Sports

It was 37 degrees outside in Springfield on Tuesday night, but none of that mattered once the doors to the gym closed. The heat came from the hardwood, where first-place Thurston arrived riding momentum and unfinished business. The Colts entered the matchup at 12–4, unbeaten in Midwestern Conference play and winners of every game since Dec. 18, while Churchill stood at 7–6, sitting just behind them in the standings and bringing the biggest lineup Thurston had seen all season.

Thurston has been red-hot recently, fresh off a 75–25 road win at Mountain View and an 83–20 blowout of Springfield, powered by a trio responsible for nearly 70 percent of the team’s offense. Senior point guard Lukas LaBounty set the tone as the Colts’ engine, sophomore Trayson Hill continued to impress after earning a varsity role as a freshman and holding the school record for assists in a game, and Leofatu Filipe dominated the paint with the same physicality he brought to the football field. On the…

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. — Keller Vinyard finished with 21 points, leading the Marshfield Pirates (9–7) to a 49–47 road win over the Cottage Grove Lions (4–13) on Tuesday night, despite a massive fourth-quarter scare.

The game looked over until it wasn’t, as Cottage Grove overcame a 20-4 deficit, headlined by seven first-quarter points from Vinyard, to start the game. The Lions crawled their way back by responding with a pair of 16-point quarters, and even got a chance at a game-winning 3-pointer at the hands of Tai Lam. 

But ultimately, the slow start wasn’t enough to scrape by.

“[We] just need a little more composure down the end,” Cottage Grove head coach Seth Hutchison said. “We didn’t really hit some sets towards the end. But hats off to my guys, they battled, but fell just short.”

Cade May led Cottage Grove in scoring with 14 points, and he just missed what would’ve been a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired. 

Max Ainsworth complemented…

While the results didn’t favor in the direction of the No. 14-ranked Cottage Grove Lions girls basketball team (9-6) on Friday, the future is bright for the program. Freshmen on varsity basketball squads are rare, but the Grove has two, and one of them is lighting up the scoresheet despite the 67-50 loss to the No. 4 Marist Catholic Spartans (10-3).

Madison Stuhlmiller, the freshman in question, was the star of the show for the Lions on Friday. She had 10 points, good for third-best on the team.

“The one freshman that starts, she’s got a great future,” Lions head coach Kim Beer said. “She’s getting all of this playing time, and she plays most of the minutes of every game. She has some spurts that are really excellent. The thing that freshmen usually go through, if they have a bad stretch, they have a tendency of getting down on themselves for a while. You have to straighten them out. Everybody makes mistakes.”

The Lions entered this game coming off a home 45-42…

A bowling ball in the form of Trevor Cooper, forward for the No. 23 Cottage Grove Lions (4-12), was let loose in the first quarter of their rivalry matchup against the No. 4 Marist Catholic Spartans (10-3). Cooper dropped 15 points in the period, using his massive frame to bump his opponents out of the way like they’re pins at the alley and grind out layups. Late in the quarter, Cooper missed a layup, got his own board, stayed patient and skied in the air for the tough finish that capped off a fine quarter for the Lions. 

Unfortunately, Cooper would leave the game with an injury in the third quarter, and Cottage Grove would fall 48-41.

“One, we didn’t rebound as good as we should have on the offensive side,” Lions head coach Seth Hutchison said. “You hate to look at injuries, but losing your best player in the second half and playing without them, you know. I’m pretty proud of these guys for just competing, playing their tails off against a really good, well-…

Bushnell women’s basketball entered Thursday’s game against Warner Pacific University trying to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Beacons opened the game with a layup from Maddie Gerhart and stayed aggressive early, as Ayden Krupke scored six points in the first quarter. Bushnell controlled possession throughout the opening period, but Warner Pacific led 13-6 and held a 17-15 lead at the end of the quarter.

Warner Pacific responded by starting off the second quarter with a layup by KJ Custer and quickly found momentum with five 3-pointers, with Shielteal Watah scoring three 3-pointers for the Knights in the quarter.

Bushnell struggled offensively, committing four turnovers and scoring only seven points, while Warner Pacific put up 24 points to take a 39-24 lead into halftime.

