Woodburn Independent Online

Woodburn drops second straight league game

Fast starts go for naught as Bulldogs lose to Corvallis, Silverton

• By: Jason Horton  
• Published: 1/15/2010 10:08:34 PM

Photo By: Jason HortonWoodburn hoops
Silverton’s perimeter defense stifled Woodburn all night as Woodburn’s Jonaton Rios (left) is suffocated by Dawson Gould in Silverton’s 57-43 victory over Woodburn last night, dropping the Bulldogs to 0-2 in Mid-Willamette play.

WOODBURN — There’s an old adage that says, “Finish what you start.” For the Woodburn boys basketball team, that rings close to home.
 
The Bulldogs, after last night’s 57-43 loss to Silverton, find themselves 0-2 to start Mid-Willamette Conference play. They lost 66-58 to Corvallis on Wednesday. In both games, Woodburn came out fast, only to see its opponent make huge comebacks and take control of the game in the second quarter.
 
Against Silverton, Woodburn held the No. 4 Foxes to just six points in the first quarter and led 12-6. In the second, however, they allowed 17 and trailed 23-20 at halftime.
 
Against Corvallis, they allowed just 10 and led 12-10 before the Spartans went off for 23 in the second quarter.
 
“We’ve done that this year. We have really had a second quarter illness and I don’t know what it is,” said Woodburn coach Joel Dunn. “Our second quarters have often followed good quarters. I know the coaches are working on it, trying to figure out what it is.”
 
In last nights game, Woodburn was in the game until the end of the third quarter. The Foxes scores six straight points to begin the second half and extended its lead to 29-20 with 5:20 left, but the Bulldogs hung around. They got a basket by Andy Avgi and then back-to-back scores from Jose Padilla and Jonaton Rios pull within four, 32-28.
 
However, that’s as close as they would get the rest of the way. Silverton ramped up its defense and Woodburn couldn’t work the ball inside. And turnovers started taking its toll on the ’Dogs.
 
“For us, if we go about 14 turnovers, in the six years I’ve been here, it’s been rare we win and we were at 15 at the end of the third quarter,” Dunn said. “They play a very different style of defense. They really pressure you and force you into low percentage shots and when you get behind these guys, six or seven points, they really will make it hard for you. They have a lot of length and we shot a low percentage.”
 
Defense is what Silverton coach Darren Shryock preached to his players, and they listened.
 
“We’ve been preaching defense, defense, defense … and we were able to do that tonight, for the most part,” he said.
 
He was extremely pleased his team was able to hold Avgi to just 13 points.
 
“Everything starts with him, and you know that and holding him to 13, and one of those is a bank three (pointer), I thought as we did about as good a job as you can do,” Shryock said. “Shutting him out is next to impossible.”
 
The Bulldogs must regroup and find a way to get a victory before the season slips away.

“It’s hard not to feel that way especially when the expectations were very different,” Dunn said. “We’re just going to try to find our way through it. Losing home games is always a big disappointment. You hate to drop those. But they came here and took it from us, and that’s what good basketball teams. We have our work cut out for us.”
 
After Avgi’s 13 points, Padilla and Alex Arreguin each tallied six. Javier Salazar scored five and Rios added four. Silverton was led by Jason Martin’s 16 points, while Taylor Burton scored 12 and Tyler Bellando had 11.
 
Woodburn next plays at Dallas on Wednesday, followed by a home game Jan. 22 against Lebanon. Both games are slated to start at 7 p.m.

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