conference boys basketball home win.
"They limit your offensive touches and they force you to play good defense," said Santiam Christian guard Jeff Hendrix, who had a game-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers. "Today we made the most of the touches we had. I think that's how we got out with a ‘W.'"
Santiam Christian stayed perfect in PacWest play at 10-0 while improving to 14-2 overall. Trent Ruckert had 12 points for Harrisburg (11-7, 6-5), which is trying to stay in the PacWest's top five in order to make the conference playoffs at the end of the regular season.
PacWest Conference leader Santiam Christian could not afford a letdown against visiting Harrisburg.
After a shaky start, SC blew away the visiting Eagles and raced to a 47-19 victory.
SC went on a 25-3 run that spanned the end of the first and the beginning of the second quarter. Before the run, the host Eagles trailed 7-2 and were lethargic at both ends of the court.
"We were not focused in the beginning. I think we were a little excited about playing and our head just wasn't in the game," senior Darci Woods said.
SC coach Melissa McLain attributed the slow start to Saturday's big win at Chemawa.
"We had a really great game Saturday, so I think we came into tonight thinking it just was going to be an automatic flow from Saturday. I give the girls the credit. On their own, they picked up their game," McLain said.
SC (9-1, 14-3 PacWest Conference) played excellent half-court man-to-man defense after the first few minutes of action. Harrisburg scored only 12 points in the final 26 minutes of the game.
The host Eagles also held Harrisburg's two leading scorers (Sarah Allen and Erinn Allen) to six points apiece.
Santiam Christian won one quarter and the PacWest Conference game over Jefferson, 44-38.
SC (12-3, 7-1) outscored the Lions 19-4 in the second but lost the other three.
Nevertheless, the Eagles were able to hold on for the win. They led 25-15 at the half.
"(Jefferson) just kept getting closer and closer," SC coach Melissa McLain said. "By the end they were fouling."
SC plays at Waldport on Friday.
Santiam Christian 44, Jefferson 38
JEFFERSON 11 4 12 11 - 38
SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 6 19 9 10 - 44
Jefferson: A. Montejano 11, Grubb 10, Guzman 6, Weddle 4, Ma. Schmitt 4, Me. Schmitt 2, Kramer 2, Page 1
Santiam Christian: Darci Woods 16, Magnuson 9, Whitney 8, Kreger 4, Land 4, Griner 2, Kessi 1
JV: SC won
Grant Schroeder scored 13 points to lead the Santiam Christian boys basketball team to a 54-24 PacWest Conference win Saturday over Jefferson, but it was the defense the made it happen.
"We just came out with a focus on defense," coach Anthony Baugher said. "We wanted to get a lot of guys in to reward guys for their hard work in practice."
The Eagles (12-2, 8-0) play at Waldport next on Friday.
Santiam Christian 54, Jefferson 24
JEFFERSON 5 6 7 6 - 24
SC 12 13 12 17 - 54
Jefferson: Looney 14, Straight 6, Edelman 2, Foster 2, Epps, Sells, Wheeler
Santiam Christian: Schroeder 13, Faddis 9, Risinger 8, Ropp 8, Kuenzi 6, Waite 4, Hendrix 4, Hovelsrud 2, Wyatt, Hufanga
JV: Santiam Christian 63, Jefferson 9
Santiam Christian 41, Creswell 27
Santiam Christian shut out Creswell in the first quarter and played solid defense throughout in a PacWest Conference win.
"I thought we played really good defense all night. Letting a team like that only score 27 points is great," SC coach Melissa McLain said.
Darci Woods paced the Eagles with 18 points.
SC (11-3, 6-1) returns to action on Saturday with a home game against Jefferson.
Santiam Christian 41, Creswell 27
Creswell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 15 4 8 - 27
Santiam Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 12 8 11 - 41
Creswell: Raleigh Shepler 11, Layman 7, Bowman 5, Ceele 2, Baguio 2, Bryant, Bronson, Cole, Cox, Bush, McClanahan.
Santiam Christian: Darci Woods 18, Kreger 6, Land 5, Whitney 5, Griner 4, Kessi 2, Magnuson 1, Deskins, Humelbaugh.
Santiam Christian 77, Toledo 26
Santiam Christian hit its first seven shots from the field to put away visiting Toledo early in a PacWest Conference contest.
"We came out really hot and built that big first quarter lead and sustained it. It was good to see everybody get a lot of minutes," SC coach Anthony Baugher said.
Jeff Hendrix led all players with 20 points.
The Eagles (10-2, 6-0) host Creswell on Thursday in another PacWest matchup.
