Colts fall to 2007 champs in league opener

By Emily Panter
Springfield Beacon

Although it was only the first league game of the season, the matchup between the Thurston Colts and North Eugene Highlanders on Thursday, Jan. 10 felt more like a state playoff game. The standing room only crowd was full of energy, particularly the student sections, and doing everything in their power to distract the other team. It must have worked, at least for the North Eugene fans, as the Colts slow start would eventually lead to a 53-45 loss against the No. 1 team in the state.
Thurston struggled to get momentum in the opening quarter, and only managed to score three points in the first eight minutes – an opening dunk by Drew Wiley and a free throw by Maddie Boehm.
“We came out really nervous and tight at the beginning. We basically wasted the first quarter but after that we did ok,” said coach Doug Piquette. “We had a real slow start but other than that we put ourselves in position to win.”
Things picked up for the Colts in the second quarter, but they still struggled to convert offensively. They also found themselves in foul trouble, eventually having seven fouls to the Highlanders three. With so many chances at the line North managed to score quickly in the second, but Thurston continued to chip away. Thurston brought the score within five after a trip up at half court that would eventually be settled by an incoming Tim Autele that would lead to a Wiley score, as well as a great three-pointer, also by Wiley. But North quickly responded with a three-pointer by Drew Laird to close out the half 19-11.
“I told them all the things that were going wrong were things we could fix,” said Piquette of his halftime speech.
Thurston fought back in the third to bring the score within three, the closest it would get all game. North found themselves in foul trouble, allowing Thurston to score five of their points that quarter off free throws. They also managed to hold North to 14 points that quarter.
“We did enough defensively to win, we just didn’t capitalize on opportunities,” Piquette said.
Fighting to keep the lead they held all game, North came out blazing in the fourth, making two consecutive three-pointers and a free throw to bring the score 42-30. Thurston didn’t manage to score until the 5:40 mark of the quarter, a pass from Wiley to Michael Akins for two. But it was just too late for the Colts. They drew the fouls against North in the final minutes, but the deficit was just too big. North’s Tyler Brown sealed the deal with two on the drive with just 1:27 left on the clock, bringing the score 49-38.
“I thought we had a chance to win but we couldn’t get over the hump,” Piquette said. “We missed a bunch of free throws and a couple easy shots here and there. We’ve got to be real careful making mistakes like that against teams like them. They just feast on turnovers and missed opportunities.”
Thurston’s players of the game were Akins and Wiley, who had 14 and 13 points respectively.
“I thought Michael Akins did a good job on attacking…Drew Wiley the same thing. They did a lot to take him away but he still got some points here and there. Defensively he did a pretty good job on Conklin except for a couple times when they didn’t double team him in time,” Piquette said.
But Thurston still has two more chances to conquer the Highlanders, who are also last year’s 5A State Champions. The two will battle it out at Thurston on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m., and then again at North on Friday, Feb. 15, also at 7 p.m.
Despite the loss, however, Thurston won’t change much on their game plan.
“We’ll take a look at the film, but I’m sure we’ll do a lot of the same,” Piquette said. “We’ll do some different things on offense, but defensively we did (fine). We just need to get better at what we were trying to do.”