McKenzie Sports Report - December 5

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Boys and Girls Basketball teams host Oakridge on Wednesday, December 4. The Girls game tips off at 6:00 pm and the Boys game will start at 7:30 pm,

The two teams travel to Nixyaawii Community School in Pendleton on Friday, December 6 and December 7 to participate in the Bouncin' Cancer Tournament. The Eagle Varsity Girls will open with the Stanfield JV team, 1:00 pm on Friday and play Pilot Rock at 9:00 am on Saturday. The McKenzie Boys will play Nixyaawii JV on Friday, 2:30 pm and Pilot Rock on Saturday at 10:30 am.

The Eagle Boys are scheduled for a game at Riverside, WLWV JV on Monday, December 9. Tip off is set for 4:30 pm.

The McKenzie Girls host the Sutherlin JV on Tuesday, December 10, 5:30 pm.

It's Hoops-Time On The McKenzie

Winter athletics are about to tip off in the Upper McKenzie Valley. With snow capping the surrounding ridges, folks are taking frost precautions and wood stove smoke is wisping upward throughout the River Valley, the time has arrived for the sounds of bouncing leather balls, scoreboard horns and whistles from the striped crew. Basketball season has arrived and it's time for the folks to pencil in this season's Eagle Hoops schedule.

Heather Holte, McKenzie Athletic Director and second-year Eagle Varsity Girls Head Coach welcome eight athletes for the season opener. Lone senior guard Beckah Short will lead her teammates, which include two incoming freshmen, guard Claire Weiss and wing Courtney Garrelts. Junior post players Linn Goette and Mercy Mitchell-Chavez and junior wing Paiten Clevenger will share time with sophomore guards Liliana Jones and Sapana Mitchell-Chavez.

McKenzie Head Coach Neil Barrett, assisted by Willy Kumle and Jack Devereaux, welcome one of the largest rosters in recent seasons. The Eagle team has two seniors, Aytan Munoz Brown and Noah Prado. Six juniors on the roster include Noah Borden, William Meister, Jacob Peek, Elijah Walline, Hayden Harbick and Allen Acevedo. Three sophomores looking to make an impact are Masonn Burton, Rhys Hamlow, and Hayden Kumle. And rounding out the roster are the five freshmen, Avery Thoms, Liam Acevedo, Jacob Norlund, Amir Enfield, and Andrew Munoz Brown.

The McKenzie Boys look to improve on their 2023-24 Mt. West League record, 2-12 and 3-19 overall. The Eagle girls will also be hoping to improve from last season's 2-12, 2-20 record.

Grid Iron Champions Crowned

The 2024 OSAA Football season has concluded and the earned trophies celebrated. Now it's time to sit around the gathering places and share the stories, both frustrating and inspiring. Do you remember that pass, did you see him knock his hat off, what a hit, we couldn't stop that play, undefeated you bet, he charged through that line, oh man!!! Yep, been there done that. But all over the Great Beaver State, fans have returned to their communities to discuss and cuss this season's football action. Seven teams earned the coveted OSAA State Champion blue trophy. And it was fun watching the annual process.

The Powers Cruisers, representing the smallest Classification, the 1A six-man football game, fashioned an undefeated 12-0 record with a 32-13 win over second-ranked Harper Charter, the Hornets finishing 10-1.

Up one notch or shall we say two players, the Class 1A eight-man football Championship was won by Adrian. The number one-ranked Antelopes established their own unblemished 12-0 record by defeating the third-ranked Warriors of North Douglas, which finished with a fine 11-1 mark.

In the smallest Classification for eleven-man football, Class 2A, the State's fifth-ranked team, the St. Paul Buckaroos, finished off their upset march to the Blue Trophy by upending the second-ranked Oakland Oakers, 28-20. Maybe it wasn't so much an upset, but rather improper season rankings, as St. Paul concluded its remarkable season undefeated, 13-0, while Oakland fell to 12-1.

Then there is the Class 3A story. Maybe the best to tell around the campfires to come. The Burns Highlanders began the First Round playoffs as the eleventh-ranked team. Burns upset sixth-ranked Cottage Grove, at Cottage Grove, 46-7 and advanced to play third-ranked Santiam Christian, also on the road, in the Quarterfinals. The Highlanders squashed the highly rated Eagles, 25-3, and rolled into the Semifinals versus the second-ranked Banks Braves, once again on the road. Burns squeezed by Banks 22-15 and thus set the stage for their outstanding finale at Summit High School last Saturday. The Highlanders found the High Road still to their liking and not to be denied, clobbered the fourth-ranked Vale Vikings 42-16. Burns chocked up an 11-2 season record and Vale finished at 12-1.

Marist Catholic, 12-1, dominated the Class 4A rankings all season and true to form, defeated third-ranked Henley, 30-6. Henley finished its season with an 11-2 record. Mountain View, out of Bend, in the Class 5A ranks, earned a Championship berth as the State's second-ranked team versus fifth ranked Wilsonville. The Wild Cats of Wilsonville, 11-2, handed the Cougars of Mountain View, 12-1, their first defeat of 2024, a 56-35 catfight clawing!

The State's largest schools, in the Class 6A, pitted two old rivals, top-ranked Lake Oswego and second-ranked West Linn. The second-ranked West Linn Lions, 11-1, upset the top-ranked Lake Oswego Lakers, 11-1, 44-30, to win the 2024 Championship.