McKenzie Sports Report – January 22
McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week
The McKenzie Varsity Boys and Girls Basketball teams travel to Mapleton on Tuesday, January 20. The Eagle Varsity Boys tip-off at 5:30 pm and the Varsity Girls game is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
Triangle Lake travels to McKenzie on January 22 with the Varsity Boys game scheduled for 5:30 pm and the Varsity Girls game at 7:00 pm. A Boys Junior Varsity game will precede both Varsity games, scheduled for a 4:00 pm start.
The McKenzie teams travel to Mohawk on Tuesday, January 27. The Varsity Boys game will start at 5:30 pm and the Varsity Girls game begins on 7:00 pm. A Boys Junior Varsity game precedes with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 pm.
Eagle Boys Lose A Couple
The McKenzie Varsity Boys Basketball team lost its first counting Mt. West League contest this past Tuesday, January 13. This season the eight Mt. West League teams play each other twice, but only one of the contests count towards the Mt. West League standings. All other games scheduled are non-league.
The Eagles traveled to Alsea last Tuesday for the MWL opener for both teams. The Wolverines, always a tough team at home in their iconic gymnasium, foiled McKenzie’s hope to halt their current losing streak, with a 69-48 victory over the Eagles.
McKenzie teams returned to their non-league schedule on Thursday, January 15, when they entertained the Eddyville Charter Eagles. Eddyville Charter, currently tied at the top of the MWL standings with Mohawk and Mapleton at 1-0 and the lone MWL team with a winning record (11-3), easily defeated McKenzie (0-1, 3-9) 53-27.
Eddyville Charter is ranked 12th in the latest OSAA Class 1A Boys Rankings. There are 74 Class 1A teams ranked and other than Eddyville Charter, no other Mt. West League team is ranked higher than 40th and that is the Triangle Lake Lakers. Siletz Valley is ranked 74th and McKenzie is at 60th.
McKenzie Girls Play Hard, But Still Hard To Earn A Win
The Eagle Varsity Girls team is learning the game of basketball from McKenzie Head Coach David Duncan. Duncan returned as the Eagle head mentor this season, after a few years’ hiatus, to develop and guide a young, fundamentally unskilled team. Also, the Eagle roster shows just seven girls participating this season.
With those numbers, even effective practice sessions are tough to manage. For example, running a full 5-person offense against a full defense is not possible. That being said, Duncan’s team has shown progress in learned basic skills. But as a total package, despite the positive progress, the wins at game time haven’t showed up yet. Not enough spit yet for a good polish!
The Eagle ladies traveled to Alsea on Tuesday, January 13, to see if they could stay with the MWL leading Alsea Wolverines, 2-0. The Wolverines, ready to open the MWL counting games with a win, erased all Eagle notions of a hopeful upset with a dominant 67-15 victory.
Two days later, back at their friendly hardwood confines in Finn Rock, McKenzie welcomed the Eddyville Charter Eagles for a non-league contest. Like McKenzie, Eddyville was coming off an opening League loss, 24-27 to Siletz Valley. Unfortunately for the host Eagles, the visiting Eagles won the night, 49-28.
So this is the part of the season schedule where all the games count towards Mt. West League standings, Championships, and State Playoff berths. Critical times for the teams vying for post season action. McKenzie’s next four games versus Mapleton, Triangle Lake, Mohawk, and Crow are all League counters. Hardly an easy pathway to victory, but hard times develops character. It’s not hard to imagine if these Eagle girls continue to play hard that seemingly elusive victory may not be so hard to attain.