Woodburn Independent Online

Woodburn loses game, top player

Woodburn falls to Crescent Valley, loses reigning league player of the year to injury

• By: Garrett Rudolph  
• Published: 2/23/2010 11:33:55 AM

Photo By: Garrett RudolphAndy Avgi
Woodburn’s Andy Avgi (right) led the Bulldogs with 12 points during Friday’s loss to Crescent Valley but left the game late in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

WOODBURN — The Woodburn boys basketball team was well on its way to an  upset win over Crescent Valley on Friday night, before tragedy happened.
 
After making a play to the basket and getting fouled, junior Andy Avgi landed awkwardly and injured his ankle.
 
Avgi made both free throws, but left the court with 46 seconds remaining in the first half.

Woodburn’s leading scorer and rebounder, and the reigning conference player of the year would not return to the game, and Crescent Valley took advantage, erasing a 10-point deficit early in the third quarter and pulling out a 53-45 win.
 
Woodburn coach Joel Dunn said the team was riding a wave of positive emotion heading into halftime, before finding out abruptly before the third quarter that Avgi couldn’t play.
 
“That can’t help but be a little bit deflating,” said Dunn. “When you know that you’ve got such an obvious advantage at a position and the players have so much trust in (Avgi) and confidence in him and he had a pretty dominant first half, to find out right before you jump out onto the floor, that’s tough a tough adjustment.”
 
Still, despite the missed opportunity and the final outcome, Dunn said he was proud of the way the team played.
 
While the Raiders were able to quickly cut away at Woodburn’s advantage, the Bulldogs held tough and clung to a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
“I really think tonight we were ready to play,” said Dunn. “Our practice has been solid and our game prep was good and the guys were excited. ... It’s just one of those disappointments where the timing couldn’t have been worse.”
 
Despite missing the entire second half, Avgi led Woodburn with 12 points.
 
Martin Ray was Woodburn’s second-leading scorer with nine points, followed by Seth Gregoire, with eight and Alex Arreguin, with seven. Javier Salazar, Jonaton Rios and Julian Veliz scored three points apiece to round out Woodburn’s scoring.
 
“The guys battled,” said Dunn. “Alex Magana did a great job out there. Seth did a great job, and we did a much better job than the first game against Crescent Valley).”
 
This week, the Bulldogs will close out the regular season with a home game Tuesday against South Albany and a road game Thursday against West Albany. If the Bulldogs win both games, they could potentially be in a position to play a tiebreaker for the league’s fourth and final playoff spot.

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