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Butte Falls makes long trek to state By Greg Stiles It�s a long and winding road for nearly every team that qualifies for the Class 1A state tournament. You�d cross multiple state lines if your traveled for 10 hours in the Northeast United States. The official language would change a couple of times if you drove that far in parts of Europe. But the folks who populate Oregon�s smallest communities are hardy souls who don�t seem to mind 450-mile treks. Baker City isn�t most people�s idea of a destination resort, unless you�ve spent five months heading west on a wagon train or earned a spot in the state tournament. You can count Butte Falls� girls basketball team among the latter. "For the seniors (Lindsey Stockton, Liz McLauchlan and Amber Pettit), we�re very excited to get to this point," says McLauchlan. "We�ve pretty much fallen short the last couple of years, and we put the extra effort to get there this time. "We realize we have a lot of good younger players, and we�ve been more in a leadership role to keep everybody motivated." Butte Falls (18-4) draws the daunting task of playing unbeaten St. Paul at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Loggers coach B.J. Rodgers is taking his sixth team to Baker City in 12 years. He�s not so sure that there is a better team than St. Paul in the eight-team field. "If I had to pick a No. 1 team, it would be St. Paul," Rodgers says. "They were the third-place team last year and they�re only missing one starter (from that team." No Class 1A team scored more than 40 points against St. Paul and 10 opponents failed to make it to 20. That�s not reassuring. "We know they come out and press hard," McLauchlan says. "We�ll have to work hard and keep our heads in the game. We�ve spent extra hours working on our press break." A lot of the pressure � tangible and intangible � will fall on freshman point guard Brianna Smeltz. "How Brianna handles things is going to be the key," Rodgers admits. "She�s going to have to make good decisions, know when to dribble and when to pass. And the other girls will need to be moving to the right spots on the floor." The Loggers� press and run a bit themselves and their turnovers have reflected the pace. But against St. Paul, the margin for error declines. "We�re going to have to hold our turnovers down to 15 to beat them," Rodgers says. One of the things Butte Falls has going for it is depth. Rodgers has never had the luxury of a 10-player rotation in the past. Stockton tops the team with a 12-point scoring average, while freshman Sarah Matthews averages 11 and nine rebounds. McLauchlan and sophomores Amanda Hamilton and Krystie Rowley contribute eight or more points per game. "We haven�t really got a star on this team," Rodgers says. "You never really know who our leading scorer is going to be on a given night. Any girl out of 10 can lead us . We just keep rotating players, trying to find the one that has a hot hand." No matter what happens in Eastern Oregon, Rodgers knows the Loggers will gain experience for future trips to Baker City. "We�re going over there to win, of course," he says. "But we need the experience for the years ahead." WESTVIEW�S KARA BRAXTON was observed cheering on Portland�s Jefferson Democrats at last Saturday night�s third-round Class 4A girls basketball sub-tournament playoff game at Beaverton. The 6-foot-5 Braxton and twin sister Kim were unable to propel defending state champion Westview back to the postseason after missing the first two-thirds of the season because they were academically ineligible. There�s no word what prompted two-time Class 4A player of the year to root against her Metro League rival Beaverton. But the Braxtons� prep careers came to an end on Feb. 15 when Westview defeated Beaverton, 56-37. Despite Braxton�s cheers, Beaverton ended Jefferson�s season, 76-58. A $50,000 ANONYMOUS contribution has more than doubled the cash donations toward Rogue River�s Field of Dream athletic complex. According to project committee president Ron Smith, about $40,00 had previously come in. Much more has been donated through materials and "in kind" efforts. The baseball field, with new dugouts and fencing, will be ready for this spring, while work on football and soccer fields continues. The committee is awaiting word about a potential $50,000 grant from Nike and an unspecified grant total from the Four Way Foundation. THREE ROGUE VALLEY Basketball Officials Association members will be working state tournaments. Vern Loy will be in Pendleton for the Class 2A boys and girls tournaments this week. Next week, Mike Soderlund is slated for the Class 4A boys tournament in Portland, and Gary Pendergast will be in Corvallis for the Class 3A boys tourney. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.