Santiam Christian 77, Toledo 26
Toledo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 11 3 5 - 26
Santiam Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 15 29 10 - 77
Toledo: Edwards 14, Cross, Shriner 3, Ammons 2, Marthaler 2, Eshlena 1, Turner 4.
Santiam Christian: Jeff Hendrix 20, Risinger 11, Schroeder 10, Hovelsrud 6, Waite 6, Wyatt 2, Faddis 14, Kuenzi 8, Ropp.
SC 61, Salem Academy 33 BOYS
Santiam Christian held Salem Academy to seven first-half points in a convincing road victory.
"Playing on the road, I wanted to make sure that we started with our focus on the defensive end," SC coach Anthony Baugher said.
Jeff Hendrix led the Eagles with 15 points.
SC (9-2, 5-0 PacWest) hosts Toledo on Tuesday.
SC 61, Salem Academy 33
Santiam Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 11 15 25 - 61
Salem Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0 17 9 - 33
Santiam Christian: Jeff Hendrix 15, Risinger 1, Schroeder 14, Hovelsrud 4, Waite 3, Wyatt 2, Faddis 5, Kuenzi 4, Ropp 11, Hufanga 2.
SC 58 Salem Academy 54 GIRLS
Santiam Christian limited its turnovers late and got key defensive stops when they were needed to earn a PacWest Conference road victory against Salem Academy.
"Our defense kept us in the game," SC coach Melissa McLain said. "Every time they made a run, our defense was able to get a stop."
Janelle Land led the Eagles' offense with 22 points.
Santiam Christian (9-3 4-1 PacWest) plays host to Toledo on Tuesday.
Santiam Christian 58 Salem Academy 54
Santiam Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 12 18 14 - 58
Salem Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 13 13 17 - 54
Santiam Christian: Janelle Land 22, Whitney 16, Woods 9, Kessi 5, Griner 4, Magnuson 2, Kreger. Totals: 23 12-19 58.
The Santiam Christian girls basketball team ran into a rough stretch late in the fourth quarter in a 46-35 loss to Blanchet Catholic on Tuesday in a pivotal PacWest Conference matchup.
With the game tied with about 5 minutes remaining, Blanchet pulled away behind a trio of 3-point goals.
"They hit two 3-pointers in a row and a couple of plays later, hit a third 3-pointer," SC coach Melissa McLain said. "Then the crowd was going crazy and we couldn't recover."
Lauren Keffie led Blanchet Catholic (9-1, 4-0) with 20 points.
Janelle Land scored 12 and Nicole Whitney added 10 for the Eagles.
SC (8-3, 3-1) plays another unbeaten PacWest team on Friday at Salem Academy.
Blanchet Catholic 46, Santiam Christian 35
It's early in the basketball season and the play is inconsistent, but the ability to finish games always is crucial.
Grant Schroeder and Micah Ropp drained back-to-back fourth-quarter 3-pointers to put Santiam Christian High School's boys team up for good against host Blanchet on Tuesday, and the Eagles won 43-40.
It wasn't a pretty win, but it puts Santiam Christian alone atop the PacWest Conference.
"We played six different kinds of defense tonight," Santiam Christian coach Anthony Baugher said. "To the average … fan, it might look a little ugly, but for me as a coach, that looked exactly like what we needed to do."
Santiam Christian 59, Pleasant Hill 52
ADAIR VILLAGE - Pleasant Hill took an early 15-3 lead over the Eagles, but Santiam Christian worked its way back into the game.
Jared Kuenzi led the Eagles with 17 points and Jeff Hendrix added 13.
SC coach Anthony Baugher credited seniors Kuenzi and Travis Waite, who scored 12 points, with seeing the squad through the rough stretch.
The Eagles (3-0) play North Valley on Tuesday in the Wells Fargo Advisors Christmas Classic.
Santiam Christian 59, Pleasant Hill 52
PLEASANT HILL 15 14 14 9 - 52
SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 10 14 16 19 - 59
Santiam Christian: Jared Kuenzi 17, Hendrix 13, Waite 12, Schroeder 9, Wonsley 4, Ropp 3, Hufanga 1, Risinger, Hovelsrud, Wyatt, Faddis
Pleasant Hill: Daniel Finfrock 16, P. Smith 2, Ferguson 9, Hayter 3, Bertsch 5, Frity 5, Parmenter 12, R. Smith
Santiam Christian's 3A state football championship last month resulted in a strong showing on the all-state teams released this week.
The Eagles had nine different players named to the first team.
Santiam Christian senior Jeff Hendrix, a receiver and defensive back who kicked the winning field goal against Dayton as time expired in the state title game, was selected co-offensive player of the year along with Dayton's AJ Hedgecock.
SC junior Jordan Lange, a running back and linebacker, was named the co-defensive player of the year with Hayden Craig of Dayton.
