Wildcats Hoop it Up

by: Joey Kennedy

Basketball season has started at Willow Canyon. The boys’ varsity basketball team is ready to be­gin their new season with months of preparation and conditioning finally starting to pay off.

Senior Deion Giddens dunks at the winter assembly.

The varsity team is out looking for redemption from a sub-par season last year. “We have been working hard in the gym,” said senior captain Deion Crockom. “Practice makes perfect.”

For the team coming off of a season with just eight wins, the boys of Willow have come out firing.

At the scrimmage, the Wildcats faced off against the Mustangs of Sunrise Mountain. In an impressive showing, the Wildcat’s scored 75 points. While there was room for improvement, it was definitely a better kick off to the season than last year’s performance.

Led by Crockom, senior captain Emery Range, and senior Deion Giddens, the Wildcat boys set their sights high this season, looking for a state championship.

Their first tournament was held at Paradise Valley High School November 23-27. The first game of the tournament was against North Canyon High School. The Wildcat’s were down early with a score of 24 to 18 at the end of the first half. Willow fought back in the second half on a run started by Crockom’s three-point shot; the Wildcats won the first tourna­ment game with a score of 39 to 38.

In the second game the Wildcat’s faced off against Paradise Valley and won to advance them further into the tournament.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats lost their remaining two games to Pinnacle and Arcadia. They finished the tournament in fourth place and will meet both of their losses again before their season is over.

The varsity Wildcats have transformed them­selves from an eight win team to a state champion­ship contender. “We are going to state baby!” said Range. Come out and support the Willow Canyon Wildcat varsity basketball team.

Support Former Wildcat

by: Kayla McGee

Willow Canyon’s football team and cheerleading squads hosted a car wash to raise money to support former Willow Canyon offensive lineman, Josue Howerton, who graduated in 2009. The car wash was held on Saturday, October 30 at Paradise Bakery in Surprise.

Howerton, who now attends Glendale Community College, was rushed to the hospital on September 28 after breaking his leg in two places during the first quarter of a football game. While in the hospital, his home was bro­ken into by thieves, his posses­sions were stolen, and he was also diagnosed with pneumonia as a result of the surgery on his legs.

A week earlier, Howerton’s father was checked into the hos­pial and had been in a coma on life support during this time. Howerton’s father later passed away.

Football Coach Hudnutt said, “We are hoping to raise as much money as we possibly can for this poor family. This was an unwel­come tragedy what happened to this boy.”

Freshman and Junior Varsity cheerleader Iris Saunders said, “This is a very important cause, and every Willow Canyon stu­dent should have sympathy for our former student and friend.” Saunders knew the Howerton family personally.

Cheerleading Coach Danielle Prassas said, “We all hope and pray that we raise as much money as we can to give to this family.”

A benevolence fund through Chase Bank has been set up to assist the Howerton family with medical costs. More information about this fund and donations towards it can be obtained from Coach Hudnutt or Coach Prassas.

Gidden Earns Scholarship to Cornell

by: Joey Kennedy

Senior Deion Giddens ac­cepted an offer last month from Cornell University to play college basketball. Giddens has been highly pursued as a col­lege prospect; before deciding on Cornell he had offers from other universities such as: Utah, Washington State, Boise State, Northern Arizona, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Lamar, Texas-San Antonio, Columbia, Princeton, Bucknell and Houston Baptist.

Last year was Giddens’ first year at Willow Canyon. It was his first year in the United States, as he had spent the last eight years in Germany. His efforts would even­tually lead to his scholarship at a division 1 college. Giddens aver­aged 8.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game last year.

“I feel great about my deci­sion,” said Giddens. “I can’t wait until I get to play in college and experience what college is going to be like. I feel like Cornell is the best place to get an education and play some college ball at a higher level.”

Cornell is a prestigious Ivy League school located in New York. Giddens, a 6’10’’ center, was discovered during summer ball while playing in tournaments with the AAU team, the Arizona Magic. Giddens said, “They brought their head coach, liked what they saw and offered me [a scholarship].”

He was offered the scholar­ship not only for his exceptional ability on the basketball court but also for his hard work in the class­room. Giddens has maintained a GPA of 4.4.

In addition to athletics and academics, Giddens is also a tuba player in the Willow Canyon Wildcat Marching Band.

 

WCHS Wrestlers Take the Mats

by: Patricia Guebara

Both boys and girls wrestlers are preparing three days a week for their upcoming season. Successful wrestlers need to train for both discipline and high lev­els of anaerobic power in both the arms and the legs as well as ex­cellent strength endurance.

Coach Miguel Galindo said, “My job is to teach wrestling to the athletes while instilling in them a sense of self pride. I help them self-reflect on how much they have grown as a wrestler and how much they still can grow.”

Coach Galindo has been pre­paring the team for the upcoming season. “It’s the sense of knowing that I give my knowledge of the sport to future generations; that’s why I give my time to coach.”

He has been coaching since 2006 and expects “respect, good attitude, hard work, play hard and [to] learn as much as they can.” Coach Galindo also said, “I ex­pect small successes from each of our wrestlers, with an overall suc­cess from team unity.”

First time captain senior Ron Bergeron is also working hard to be physically fit for the season. Bergeron said, “I think it’s go­ing to go good; a lot of guys are working hard, and there’s a lot of talent and potential.”

Bergeron started wrestling his freshmen year because his step-dad said it would be good, but when he started he never knew he would love the sport. In addi­tion, he said, “Just come out and support the team; they work hard every day, and they really would enjoy the support so come out.”

