Central Oregonian

Winter sports season is shaping up to be an exciting one

Wrestling and girls basketball teams look to be contenders this year

Lon Austin

I know that it is early in the winter high school sports season.

However, if the first weekend of the season is any indication, it could be an exciting winter at Crook County High School.

It appears that the wrestling team is at least as good as advertised — maybe even better. The team easily defeated both Henley and Sweet Home over the weekend. That is especially significant because the two teams finished first and second respectively at the state tournament last year. Even more impressive is the fact that the Crook County JV team only lost one match during the tournament.

Wrestling fans will get a better idea how good the team is when they compete in the Oregon Coast Classic this weekend against most of the top wrestling teams in Oregon. The first opportunity to see the team compete in Central Oregon is Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16-17 when they compete in the Adrian Irwin Memorial Tournament at Mountain View High School.

The girls basketball team also has high expectations this year. The team has a solid nucleus back from a team that made it to the state quarterfinals a year ago.

Add volleyball star Makayla Lindburg to the team and it looks like it may be even stronger.

The Cowgirls didn’t shoot particularly well last Friday night, yet still easily handled the Sisters Outlaws. What really stood out is the play of Lindburg. The junior hasn’t played basketball since middle school. However, she still had a monster game scoring 14 points and adding 11 rebounds and an even more impressive 11 steals.

With returning players Kayla Morgan, Brooke Buswell, and Taylor Walker providing ball-handling and outside shooting, the Cowgirls should have an outside presence that makes it difficult to double-team Lindburg or any other posts. Add to that the post play from Kali Solomon, Kelsi Martin, and Marci Johnston, and the Cowgirls should have an impressive inside presence.

With strong play inside and out, the Cowgirls have a chance to have a special season.

It may be too early to jump on the bandwagon for either the wrestling or girls basketball team, but it sure looks like it is going to be an exciting winter sports season.