February 19, 2015

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The Eagle Varsity Girls team will play for the Mtå. West League Tournament Championship on Saturday, February 21. The playoff game will be held at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, with tip-off scheduled at 3:00 pm.

McKenzie Men Skin Wolverines, 54-36

The McKenzie Varsity Boys Basketball team started the party off at the early time- spot (5:30 pm.) on Tuesday, February 10, and set the stage for a memorable Senior night as they rolled over the visiting Alsea Wolverines, 54-36. Eric Huffman topped all scorers in the game with 17 points. Three Eagle teammates also scored in double figures as Drew Hamlow scored 13 points, Blue Bloomer added 10 points and Alex Nastasiuk also scored 10 points. Keith Davis led the Wolverines with 14 points.

Eagle Women Wallop Wolverines, 37-27

McKenzie hosted Alsea, celebrated its Senior athletes on Tuesday evening, February 10, and Buggy Hiddleston made sure the Eagles celebrated all night long as the Senior wing proved once again why she was chosen Captain by her teammates, scoring 18 points, hauling in 8 rebounds, and adding an assist and a steal.

Jorden Smith scored 6 points, had 4 rebounds, led her team with 6 assists and robbed the Wolverines twice. Miyanna Hayes played a fine game as well as she tallied 8 points with 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Kailyn Ringler, once again tough on the boards, grabbed 7 rebounds, had a couple of assists, a steal and scored a point. Katey Totten added 4 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. McKenzie trailed by a point, 10-11, after the first quarter and still trailed at halftime 19-20.

Following Eagle Head Coach David Duncan’s “motivational” halftime talk, McKenzie came out of the locker-room and defensively held the visitors to just 2 points in the third quarter, while scoring 10 points. The score at the start of the fourth quarter was thus 29-22, Eagles, and the Mt. West League Regular Season Champs held on for the victory. For the game, McKenzie shot a weak 27% from the field.

Tough Eagle Gals Tackle Triangle Lake, Earn an OSAA State Berth!

McKenzie traveled to Triangle Lake last Thursday, February 12 and defeated the Lakers 34-29 in the final regular season game for each team. McKenzie, the 2015 Mt. West League Champions, will play for the Mt. West League Tournament Championship versus a League opponent to be decided by Tournament play. The Eagles will earn a first seed berth to State with a Tournament Championship and the second place team will represent the Mt. West League as a second seed.

McKenzie once again trailed at the first quarter horn, this time 6-8, but the Eagles outscored the Lakers,8-4, in the second quarter to gain a slim 14-12 lead going into halftime. McKenzie kept the positive momentum through the third quarter, taking a 24-17 lead into the fourth quarter and holding steady through out the rest of the game to notch the victory.

As she has all season long, Buggy Hiddleston led all scorers in the game with 12 points. Hiddleston also led her teammates with 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and a blocked shot. The Senior Captain also dished out 1 assist.

Jorden Smith added 10 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, led the Eagles with 6 assists, and stole the ball on 3 occasions. Katey Totten scored 6 points, and had 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Miyanna Hayes contributed 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals while Kailyn Ringler finished the night with 2 points and 2 rebounds. The Eagles shot a bit better from the field this game, 35% field goal percentage.

Triangle Lake Thwarts McKenzie Boys

Triangle Lake “throttled” visiting McKenzie, 55-37, in the final Mt. West regular season game for the two Boys teams at Triangle Lake, Thursday, February 12. Both teams will participate in the Mt. West League Tournament, with an opportunity to earn one of three League berths in the OSAA State playoffs. The Eagles might have come away from the game with their heads swimming as Laker freshman Parker Wynn nearly outscored the visitors himself, decimating the Eagle defense for 33 points. No other game stats were made available by either team.

Alsea Eliminates McKenzie Boys

Playoff Time! (Monday, February 16) Both teams and their coaches showed up ready and willing for post-season play. The officials were on time, the concessions were open for business and the timekeepers, scorekeepers ready. Eagle alum Caren Scrivner honored America with a beautiful singing of the National Anthem.

All Set! And all the fans stayed home!

Well not all. Alsea traveled with about three or four loyal folks, not including the Wolverines Athletic Director who kept the visitors scorebook.

And the home folks? Filled maybe another twenty seats and that includes the Eagle student body representatives. Maybe it was due to the President’s Day Holiday and the folks were camping or traveling. Or perhaps folks were too tired following a beautiful February Cascade hike. Maybe it was because both teams entered the Mt. West League Tournament with losing records. This writer hopes it wasn’t the last reason, because these two teams and their coaching staffs were dedicated and worked hard all season to represent their schools and communities.

Each team battled hard all season for this game and their supporters. They deserved better. McKenzie finished the regular Mt. West League season tied with Mapleton, each team with 6-8 League records. The Eagles, however, lost to the Sailors twice in League play, thus were given the number 5 seed entering the Mt. West League Tournament. The Sailors earned the number 4 seed. Alsea finished its regular season at 4-10, including two League losses to McKenzie and earned the number 6 seed.

Thus, the Wolverines traveled to Finn Rock to take on the higher seed Eagles, with the winner moving on to play Mapleton on Wednesday. The loser would get an early start on the Spring season. With the season on the line, it was the Wolverines who found a way to live another day as they defeated the Eagles, 45-44. Eric Huffman broke ice first for the home team as he drained a net-only 3-point shot early, but the Eagles could not maintain the momentum as Alsea finished ahead in the first quarter with score 13-8.

By halftime, the Wolverines appeared to be solidly in control with a 26-16 margin. A gusty Eagle resurgence knotting the score at 26, forced Alsea to call uncle with a full timeout at the 4:05 mark in the third quarter. The Wolverines rebuilt the lead to 29-26 and with 1:33 left in the period were still barely in front at 31-30.

With both teams ramped up on urgency, turnovers committed by both teams set up several attempts to score and separate, but it was the Eagles who finally dropped a shot in to reclaim the lead, 32-31, at the end of three. Alsea started off the fourth quarter strong and ripped the lead back, going up 38-34 with 6:16 left in the game.

McKenzie still trailed by six points, 40-44, at the 2:47 mark, but the Eagles fought hard and tied the score once again, 44 all, with 57.9 seconds showing on the clock. The Eagles had a foul to give with 33 seconds and did so again, Huffman, at 28.2 seconds. The Wolverines Keith Davis made one of two freethrows giving Alsea 45 points and the one point margin held up for the victory.

McKenzie’s Alex Nastasiuk did have a lay-up opportunity for the win underneath the basket, but the shot missed off the iron, sinking Eagle post-season hopes. Senior Blue Bloomer led McKenzie with 16 points, 3 rebounds and a steal. Eric Huffman added 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, and 1 assist. Chance Hamlow started slow, missing several shots, but wound up with 9 points and 1 rebound. Nastasiuk scored points and had 4 rebounds and the only other player to see court time, Jeffrey Bayer didn’t score and had 1 rebound. Senior Micah DeWolfe, who scored 14 points, led Alsea.