By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

DALLAS, Ore.–  With injuries to Brock Dunkin and Emilio Miranda, Dallas’ Coven Rotter knew how important for him, or any one on the squad, to be that guy to step up.

For Rotter, he was that guy, scoring 24 points, rebounded and just overall putting his body out there.  Having to leave the court twice in the second half due to cramps as the Dragons battled Putnam Saturday after at Dallas High School.

“It felt good and I felt like it was the right position because that’s where I’ve been planning on being this year.  Losing so many seniors, I’ve been planning on stepping up like that and I felt like today was me getting back into the rhythm of everything,” Rotter said.  “This (past) offseason was probably the biggest I’ve ever had.  It was probably the most physically demanding offseason I’ve had.  I’ve been in the gym almost every day, just working on my guard skills and being able to fill that void that I need this year.”

Pointing towards a Spring League he played in, Rotter made the move from post to guard and is slowly developing into a good little shooter for Dallas as he contributed ten points for the Dragons in Friday’s game against Glencoe.

And Saturday presented a new challenge for Dallas, who played against a good sharp-shooting Putnam team.  Battling and  keeping the game close in the first quarter tied at 10 and 12 and were a good run from making it close once more early in the fourth despite the 11 three-pointers they surrendered in the contest.

Coming off of their defeat to Glencoe, the feeling was that they made the positive step forward as they now prepare for McMinnville on Tuesday on the road before opening Mid-Willamette Conference play on December 13 at West Albany.

“Yesterday we definitely got into big foul trouble and today I felt like we did a little better with that on defense.  I think we executed a little better on the offense.  I felt like we were doing a little better, we got big steps that need to be taken to play McMinnville.  They’re a good team and need to definitely make some big steps in practice, but I think today was way better overall  than yesterday,” Rotter said.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald