By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
STAYTON, Ore.– Down three players entering Monday night’s game didn’t phase the Stayton Girls Basketball team as they just continued where they left off from last season.
Hosting Seaside in their home-opener, the Eagles entered the game 4-0 on the year. Not bad for a squad that graduated five seniors from their 4A State Championship team as they jumped out to a 14-9 lead against the Seagulls after the first quarter.
It’s a work in progress points Tal Wold for those filling the void left by those seniors entering this year.
“We lost a league Player of the Year (Kenzie Hollenbeck), State Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year (Haley Butenschoen), but we have other guys. We feel like we coach them hard, we love them and they know that we care about them, but we want them to get better,” said Wold. “I think some people are surprised, ‘Oh, I didn’t know so-and-so could play so well’, so that’s been growth in our program and their attitude to get better.”
“We’re just trying to get one-percent better,” adds Hampton. “I think it will prepare us. It’s great, with our class, most of us are juniors.”
Stayton has eight juniors on their roster to one senior in Makenzie Schacher and three sophomore’s to round out the Varsity roster.
By halftime of Monday’s game though, the Eagles pushed their lead to 11, leading 33-21 on Seaside. That lead grew to 51-37 by the end of the third quarter en route to the Eagles fifth victory of the season, Stayton took the game 66-44 as Brecci Hampton and Kathryn Samek combined for 48 of the squad’s 66 points on the night. Hampton connected on five of the Eagles nine three-pointers on the night and Samek led the way with 26 points.
“They’re really good,” Wold said of Hampton and Samek. “In our five different games, we had three different scorers. We have some girls who can do some thing’s also. We got some girls who can play and do some thing’s as well.”
The win on Monday also extends Stayton’s winning streak to 15, dating back to last season, and they’ll look to extend it once more on Friday as they head to play Astoria before hosting the SCTC Tournament starting on December 29.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
