Philomath sophomore Reagan Heiken earned Co-Player of the Year honors in the Oregon West Conference and senior teammate Anneka Steen was included on the first team, the league announced.
Heiken averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to help the Warriors to the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A state tournament, which begins Thursday at Forest Grove. Steen averaged 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Heiken and Steen were also first-team selections last season.
Senior Zoee Howard, who averaged 5.6 points and 4.0 rebounds, was named to the all-conference second team. Honorable mention honors went to senior Aspen Russell, junior Shaylee May and junior Isabelle Muir.
Stayton senior Kenzi Hollenbeck joined Heiken as Co-Player of the Year. Eagles coach Tal Wold was named Coach of the Year. Senior Haley Butenschoen earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Philomath (21-5) and Stayton (24-1) are the top two seeds in the tournament and if they can both defeat opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals could meet in Saturday’s championship game. The two teams split the regular-season series with each winning by one point on their home floors.
Warriors open with Crook County
The top-seeded PHS girls will open the 4A tournament Thursday in Forest Grove with a 1:30 p.m. game against eighth-seeded Crook County.
The Cowgirls come into the contest with a 16-9 record after eliminating Astoria, 59-36, in the first round. Philomath sits at 21-5 and advanced to the state tournament for the seventh straight year with a 58-23 win over North Bend.
The two schools actually played this season in the championship game of the Clarke Cochran Christmas Classic in Ketchikan, Alaska. Philomath rolled to a 44-18 victory. The Warriors played at a high level on defense, allowing just 10 points after the first quarter. On offense, sophomore Reagan Heiken found some success with 13 points.
Crook County junior Kacy Wiederholt, a guard, had seven in the loss to Philomath. The Cowgirls at the time were working through the loss of sophomore guard Anna Bales, an all-conference player the previous year, to a season-ending injury. Freshman Hayden Decker, who led the team this season in scoring, rebounding and most other statistical categories, was held to two points in the PHS game.
Among common opponents this season, Philomath beat Sutherlin twice, a team that the Cowgirls lost to by a 21-point margin. Both teams beat Astoria (Warriors by 1, Cowgirls by 13) and both teams lost to Crater (Warriors by 16 and Cowgirls by 54).
Crook County won the Tri-Valley Conference with a 10-0 record and finished at No. 13 in the OSAA rankings. The team brings an 11-game winning streak into the game.
The winner of the Philomath-Crook County game will play the winner of fifth-seeded Cascade and fourth-seeded La Grande in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The Warriors split two games with Cascade this season and did not play the Tigers.
The losers of those quarterfinal matchups will meet in a consolation semifinal at 9 a.m. Friday.
If Philomath makes it to the championship game, that is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Saturday. The highest seed on the opposite side of the bracket is No. 2 Stayton. Another team to watch will be No. 3 Henley.
In addition to the evening finale, other trophy games on Saturday include fourth/sixth at 9 a.m. and third/fifth at 12:30 p.m.
Shining Stars 2nd in home event
The Philomath High’s dance and drill team finished second in the 1A-4A divisions for hip hop and pom while hosting the Dancing With the Stars competition this past weekend.
Newport finished first in the 1A-4A hip hop category with a 65.78 with the Shining Stars second with a 64.50. In pom, Marshfield was first with an exceptional 77.00 score with Philomath second at 67.72.
Other team winners at the March 8 competition included West Albany in 5A hip hop and traditional, Lebanon in jazz and 5A-6A pom, and Newberg in 6A hip hop. Other schools participating included South Albany, Willamette, North Eugene, Sweet Home and Thurston.
The OSAA dance and drill state championships are scheduled for March 21-22 in Salem.
Spring sports set to get started
Philomath High athletics will be busier than ever with three new teams joining the competitive lineup — boys golf, girls golf and boys volleyball. All teams except boys golf are scheduled to open their regular-season schedules next week.
The baseball team will open Monday with a road game at Santiam Christian. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. The game had originally been scheduled for March 19 but was moved up a couple of days. The team won’t play a home game until April 4 against Crescent Valley.
The girls golf team also opens Monday with participation in a meet at McNary Golf Club. Hosted by Blanchet Catholic, the event will get started at 11 a.m.
The softball team opens Tuesday with a 4:30 p.m. game at Crescent Valley. It will be the debut contest for new head coach Kari Jaques. The boys and girls tennis teams also open Tuesday against Lebanon with the boys at home and the girls away. Both of those matches begin at 4 p.m.
The track and field teams will compete for the first time later in the week with a March 21 trip to the Elmira Relays. The boys golf team’s first competition is scheduled for April 3 at the Mallard Creek Invitational at Junction City.
Boys volleyball is another sports addition this spring under the label of “emerging” by the OSAA. Philomath will play its first match at 4 p.m. Tuesday at home against a squad with players from Santiam Christian, South Albany and West Albany.
The Philomath News plans to publish team previews on baseball and girls golf on Friday, softball on Saturday, boys and girls tennis on Tuesday, track and field on Thursday and boys golf at a date to be determined but prior to their April 3 opener.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
