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Friday, May 18, 2012
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Central’s Chan Bal gets away from Newport’s Oshay Dunmore in the teams’ first meeting earlier this season in Newport.
February 22, 2012
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Central defeated Newport 62-42 in Tuesday's Oregon West Conference finale to capture the regular-season title with a perfect 10-0 record. The Panthers carry the No. 1 seed into Saturday's 6 p.m. Class 4A play-in game against Junction City, the No. 4 seed from the Sky-Em League at Central High School. The winner of that game will advance to the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs on March 3.
INDEPENDENCE -- With the way that the Class 4A No. 1-ranked Central boys basketball team has rolled through the regular season, it's easy to point to 6-foot-4 senior all-everything forward Tanner Omlid as the reason for all of the success.
Omlid is a big reason -- but he knows another that might be even more important.
"Look at the Knicks," Omlid, who leads the 20-1 Panthers with a solid 21 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, said. "As soon as they got a point guard, they started winning, and everything revolves around that."
Except he wasn't just talking about Jeremy Lin, the unlikely hero -- who has caused a recent media frenzy -- for the NBA's New York Knicks.
Sophomore point guard Chan Bal -- in his first season as a varsity starter -- has had his own breakout season in which to make headlines.
"Unless you're a basketball person, you kind of don't realize that without a point guard, we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing right now, having Tanner or not," Central coach Bob McBeth said.
"Without a point guard out there, you're not going to be able to have a season like we've had."
Bal currently averages 13.4 points, four assists and just 2.5 turnovers per game, and has eased into the role as the primary floor leader nearly seamlessly this season.
It could be surprising to some to know that this is his first crack at it.
The sophomore said he was ready for it from Game 1 -- or just after it.
"Actually, the first game, I was really nervous," Bal said with a laugh. "But after that, that all went away and I was like, `You know what, everyone has to play the same part that I do,' so I just went out and played."
His lack of turnovers and improved defense have paid dividends for the Panthers, who had a big rematch Tuesday after press time with No. 5 Newport, a team they beat by 37 points a little over two weeks ago.
But his confident outside shooting -- bolstered by "600 to 700" shots a day in summer workouts -- has stretched defenses and lessened the load for Omlid, bound for West Point next season.
"It's been a nice transition," Omlid said. "It feels like nothing has changed. I feel like Chan can hit the 3 more consistently and I like having him to rely on; it takes the pressure off."
No matter what the outcome of Tuesday's Oregon West Conference finale, the Panthers will most likely take the league's top seed into Saturday's 4A play-in game, where they will likely host the No. 4 seed from the Sky-Em League, Junction City, McBeth said.
The Panthers needed to beat Newport in order to win the OWC title outright, however. If the Cubs won, the teams share it.
Omlid -- who won a state title as a sophomore -- said whatever the road, his team will be ready.
"I've been waiting for this season for about 18 years now so I'm not going to give it up easy," he said.
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