Another first year captain and senior Cole Horsch said, “A lot of kids work, and when they put their minds to it they can go far.” He said wrestling helps him stay out of trouble and that’s always a positive. Horsch started wres­tling in the seventh grade. His dad and football coach pushed him to do more activities, and that’s when he became interested in wrestling.

The wrestling seaons starts November 7. Come out and sup­port your Wildcat wrestling team.

Swim Team Season Wrap Up

by: Briana Briggs

The Willow Canyon swim team competed against Bolder Creek at the Surprise Pool Wednesday, October 13.

Coach Anna Flores said, “The swimmers try to improve their timing from each meet from before; they strive to do their best when competing.”

Ms. Flores’ top swimmers and divers are fresh­man Matthew Olloren and junior Monicka Olloren, junior Korynne Rollins, and junior Nate Zillweger. All the swim members must stretch and practice be­fore each meet.

Everyone is assigned in teams for different strokes, races and dives, all of which takes time to execute. For the IM event senior Joel Baker-Hecsh and junior Monicka Olloren came in first place with flying colors as they were ahead several stokes.

For the Wildcat divers, junior Korynne Rollins and junior Nate Zillweger placed first with their well-performed dives looking flawless.

Invitationals were October 29 and 30 at Glendale Community College and state is November 5 and 6. “The swim team is like a family, and I am going to miss them when I graduate this year,” said captain senior Sami Tengberg.

 

Cross Country

Sophomore Ryan Kistler is very committed to his team. Coach Ward advises athletes that want to be athlete of the month in the future to watch Kistler and learn from his example. “I picked cross country because I did good in track and I enjoy running.” His best score was 8.15 on a three mile, and he very proud of him­self for that.

Volleyball

Junior Logan Carpenter feels like she always gives every­thing she has at every practice and game. Carpenter started playing volleyball with her older sister and absolutely fell in love. Carpenter is a fierce competitor who always looks for the win. Her goals for the season are to im­prove herself as a player, and help the team improve themselves.

Football

Junior Streeter Turner loves football because it’s a contact sport. Turner said, “I play football because it takes natural talent.” Turner is a varsity football play­er. Turner had a 116 return yards and 6 tackles against West View High School at the season opener. Turner is one of the varsity team captains this year.

Cheer

Junior Courtney Maurer started cheerleading in the sixth grade, and she had to give up dancing so that she could start cheer. This is when it became a major part of her life. “As a captain, I feel its my job to always give my all no matter what the circumstance.” Maurer has many goals for her team. She wants the team to achieve and develop tighter jumps and motions.

Swim

Senior Holli Trentowski said, “I just love the water, and my friends are always telling me I’m just like a fish.” Trentowski started swim her freshman year. Her best score was 31 seconds for a 50 freestyle, and she is now working very hard to get it under 30. Trentowski says swim creates a lot of good memories for her which is just one of the many rea­sons why she loves it.

Girl's Golf

Senior Diane McGhee was the first place medalist against Valley Vista’s golf team. “I picked golf because not many people play, and it is a wonderful sport. McGhee was number one this year which she said made her love for golf only grow stronger. McGee started to play golf for the very first time her junior year and she has absolutely loved it ever since. Her best score was a 50.

Boy's Golf

Sophomore Ty Rocha said, “I like golf because it’s fun.” Rocha started playing golf when he was five years old and has loved it ever since. Rocha’s fa­vorite thing about golf is the chal­lenge. His best score is 36 on a 9 hole and a 80 on a 18 hole. Ty said, “The goals for me are to im­prove and get better and become more of a team player.”

Willow Canyon’s First Home Game Ends in Defeat, 42-0

Varsity football's first home game was played on Friday,
September 10 with the final score of 42-0

By: Dominic Padula

The Willow Canyon Wildcat’s football team played their first home game on Friday September 10 against Centennial High School but came out with a loss.

Willow Canyon kicked off to start the game with kicker senior Jordan Stangler making a touchback. Centennial threw together a quick drive for a touchdown, making the score 7-0. Centennial’s first play ended in sack made by sophomore Adonis Hernandez and senior Ronald Oglesby.

Centennial was able to overcome that sack and make another touchdown, making the score 14-0. On the kickoff, junior Streeter Turner made a nice return of twenty-seven yards. To end out the first quarter the Wildcats gained thirty yards on the ground which would end out the first quarter with a score of 14-0, Centennial in the lead.

The second quarter started with Willow having the ball, and senior Garrick Shelton gaining twenty yards on the run. Unfortunately for Willow, the drive stalled out with a field goal attempt that was no good. The score remained 14-0. When Centennial got the ball back, Willow was able to force a fumble with Willow Canyon picking it up.

The Wildcat’s picked up an important third down on this drive with a 15-yard completion from Stangler to Turner for the first down. The drive would unfortunately stall out, and the field goal attempt was blocked which Centennial ran back for the touchdown, making the score 21-0. This ended the half.

Willow received the ball at the beginning of the second half which stalled out and turned into a punt by Stangler. Centennial received the ball but fumbled it on the third play, which turned into Willow’s ball. The drive ended in another missed field goal, and Centennial took over. Their drive only took two plays, one 40-yard pass and a 30-yard pass for the touchdown. Centennial was in the lead 28-0.

Centennial put together another quick touchdown, mak­ing the score 353-0. Willow received the ball and started driving, including a ten yard pass from Stangler to junior Joey Kennedy. This ended the third quarter

The fourth quarter started with Stangler gaining 25 yards on the quarterback keeper. Centennial marched down the field for one last touchdown, which ended the game 42-0 and a Centennial win.