November 7, 2013

Watchmen Timely Win Sets Eagle Post-Season Time Out

The Eagles had knowledge going in that the C.S. Lewis Academy was an opponent they dare not overlook. A scouting report made it quite clear that the Watchmen had an outstanding player in 6’2” senior player Mikaela Raudsepp. Raudsepp reputedly has a remarkable volleyball resume and is looking forward to playing Division 1 college ball on scholarship at Wichita State next season. What also was made clear was that the Watchmen set Raudsepp the majority time for her high, straight down kill hits and that she could hit effectively from anywhere on the court. Raudsepp made it abundantly apparent that the scouting report was accurate. What wasn’t as clear was that the rest of the team wasn’t too bad either and complemented their star very well. The McKenzie girls put up a decent fight, battling all four sets right up to the end, even sparking the home crowd with a gutsy third set win. The Eagles had a game plan and got the fans going with some impressive blocks, digs, and kills of their own, but the bottom line was Coach Dan Brenner’s team strayed from the game plan just enough that Raudsepp very capably provided the difference with her monster hits and stellar defense. McKenzie lost the match in four sets, 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, and 16-25. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they also lost their post season opportunities with the upset, finishing the season with a fine 20-8 overall record and a final OSAA State 7th ranking. C.S. Lewis moved on to a OSAA State second round match at Imbler on Sat., Nov. 2. Mt. West League Champion Lowell, having earned a bye in the First Round, hosted Ione, winner over City Christian, on Sat., Nov. 2 at Lowell. Crow, the third seed out of the Mt. West League, fell to Yoncalla in three straight sets, and are thus also finished for the season.

Senior Makaila Hiddleston led her team in kills with 14, but only three other teammates recorded kills in the match. Katey Totten and Buggy Hiddleston each tallied 11 kills and Tamera Satchell added 5 more kills. Mt. West Most Outstanding Player Ayshia Seiler had 36 assists in the match. The Eagles served a total of 8 aces in the 4 set match with Seiler accounting for 3 aces, Buggy Hiddleston served two and Shyla Harlan and Makaila Hiddleston each had 1 ace. Defensively, McKenzie was led by Makaila Hiddleston with 20 digs and 3 monster blocks of the Watchmen star Raudsepp. Sister Buggy Hiddleston added one more block and contributed 11 digs. Totten was very effective as well defensively as she tallied 14 digs. Harlan was credited with 9 digs, Seiler had 8 digs, Satchell and Alyda Mathews had 4 apiece and Kailyn Ringler added 1 dig.

McKenzie Feels The Payne, Sacked By Yoncalla

The McKenzie Eagle Varsity Football Team rushed for a team total 255 yds. against home host Yoncalla Eagles last Friday, Nov. 1. Yoncalla’s outstanding senior running back, Geoff Payne showed why he is the State’s leading 1A rusher as he individually totaled 302 yds. on the ground. Payne only carried the ball 11 times for an average of 27.46 yds. per carry, scoring 7 TDs. Yoncalla (8-2) outscored McKenzie (1-8) 82 to 42 in the last regular season Mt. West League game for both teams. Yoncalla, had won only 13 games in the last decade before this remarkable turnaround season and was rewarded this week by the Oregon National Guard with its Oregon Team of the Week Award. Payne, playing both sides of the ball, also showed off his defensive skills as he led all tacklers in the game with 20 tackles, all solo. McKenzie’s senior quarterback, Bailey Adams passed for 163 yds. and 3 TDs on 6 completions out of 25 attempts. Adams also threw 3 interceptions and was sacked by the Yoncalla defense 5 times. Senior Casey Mitchell caught 3 passes for 87 yds. and 2 TDs, junior Eric Huffman hauled in 2 passes good for 57 yds. and 1 TD and Drew Hamlow caught a pass for 19 yds. Adams led all McKenzie rushers with 131 yds. on 24 carries, scoring 2 TDs. Mitchell carried 12 times for 74 yds., Huffman rushed 9 times for 37 yds. and a TD, and Chance Hamlow carried the ball 5 times for 13 yds. McKenzie had 14 first downs to Yoncalla’s 8. Defensively, Mitchell set the pace for his team with 14 total tackles, 6 solo. Adams was credited with 11 tackles, 6 solo and Huffman earned 10 tackles, 4 solo. Jeffrey Bayer had 7 total tackles, 2 solo, Jorden Smith had 5 tackles, 2 solo, Lane Kruse was credited with 4 tackles, 2 solo, Drew Hamlow 3 tackles, 2 solo, and Dillon Garr had 2 tackles, 1 solo.

LCC Hosts OSAA State Cross Country Championships

Lane Community College once again was the site of the OSAA State Cross Country Championships on Sat., Nov. 2. In the 3A/2A/1A Boys Race, Valley Catholic from Beaverton won first place team honors with 74 pts. followed by Union out of Eastern Oregon who scored 104 pts. The 2013 3A/2A/1A Champion was David Ribich representing Enterprise/Joseph/Wallowa with a winning time of 15:58. Zach Bellew from Creswell was second in a time of 16:11. Taylor Ball of Oakridge finished 13th in 17:23 and Joseph Faletti claimed 14th with a time of 18:25. In the Girl’s race, Union took first place team honors with 35 pts. and St. Marys out of Medford was second with 108 pts. Individually, McKenzie Evens of Union beat her teammate, Katriel O’Reilly to claim the Championship. Evens winning time was 18:42 and O’Reilly finished in 19:03. Brittni Gibson of Oakridge finished the race in 32nd place with a time of 21:30.

OSAA 1A State Volleyball Playoff Update

Lowell, currently ranked #1 in OSAA State Volleyball rankings, defeated Ione in 3 straight sets in the Second Round and will meet #9 ranked Country Christian next Friday, Nov. 8, at the OSAA 1A State Quarterfinals held at Ridgeview High School in Redmond. Country Christian earned its berth by defeating Crane in a 5 set match at Crane. Other matchups will feature #5 Portland Lutheran versus #4 Condon/Wheeler, #6 St. Paul versus #3 Imbler, and #8 Trinity Lutheran versus #2 Dufur. The Championship will be decided on Sat., Nov. 9. Check out osaa.org for match times and bracket schedules.

OSAA 1A State Football Playoff Update

Lowell’s football team is also ranked #1 in OSAA State Football rankings and will host the 22nd ranked Condon/Wheeler team next Fri. Nov. 8, in the First Round of the OSAA State 1A Football Championships. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm. Yoncalla, ranked #9, will travel to St. Paul, ranked #8 on the same date. Triangle Lake, currently ranked #7, will host Sherman, ranked #10. That game time is 7:00 pm. Other game matchups and bracket schedules are available at osaa.org.

McKenzie River Reflections