![MORE THAN A GAME. With two diving catches in the outfield, the Lions showed up defensively, aiding in their victory over the Pacers. One catch was made by Atwood, and the other by McGraw. Throughout the game, the Lions knew that it wasn’t just about their victory today. “I think [playing for cancer] makes it bigger than just a game,” McGraw said. “Knowing that you have a bigger impact in this world than just who you are as one person.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/I70A1454-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Students in the National Art Honor Society work on the Mount Hood mural on the window of SouthLake Church. The students brought a variety of paints and mixed their own custom colors. “Instead of brushstrokes, we’re doing more dabbing, because it gives [a] better impression of tree foliage, rather than looking like actual brush strokes, because if we’re painting trees, we need it to look like trees,” Crawford said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_2397-1200x900.jpg)
West Linn basketball coach wins Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year
A 10-0 league record along with a state championship won Eric Viuhkola, West Linn Basketball Coach, his second consecutive Coach of the Year award.
Viuhkola deserved coach of the year, he made the team stronger and he put them in the right spots to succeed, according to Payton Pritchard, sophomore, point guard and OSAA player of the year
“Its good just because we had a really great season and a successful year, but the award itself doesn’t mean that much,” Viuhkola said. “Knowing we accomplished our goal this year with a great group of young men-it was a dream season.”
The second consecutive state title put to rest the theory that West Linn won on luck last year.
“Us winning the state title for the second year in a row proves it was not a fluke because there were a lot of people that felt we got lucky last year,” Viuhkola said. “I felt that this year we proved we were the best team in 6A and in Oregon. I think that we only had one game where we were only up 10 points against 6A competition.”
Viuhkola gave the credit to his team for pulling together and staying loyal.
“One thing I am proud of about our program is that the last two years every guy except one has been through our youth program, came to our camps and clinics,” Viuhkola said. They’re West Linn guys, we only had one transfer and I am really proud that all our guys have grown up around here and have been through all our camps and programs.”
Every year the basketball team tries something new but essentially they keep the core foundation the same, according to Viuhkola.
“We try to maximize what are strengths are. Different years we will put in different sets, we will change are style a little bit. The core stays the same but we try to make some adjustments just to fit our personnel,” Viuhkola said.
The team members want to win another state title but they just want to be playing their best, to be playing hard, smart and together in the end, according to Viuhkola.
“We’ll take our chances and I think that we’ll maybe have a shot of doing it again,” Viuhkola said.
Viuhkola deserved coach of the year, he made the team stronger and he put them in the right spots to succeed, according to Payton Pritchard, sophomore, point guard and OSAA player of the year
“Our coach pushed us everyday in practice, he is a great leader and motivator, he knows how to make everyone play to their full potential,” Pritchard said. “He expected nothing from the best from us and always kept us on our toes.”
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An active and intelligent person, Kyle Cannelos, sophomore, is a person who aspires to achieve greatness. Cannelos enjoys writing about current events...
![MORE THAN A GAME. With two diving catches in the outfield, the Lions showed up defensively, aiding in their victory over the Pacers. One catch was made by Atwood, and the other by McGraw. Throughout the game, the Lions knew that it wasn’t just about their victory today. “I think [playing for cancer] makes it bigger than just a game,” McGraw said. “Knowing that you have a bigger impact in this world than just who you are as one person.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/I70A1454-1-600x400.jpg)
