Sports Shorts

Junior varsity Eagles weather tough season

Junior varsity Eagles weather tough season

This year saw a tough, winless season, but the boys of the Snoqualmie Middle School junior varsity basketball teams didn’t give up.

Instead, coaches said the teams kept working hard, maintained a good attitude and made progress.

The seventh grade team was a scrappy bunch led by their guard play. Eli Clure was their top offensive weapon, with strong contributions from Jacob Flower and Trevor Clifton. The defense was led by Riley Dirks, with Spencer Ricks and Henry Dunn cleaning up.

The eighth grade team was short on eighth graders. Three players started the season and only two, Andy Hall and Connor Sparks, finished it. Several seventh graders had to fill out the roster and play against older boys with more experience.

The eighth grade team’s top defender was Omar Aiad, who also gave a solid offensive performance. Two seventh grade players, Zach Kirk and Jason Brown, led the offensive attack for the Eagles and Zach Gappa and Sam Rockow provided solid post and wing play.

With so many young players gaining basketball experience this season, the future looks bright. Coaches hope these boys continue to persevere and maintain their coachable attitudes.

Cascade girls battle way to state youth cup finals

The Cascade FC GU-96 girls select soccer team, coached by Jeremy Eisenman, made it to the finals of the Washington State Youth Soccer Association’s 2009 Challenge Cup.

The final match will be held on Saturday, May 9. The team beat the Columbia Timbers GU-96 Blue team from Vancouver, Wash., on Sunday, May 3, in Tukwila, to advance.

The 2009 Washington State Youth Soccer Association Challenge Cup started in early April and consisted of 28 teams from around the state playing in a three-game preliminary round. The Cascade FC GU-96 team was undefeated during the preliminary rounds. Advancing to the quarter finals, they played Saprissa, a Seattle City FC club, on Saturday, April 25, winning 1-0.

The Cascade FC GU-96 team includes Malia Barrett, Camilla Carpenter, Johanna Cranford, Julianna Foster, Lainie Gibbs, Natalie Hancock, Grace Howland, Emily Johns, Kiely Jones, Maddie Jones, Katherine Ramirez, Lauren Solene, Dharyanne “Dee” Springer-Simon, Zoe Virta, Jessy Wright, and “KK” Wallace.

For more information about the Cascade FC GU96 team, go to eteamz.active.com/g96cfc.