Santiam Christian's Dave Lange was selected coach of the year.
Eagles on the first team offense were junior quarterback Grant Schroeder, senior receiver Anthony Alire, junior receiver Joe Pelley, junior lineman Cody Manzi and Hendrix at kicker.
On the first team defense were senior lineman Tyler Ropp, junior lineman TJ Hufanga and senior defensive backs Jon Faddis and Alex Hovelsrud.
Individual awards
Coach of the year: Dave Lange, Santiam Christian
Offensive players of the year: Jeff Hendrix, Santiam Christian, and AJ Hedgecock, Dayton
Defensive players of the year: Hayden Craig, Dayton, and Jordan Lange, Santiam Christian
Offensive lineman of the year: Mitch Staeffler, Rainier
Defensive lineman of the year: Skyler Emery, Nyssa
Read the entire list on www.democratherald.com by clicking the title above.
Santiam Christian 40, Pleasant Hill 26
ADAIR VILLAGE - Santiam Christian's defense helped carry the Eagles past visiting Pleasant Hill in a PacWest Conference game.
Undersized SC played stifling man-to-man defense and held the Billies to 11 points during the first three quarters.
Janelle Land led the Eagles with 12 points.
SC (4-1, 3-0) will play in the St. Paul Tournament on Monday.
Santiam Christian 40, Pleasant Hill 26
PLEASANT HILL 5 4 2 15 - 26
SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 11 11 12 6 - 40
PH: Hailey Bowman 15, Boyd 8, Howard 3, Leavitt, Brown, Williams, Taylor, Stevens, Lewis, King
SC: Janelle Land 12, Woods 7, Griner 6, Magnuson 6, Whitney 3, Kessi 2, Kreger 2, Deskins 2G
Madison McLain
School: Santiam Christian
Year: Sophomore
Position: Setter
Statistics: 1,073 assists, 202 digs and 128 aces
Honors: First-team all-PacWest Conference; second-team all-Class 3A state tournament; first-team Class 3A all-state
Read more from the Statesman Journal by clicking the image.
When Santiam Christian volleyball coach Kim McLain looks back on the career of Sara Almen, there are several moments that stand out.
There was the uncommon intensity and desire to succeed that McLain noticed Almen possessed as an eighth-grader on one of the coach's club teams.
And there was that match two years ago during Almen's sophomore season when the Eagles were losing and McLain decided to move Almen to an attacking position, a change that led to a dramatic comeback victory.
In short, said McLain, Almen is a special talent.
"I had the privilege of coaching her on her very first club team and at that point I knew she had something different than most players: a will to win," McLain said.
"She had so much passion to play well and win that at times, she would get small adrenaline rushes."
Read more from the Statesman Journal by clicking on the image
A two-goal effort from Vicki Kreger propelled the Santiam Christian girls soccer team to a 2-0 victory Thursday over Amity at Adair Village.
"The girls were being a lot more aggresive and we were stringing some good passes together," said Santiam Christian coach Kiernan Bishop.
Kreger scored in the 23rd minute on an assist by Nicole Magnuson, and again in the 75th minute on an unassisted goal.
Santiam Christian (2-1-2 Special District 3) hosts Blanchett Monday.
Tulane opened the season by winning two of their four matches at the Tiger Invitational...
All of their matches lasted just three sets and freshman middle hitter Anna Wruck was named to the all-tournament team....
Wruck led the Green Wave attack with 24 assists - including nine versus Binghamton in the tournament finale - and added 13 blocks in the opening tournament of her career.
HILLSBORO – In a rematch of the 2010 3A title game, Rainier (Lewis & Clark League) defeated Santiam Christian (Pac West), 20-14, in the second of four games in the inaugural Pure Focus Kickoff Classic at Hillsboro Stadium on a warm Saturday afternoon. The last game either team played was last December 4, on the same artificial turf – albeit with air temperatures 50 degrees colder.
In large part, this game was one of contrasts, ranging from style of play even to uniforms. Rainier came out decked in all black with green helmets, while SC wore its road white tops
Santiam Christian plays a hurry-up spread offense that was surprisingly effective against Rainier. The result of this clash in style and talent was an entertaining first half but a scoreless second half.
Brycen Stutzman helped lead the West team to a 20-6 win in the 59th-annual Oregon East-West Shrine Game in Baker City on Saturday.
"It was really cool. I have never been a part of a team with so many athletes, and it was a lot of fun to bond with them," said Stutzman, who graduated from Santiam Christian in June.
Stutzman had a four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to put the West on the board.
"It was pretty cool (to score) because we had been shut out for the first half," Stutzman said.
Stutzman was the 3A co-offensive player of the year and is attending Oregon State next fall, but will not play football.
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