McKenzie Sports Report – January 15
McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week
The McKenzie Varsity Basketball teams travel to Alsea on Tuesday, January 13. The Varsity Boys game is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm and the Varsity Girls game will follow with a 7:00 start. A Boys Junior Varsity game will precede at 4:00 pm. McKenzie hosts Eddyville Charter on Thursday, January 15. The Varsity Girls will tip off at 5:30 pm and the Varsity Boys follow at 7:00 pm. A Boys Junior Varsity game will precede and start at 4:30 pm.
The Eagle teams travel to Mapleton on Tuesday, January 20. The Varsity Boys game will tip-off at 5:30 pm and the Varsity Girls game starts at 7:00 pm.
Split On the Siletz
Eagle Boys Victorious, Girls Defeated
The McKenzie Varsity Basketball teams traveled the scenic route through beautiful Corvallis, home of the Beavers, last Tuesday, January 6, while on their path to Siletz. Siletz Valley, home of the Warriors, welcomed their Cascade visitors for a non-league contest.
The Eagle Boys rolled off the bus for the contest and kept the rollin’ goin’ to collect a 51-33 victory over their Coastal hosts. The nightcap featured the two schools’ Varsity Girls teams and the lady Warriors returned the favor by defeating their Eagle counters 33-16.
Dinner in Philomath on the backtrack home, late night arrival at Finn Rock and an early morning school start. Ah…, the life of a rural Class 1A student/athlete!
Old Rivals, McKenzie And Mohawk
Muscle Up In Non-league Clash
There were a lot of familiar faces in the Eagle gymnasium last Thursday, January 8. Some folks were from the McKenzie River Valley, some from the Mohawk River Valley, and some previously from the McKenzie River Valley and now from the Mohawk River Valley.
This mix of basketball folks made an old rivalry a bit more fun for the fans at least. Suspicion is, however, that it really didn’t matter that much to the athletes on the floor for the evening as that part of the story didn’t have much to do with the game plans of either team. And so it was that both boys teams (the girls game was postponed due to sickness) toed up and threw down an entertaining game.
The pace was fast, for the most part, and neither team showed off a really polished, disciplined offensive fast break, which adds to the turnover stat column and wildness of play. The visiting Mustangs definitely held a height advantage and it helped control rebounds, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court.
A close first quarter opened into a wide Mohawk lead that dissipated in the second quarter as the Eagles made a valiant run at their visiting rival. Mohawk held a slim lead going into the halftime break and Finn Rock faithful had hopes the local fire would burn hotter after the break. But alas, not to be as Mohawk came back fully recharged and methodically reestablished control.
McKenzie fought back hard and never considered folding the tents, often making small runs at the lead but just not enough to throw a good loop over the Mustangs and snub them down. Some of the local issue at hand was the height advantage held by the Mustangs, which basically shut down much of the Eagle inside attacks. When McKenzie did successfully penetrate the paint, the Mustang defensive pressure on the shooter forced several contested and missed shot attempts. Mohawk controlled the defensive rebounds and back up the court the other direction we go.
The Eagles tried to counter with many 3 point perimeter shots and those are always a crowd pleaser when they go down and the three shooters are connecting at least 35-40% of the attempts. But that wasn’t the luxury for the Eagle sharpshooters this time out and many shots were one and out, with no effective offensive rebounds.
In the end, the game was fun to watch and root for, but the spoils of victory went back on the bus to the Mohawk. Mustangs 62, Eagles 52. With the victory, Mohawk improved to 5-9 overall and McKenzie dropped to 3-7.
Birds Of A Feather Don’t Always
Fly Together, But Ione and Arlington Would Rather
That’s the cheesy headliner for the week, but it’s rooted in fact. The Ione Charter School Cardinals teamed up with the Arlington Community Charter School Honkers to form a co-op Girls Basketball team this season. And the integrated flock representing the Class 1A Big Sky League flew into Finn Rock fully intent on tangling with the hometown local Eagles.
The Cardinals easily showed their experience on court this evening with a roster of three seniors, four juniors, a sophomore and three freshman and they held a definite height advantage over their younger hosts. McKenzie’s roster has two seniors, a junior, two sophomores, and a couple of freshman.
Ione/Arlington opened up an early 13-4 first quarter lead, with Eagle senior Grace Weiss and teammate junior Liliana Jones each contributing one 2 point field-goal. The Cardinal attack didn’t let up, and even though many of Ione/Arlington’s shot attempts failed to find their mark, the visiting flock took the halftime break easily in charge at 24-6.
Eagle sophomore Claire Weiss contributed the lone second quarter field goal. The Big Sky visitors continued their dominance play by opening up a 39-14 third quarter score and wrapped up their night at the office with a final 55-19 win on the road.
For the Eagles, Liliana Jones led her teammates with 9 points scored followed by Claire Weiss with 6 points, Grace Weiss and sophomore Courtney Garrelts with 2 points each.
The Cardinals were led by senior Delaney Stefani with a game-high 16 points, senior Khira Kreitzer with 15 points, junior Brindlee Tucker with 12 points, sophomore Caydence Kreitzer with 6 points and freshman Hadley Steward who finished with 6 points. The game was a non-league contest and with the win, Ione/Arlington moved to 6-4 overall and the Eagles dropped to 2-7.