McKenzie Sports Report – February 20
McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week
The McKenzie Varsity Girls basketball team travels to Crow on Tuesday, February 18, for a Mt. West League playoff game with Crow/City First Christian Academy. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.
The McKenzie Varsity Boys basketball team will host Mohawk on Tuesday, February 18, for a Mt. West League playoff game with Mohawk. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.
Laker Ladies Swamp Visiting Eagles
Triangle Lake routed visiting McKenzie, 51-18, and the Mt. West League third place Lakers improved their record to 6-4, 8-11 overall. McKenzie remained winless in MWL play, dropping to 0-9, and 1-18 overall.
The Eagles have one game remaining in the Regular Season, a 5:00 pm contest with Mapleton at Finn Rock, Monday, February 17. The Sailors currently hold down first place in the MWL standings with a 8-1 record, one game ahead of Mohawk, 8-2, which concluded its Regular Season with a 33-13 win over Eddyville Charter last Saturday, February 15, at Marcola. The hard charging Mustangs have fashioned an eight game win streak at just the right time and split the Regular Season with Mapleton. Mohawk lost the first game with Mapleton 26-47, but turned the tables at Marcola with a 36-34 victory. An Eagle victory over the Sailors, on Monday, would throw a knot in the MWL first place standings and you can bet the Mustang Orange and Black will be rooting for the Eagle Green and Gold.
The Sailors out of the Siuslaw country however arrive in Finn Rock as the obvious odds on favorites, having defeated McKenzie 55-21 back on January 21. It’s not quite baseball season (remember when the Eagles played that game?) but it is rally time, so come on down to the gym on Monday to support the Eagles and wear your favorite rally cap. Who can say what might transpire, there’s a lot of power in a collective of rally caps, and for sure, that’s why you always go ahead and play the game. Play Ball!
T. Lake and Mapleton Upend Improving Eagles
McKenzie may well be the best Mt. West League team with a losing record at the moment, although the Wolverines of Alsea might growl a bit about that. Alsea, Mohawk, Siletz Valley, and McKenzie all occupy the bottom of the MWL standings. Alsea finished the Regular Season with a 6-8 record and Mohawk wrapped up a 4-10 effort. Siletz Valley visits McKenzie on Monday, February 17, and to the victor will go a 4-10 record and to the loser, a 3-11 last place mark. You can bet the heat will be on in the gym on Monday. Might even have a playoff feeling about it as both teams play for good ‘ole fashioned’ school pride. You might consider joining the party!
Now back to why McKenzie might be the best of the bottom. These Eagles have been improving all season under the tutelage of McKenzie Head Coach Neil Barrett and his staff. The skill development has been evident which helped the Eagles compete tough at Triangle Lake, a 56-66 loss, and at home versus Mapleton, a 32-45 defeat. Both upper division teams, Mapleton earned second place in the Mt. West League, finishing its Regular Season with a 12-2 record and Triangle Lake (7-7) tied for third place with Crow/City First Christian Academy. Eddyville Charter won the MWL Regular Season Championship with a 13-1 record (the one, 28-35, loss came at Mapleton on Jan. 30).
So, two relative good efforts by the Eagles against two of the top MWL teams. Plus, McKenzie split with Mohawk this year and has the opportunity to split with Siletz Valley. But the best argument might be that this group of Eagle boy’s hoopers seems to be on the cusp of actually figuring out how to win the game. Coach Barrett and Co. have the practice sessions working positively on fundamentals and game strategies and the players have obviously bought in. But that’s not enough. This group of athletes now needs to embrace the magic that occurs when the ingredients blend smoothly to perfect the cake. That magic ‘oil’ is a healthy measure of confidence with a pinch of aggressive swagger stirred just right, baking five individual efforts into one fine production.
Late Rally Holds Off Warriors
Eagle Boys Win Regular Finale
Well, it wasn’t a smooth well-oiled effort, but the McKenzie Boys managed to find the right directions on a roadmap with an outline for a Mt. West League win and then to hold off an aggressive Siletz Valley Warrior team, fully bent on the same pathway. The prize at the end of the night’s journey would be earning the right to not end up in last place of the Mt. West League. And that was a big deal, full of school pride, for two schools that have spent past years at the other end of the spectrum, or should we say State standings!
Both the visiting Warriors and the Eagles tipped off Monday night at Finn Rock even up at 3-10 in League standings. To the Victor go the tiebreaker and the lift off the bottom deck and that distinction was hard-earned by the Eagles, who defeated a stubborn and resistant Warrior team, 49-43. McKenzie improved its record to 4-10 and Siletz dropped to a 3-11 record. For the sparse crowd helping celebrate McKenzie Senior night (honored seniors and family were Aytan Brown and Noah Prado) it was an entertaining game.
Siletz Valley hit the first bucket of the game but Eagle junior Allen Acevedo answered right back from downtown with a three-point shot. The Warriors scored on a layin to go up 4-3, but McKenzie’s Will Meister nailed a couple of back-to-back three-point shots to put McKenzie up by six and the home team increased the lead to 16-9 to close out the first quarter.
Siletz Valley came to play however and the Warriors fashioned a rally of their own, outscoring their hosts 11-4 in the second quarter. Knotted up even, the two teams retired to their respective locker rooms for halftime, tied at 20 apiece.
The contest heated up in the third quarter offensively for both teams and the back and forth action forced 3 tied scores keeping things interesting. The biggest separation came right before the sounding of the third quarter horn when Siletz Valley nailed a net only deep three to go up by four, 35-31. McKenzie’s Noah Prado followed by hitting his only shot of the evening, another fine three-point shot that energized his Eagle teammates and following a free-throw (1-2) by Masonn Burton, the game was again knotted up, this time at 35.
The Warriors had some long distance in their bag of tricks as well, hitting a deep three, but Will Meister tied it up at 38 with a three shot of his own. McKenzie had the momentum and refused to look back at that point and proceeded to outscore the Warriors 18-10 in the final quarter to win by six, 49-43.
Allen Acevedo led his team with 12 points scored and was the lone Eagle to finish in double figures. But the rest of the team finished pretty balanced as Noah Borden, Masonn Burton, and Will Meister all finished with 9 points. Ayton Munoz Brown scored 5 points, Noah Prado finished with 3 points, and Amir Enfield and Jacob Peek each finished with 1 point. Luke Case led the Warriors with 15 points.
Mapleton Drubs McKenzie 55-14
The Mt. West League’s top team didn’t waste any time in letting host McKenzie know who was in charge on the court, last Monday, February 17. It was Senior Night at Finn Rock and the Eagles paid tribute to their lone lady senior player, Becka Short and her family. Then it was on to the tip and Sailor time.
Mapleton scored 21 points in the opening quarter and Eagle sophomore Liliana Jones scored her team’s 4 points. At the halftime break, the score clock read Mapleton 38 and McKenzie 6, thanks to 2 more points by Jones.
Following the Break, the Sailors continued their onslaught, outscoring McKenzie 19-2. Third quarter score: Mapleton 57, McKenzie 8 (2 points scored by Eagle freshman Claire Weiss).
With the game well in hand and the mercy clock running without stopping except for foul shots, the Sailors didn’t score in the fourth and McKenzie added 6 points with Jones scoring 4 points, Weiss and sophomore teammate Sapana Mitchell-Chavez each scoring 1 point. Jones finished with 10 points, Weiss with 3 points and Mitchell-Chavez with 1 point.
Final Score: Mapleton 55 and McKenzie 14. Mapleton finishes the Mt. West League Regular Season as the 2025 Champion and current 8-1, 13-8 record. McKenzie is currently 0-9, 1-18.