Woodburn Independent Online

Cougars nab first league win in three years

Gervais boys defeat Colton on Hall of Fame night

• By: Garrett Rudolph  
• Published: 2/9/2010 1:57:27 PM

GERVAIS — The Gervais boys basketball team finally saw its hard work pay off with a win in the West Valley League.
 
The Cougars defeated Colton, 38-26, on Feb. 1 to earn their first league win in over three years. Now with five wins overall, the Cougars (1-14 in league, 5-19 overall) have had their most successful season since the 2005-06 season, as a member of the Class 2A Tri-River Conference.
 
“We’ve had some really tough games, and we’ve gotten better and better and I think it was a natural progression to start putting some things together,” said Gervais coach Paul Henderson.
 
The win came on the same night as the school honored the state title-winning Gervais teams from 1983 and 1985, and Henderson said there was a noticeable vibe within the gym.
 
While Colton has also struggled this season, with its lone league win coming earlier in the year against Gervais, Henderson said he felt a great deal of respect for the Vikings and coach Greg Adams.
 
“They’re well-coached,” said Henderson. “There were a couple times I felt like the guy was in my huddle. He’s good. Their record doesn’t reflect how good they are.”
Henderson said the game had somewhat of a typical feel for the Cougars this year, with some struggles on offensive, but using its defense to control the game.
 
Offensively, Tony Benavidez came in and provided a spark off the bench, scoring a team-high 14 points for the game, while Henderson also pointed to several key plays by Anthony Medina, who scored eight points, Kyle Belleque, who scored five, and Nick Chesnokov, who scored four, and Marco Martinez, who, while only scoring three points, contributed a great deal to the team in his rebounding and leadership.
 
Holding Colton to just 26 points for the game — including just one in the fourth quarter — was the Cougars’ best defensive performance of the year, and Henderson specifically pointed to the efforts of Anuar Cortes as being key.
“His defense at the guard position really helped us in the win,” said Henderson.
 
Getting a win for the seniors on the team was particularly important to the Cougars’ first-year coach.
 
“I don’t know if you’ll ever meet guys as good as these seniors are,” said Henderson. “They’re solid, solid people. I’m really happy and proud for them that they’ve gotten a win. These guys needed to get us started in the right direction and they did.”
 
Gervais will finish its season on Tuesday at home against Willamina.
 
Henderson said the first time Gervais played Willamina was one of the Cougars’ best games of the season, even in losing 49-46 on the road.
 
“We’ve taken some steps backward occasionally, but there’s been a lot of steady improvement,” said Henderson.
 
Following last week’s win over Colton, Gervais lost to Sheridan, 54-30, and to Valley Catholic, 46-36.

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