Jnuary 17, 2016

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Basketball teams travel to Alsea on Tuesday, January 12. The Girls game is scheduled for a 5:30 pm. tip-off, followed by the Boys game, starting at 7:00 pm. Friday, January 15, the teams host Triangle Lake. The Girls start the evening with a 5:30 pm. start, again followed by the Boys at 7:00 pm.

McKenzie Mauls Mohawk, 44-8

McKenzie moved into third place in the Mt. West League standings with a rout of the Mohawk Indians, at least temporarily. The Eagles, Tuesday, January 6, improved their MWL record to 2-1 and 5-8 overall, and Eagle Head Coach David Duncan could plan two practices to prepare his team for the Warriors of Siletz Valley Early College Academy on Friday.

The Warriors with a League record of 2-0, Tuesday, were a half game behind Triangle Lake and Lowell tied with a perfect 3-0 record. The Eagles, coming off a tough Holiday tournament schedule that saw the team drop 4 out of 5 games on the road, needed a shot in the arm going into the rest of the MWL schedule. Hopefully the win versus their old round ball nemesis, the Indians, provided just that.

The McKenzie defense held host Mohawk to no points in the first quarter, but the Eagles scored just 8 points to counter. McKenzie opened the game up a bit in the second quarter, outscoring Mohawk 16-4 to establish a 24 to 4 lead at halftime. The Eagles continued to push the lead after the break, scoring 15 points in the third quarter while holding the Indians to a single free throw. McKenzie finished the final period outpointing Mohawk 5-3.

But she (the Eagle win) 'weren't pretty'. McKenzie shot just 29% from the field, successfully making 19 of their 65 shot attempts. Free-throw percentage wasn't much better as they made 6 of 18 attempts for 33%. The Eagles also committed 16 turnovers.

Senior Jorden Smith and freshman Jade Hayes shared game high point honors as both athletes scored 12 points each. Hayes put together a nice game as she also hauled down 10 rebounds to record the double-double. Add in 4 assists, 6 steals, and 5 turnovers, the Eagle wing player was in all aspects of the game. Smith added 5 boards, an assist and 1 steal.

Idgie Williams was the third Eagle to score in double figures as she finished with 10 points, plus 6 rebounds, an assist and 5 steals. Paige Lowry tallied 5 points, grabbed 4 boards, dished out 2 assists, and stole the ball 3 times. Kanyen Kamrath scored 4 points, added a rebound, had 2 assists and a steal, Miyanna Hayes, fighting an injury, had 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals, Hailee Lowry scored 1 point and had a rebound, and Katelynn Caulley had 1 board.

Warrior Women Waltz Over Exasperated Eagles

Siletz Valley Early College Academy, the Warriors, traveled the long road from the Oregon Coast to the McKenzie Valley last Friday, January 8, to meet the Lady Eagles in a Mt. West League basketball game. The Warriors arrived confident, sporting a 2-0 MWL record and riding a five game winning streak. McKenzie, the previous Tuesday, had ended a three game losing streak with a rout of Mohawk. But Siletz snapped any thoughts on the Eagles extending their new streak as they defeated the home team 56-27.

The two teams appeared ready to battle down to the wire at the start of the contest and the Warriors held a slim 12-7 lead after the first quarter. But the troubles began in the second quarter for McKenzie as they were able to score just 2 points and the Warriors extended their lead to 24-14 at the halftime break.

Despite McKenzie senior Jorden Smith's 9-point effort and freshman Jade Hayes' 5-point, 14 rebounds, and 8 steals, the Eagle's could not mount a serious challenge in the second half. With the loss, McKenzie's Mt. West League record dropped to 2-2, and the Eagles enter the new week in fourth place behind Lowell (4-0), Triangle Lake and Siletz Valley (both 3-0). Mohawk, Alsea, and Mapleton (all 1-3) and Eddyville Charter (0-4) round out the rest of the League. No other Eagle stats were available at press time.

Eagles Flounder On The Mohawk

The Mohawk Boys Basketball team took care of business at home last Tuesday, January 6. The Indians walloped the visiting McKenzie Eagles, 64-24. It was the seventh straight defeat for McKenzie Head Coach David Duncan's team. The losing streak is the longest for McKenzie since their 2013-14 season in which the Eagles suffered through fifteen straight defeats en route to a 7-18 overall season record. Two of the biggest issues for the McKenzie team, poor shooting and turnovers, both reared their ugly heads once again. This time the Eagles turned the ball over to their opponent 36 times and offensively McKenzie made only 10 shots out of 42 attempts.

Senior Drew Hamlow led his team in scoring and rebounds, the Eagle wing played finishing with 9 points, 10 boards, 2 assists and 7 turnovers. Freshman Danny Quirk scored 6 points, had 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 steals and a turnover. Codee Clark added 5 points, 6 boards and 3 turnovers, Matt Brownlee scored 3 points, added 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 6 turnovers, and James Rimmer scored 2 points, had 10 rebounds, and committed a team high 8 turnovers. Jermiah McGlasson hauled in 4 rebounds, had 3 assists and 4 turnovers, Malakai Taylor-Ide had 1 board and 4 turnovers, and Cason Cline finished with 3 turnovers.

Siletz Skates Smoothly Over Sliding Eagles

The Warriors of Siletz Valley may have one of the top 1A boys basketball teams in the State. At least Siletz Head Coach David Morgan thinks so and the Warriors made a strong case of support for their coach as they shredded host McKenzie 70-24, maintaining a perfect 3-0 Mt. West League record and keeping pace with League leader Lowell, who is at 4-0. Siletz beat McKenzie in all aspects of the game.

Offensively the Warriors ran a smooth, unselfish fast break, capitalizing off McKenzie turnovers and lack of rebounding. The Siletz half court offense was just as devastating as they easily penetrated the Eagle defense for layups and effective long range shooting. Defensively, the Warriors swarmed the Eagles with a tough man to man defense and when McKenzie put a shot in the air, Siletz attacked the rim for the rebound, usually forcing the Eagles into a one and done shot attempt. Siletz was led by senior Angel DeAnda, who with 20 points scored, almost outscored McKenzie single-handed. Warrior sophomore Clayton Goodell added 16 points.

Eagle senior Drew Hamlow just missed a double-double as he scored 8 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. McKenzie, with a current Mt. West League record of 1-3, is in a three-way tie for fifth place with Mohawk and Eddyville Charter.

Following League leader Lowell, Triangle Lake is tied with Siletz Valley at 3-0, and Mapleton sits in fourth place at 2-2. Alsea (0-4) rounds out the League standings. No other Eagle stats were available at press time.

McKenzie River Reflections