Things started looking up for the Beacons as they started the second half, scoring four points off the bat, leading with an aggressive start and continuously getting rebounds as…

EUGENE, ORE. — The Bushnell Beacons men's basketball team (9-9) faced off against the Warner Pacific Knights (5-13) on Thursday evening. The Beacons came in trying to defend their home, Dave Lipp Court at the Morse Center, riding a one-game win streak. The Knights came in trying to snap a seven-game losing streak. This was the final game between these teams and a rematch of the Dec. 6 game that saw the Beacons win 86-76.

After letting up an early 3, the Beacons responded with a Squeeky Johnson triple of their own. The action continued back and forth with an aggressive offense by both teams. After an early media timeout, the Beacons were leading 13-11 just over three minutes into the game.

The first half continued to be scrappy as the refs were not afraid to blow their whistles at contact. The fast game continued with each team getting points, but the Beacons were out-…

Matthew Knight Arena hosted a Big Ten clash of women's basketball with the Minnesota Golden Gophers packing their bags and heading to the west coast to take on the Oregon Ducks, in the last game of their road trip. The Golden Gophers came into the matchup looking to get back into the win column after losing to the Washington Huskies 67-54. For the Ducks, they were looking to bounce back in a big way after taking a crushing double-overtime loss to Wisconsin, 94-92. 

“That happens, it's part of the Big Ten… that makes it tough,” head coach Kelly Graves said of the impact of a tough game stacked with travel. “But I’m not gonna use that as an excuse, which is why I'll answer it in here and not to the players, but yeah that's always an issue.”

Heading into the match-up, Graves and the Ducks led the all-time series 3-0. The last time the two teams came across each other was in February of 2025 on Minnesota’s home court.

The game began with both teams struggling to…

Oregon women’s basketball went into Sunday's game after an astounding win against No. 21 USC, with the Ducks taking it 71-66. They also hoped to extend their win streak in the new year after beating Northwestern ten days prior. 

The Ducks began the game with a 3-point shot by Sofia Bell, and the Spartans shortly followed with a layup from Jalyn Brown. 

Bell continued leading Oregon’s offense, going 4-for-4 from distance during the first quarter and putting the first twelve points on the board for the Ducks. 

Katie Fiso also dominated the court and put up six points for the Ducks with three assists, along with Mia Jacobs, whose second-chance layup at the buzzer had Oregon leading 31-20.

In the second quarter, the Ducks once again led with a jumper by Sarah Rambus on a fast break. 

But the Spartans quickly reacted and went on the offense, scoring five points in a row with three steals and five turnovers. 

Both sides were…

EUGENE, Ore. – Bushnell trailed a winless Walla Walla team at halftime, entering the locker room down 44-38. For the Beacons, the moment demanded a spark. It came from redshirt sophomore Kaleb Burnett. Burnett picked up the pace after the break, attacking with confidence and starting a comeback that turned the tone of the game and the atmosphere inside the Morse Center.

Burnett's impact reached beyond the box score. During a half when every possession mattered, his enthusiasm changed the game's rhythm, forcing defensive adjustments and boosting the Beacons. For the sophomore, who seized the opportunity when his team most needed it, what had started out as a quiet first half became a pivotal period. It all changed when Burnett went into the locker room.

“I was just sitting in the locker room thinking this is just not me, this is not how I play,” Burnett said.

A second-half surge that changed the course of the game unfolded. Burnett shot 12-of-22 from the field and…

EUGENE, Ore. — Coming off a loss against Lewis-Clark State and breaking off their two-game win streak, Bushnell University put everything into its play to take down Walla Walla University 71-46. 

The Wolves started great in the first quarter, making the first points of the game with Brooklyn Coe's 3-pointer. 

But the Beacons didn’t let them stay in the lead for long, with Maddie Gerhart coming in and making all six of the first points, as Bushnell put up a strong defense against Walla Walla. 

The Beacons continued to keep the Wolves on their toes as they ended the first quarter with a 17-14 lead, a strong start after their loss.

From the get-go of the second quarter, the Beacons were hot, extending their lead to seven with 8:45 to play in the quarter. The Wolves struggled to keep up with their pace at the start of the quarter. 

Walla Walla was not doing well in the second quarter, with foul after foul called against them, and Coe…