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Week One Football Notebook
Week one is always rough for predictions and preseason top-10 lists, and this year was no exception. However, some of the performances, both individual and team, were truly noteworthy. Here is what the film shows:
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4A Football Preview
Last fall, after being flush with a level of talent not seen in the modern era, 4A has an uncertain pecking order going into the 2022 season. Virtually the entire all-state team from last fall graduated, but do not take that to mean 4A is in a slump–there is plenty of talent to go around,…
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2A Football Preview
Per usual, we will only discuss the top-10 for the 2A preview. Lack of available film, vast roster and coaching turnover, and the transition to 9-man make going league by league for 2A impossible. This fall will be hectic and widely unpredictable, but we will give it our best shot. 10) Willamina This is 100%…
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3A Football Preview
Where last year featured a 3A classification completely jumbled and devoid of traditional powers at the top, this fall will see a resurgence in traditionalism and a drastic increase in depth. The door may be just as wide open as it was last year, but the amount of A-tier teams able to take advantage is…
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Westside Walk-Off: West Takes Down East in First-Ever Overtime Shrine Game
The game lived up to the hype, and then some. You can ask us for a game MVP, but we are not sure we could give you one. The game plan that we thought could give the West a chance worked wonders. Gunner Yates was allowed no significant lanes to run through, and as a…
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2022 East-West Shrine Game Preview
It’s Shrine Time. It’s East vs. West, all for the Shriners Hospital. It’s Gladstone vs. La Grande, Rainier vs. Vale, and Coquille vs. Heppner. A conglomeration of all the most high-profile matchups of the last four years culminating in this one charity event. Each year, the Shrine game takes shape as the closing act, the…
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Looking Ahead: Future Football Championship Matchups
Predictions of week-to-week matchups can be pretty easy. Once information is widely available and head-to-head matchups have reached a certain point, a week’s worth of triangulation and predictions can be made in as short as a half an hour. Even making predictions at the start of a season about who will play in the championship…
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Hits and Misses: Boys Basketball
Our process for projecting how things will shake out in various sports is complex and varies by season and year, and it is ultimately scrutinized internally and refined to produce better results next time around. This process churns out, on balance, more accurate predictions than faulty ones. Usually, we keep this hand wringing in-house, but…
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Hits and Misses: Football
Our process for projecting how things will shake out in various sports is complex and varies by season and year, and it is scrutinized internally and refined to produce better results next time around. This process churns out, on balance, more accurate predictions than faulty ones. Usually, we keep this hand wringing in-house, but in…
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Philomath–Finally–Reaches the Mountaintop, Wins First State Title since 2000
Two years to the day that Philomath’s best shot at an official state title in girls basketball was stripped away by COVID-19 and the cancellation of the 2020 4A state tournament, they finally did it. Sage Kramer and Abigail Brown, then sophomores, led the way in a Philomath effort tonight that had the energy and…
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Cascade Routs Junction City in Second Half, Wins First State Title Since 1974
Junction City came out as the stronger, more confident, more energized team. They scrapped their way into an early lead, and they even dominated in spurts. The Tigers were taking better shots, playing better defense, and were more organized in the first quarter. They were doing what they had to: being physical in the paint…
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Coos Bay Cliff Notes: Day Two
#1 Junction City 43 #4 Seaside 35 This was quintessential Junction City basketball. Seaside did what they could to speed up the SkyEm champions, but without a significant turnover differential in their favor, and losing the rebound battle straight up, this effort was not going to be fruitful. Trying to beat Junction City at their…
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Coos Bay Cliff Notes: Day One
Junction City 58 Baker 47 Baker started hot, even at one point being up 13-3 on the top-seeded Tigers, but once the Bulldogs jumped out of their 1-3-1 zone in favor of a man-to-man look, Junction City found a rhythm. Junction City smothered the boards and never gave into the Baker pressure. The efficiency of…
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Nyssa Outlasts Burns in Final, Wins First State Title since 2007
What a way to wrap up this 3A Coos Bay weekend. Not to be outdone by Cascade Christian and De La Salle in the boys title game, the Nyssa and Burns girls put on a show for their fans tonight, and their fans returned the favor. While the Burns student section was filled with enthusiastic…
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Third Time’s the Charm: Challengers Finally Get Over the Hump, Win First Title Since 2009
After all this time, after all this team–and the world–has gone through since March 2020, they finally did it. Cascade Christian finally found the mountaintop. There is so much to admire about this team and the story they bring with them. To know what this victory means is to truly understand their hardship. To hear…
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Rapid Reaction: Montiel and Company Contain Corbett, Clinch Tournament Berth
We thought it would be close going into the 4th, then Marshfield would pull away; it only took until the middle of the 3rd. Here is what we saw: The margin does not represent how much of a lopsided affair this was. Marshfield dominated from the tip, even if the scoreboard did not show it…
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Coos Bay Cliff Notes: Day Two
Cascade Christian 56 Westside 51 Game of the day, without a doubt. With all due respect to Nyssa-Sutherlin, this game had the on-court talent and an intriguing coaching matchup, with David Henry–Cascade Christian alumni and former player and assistant coach for the Challengers–matching up against his mentor, Brian Morse. Westside had their hot streaks, had…
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Coos Bay Cliff Notes: Day One
Westside Christian 81 Pleasant Hill 51 Westside dominated in the first and second halves, on offense and on defense, with starters and with their bench, from the perimeter and the paint, on the boards and in the turnover battle. There was no phase where Pleasant Hill had an advantage–except for crowd turnout. The Billies brought…
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Rapid Reaction: Umatilla Springs Trap on Santiam Christian, Advances to State Tournament for First Time Since 2008
Well, that was entertaining! Impressive outside shooting, fantastic defense in spurts, an up-and-down pace that could not be kept up with, and a band of elementary-aged cheerleaders behind them: 3A basketball fans, you are going to enjoy seeing this Umatilla team in Coos Bay. Here’s what we saw: Quickly–yes, an elementary-aged cheer squad. Intentional? Regular?…
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Rapid Reaction: Montiel Shines as Pirates Silence Tiger Dome, Win SkyEm Title
This game had far and away the best atmosphere we have experienced since COVID hit. The energy in the crowd lived up to the hype, as did the game on the floor. Here’s what we saw: First and foremost, Junction City is the leader in the clubhouse for the “student section of the year” award.…