Sports
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
ON THE SLATE
A7
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
PREP NEWS AND NOTES
TUESDAY, DEC. 14
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Fruitland, Idaho, vs. La Grande,
6 p.m.
Enterprise at Joseph, 7 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Enterprise at Joseph, 5:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, DEC. 16
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Vale at La Grande, 7 p.m.
Bobcat Christmas Classic,
Union and Powder Valley High
Schools
Enterprise vs. Powder Valley, Pow-
der Valley High School, 4:30 p.m.
Jordan Valley vs. Imbler, Union
High School, 4:30 p.m.
Elgin vs. Imbler JV, Powder Valley
High School, 7:30 p.m.
Cove vs. Union, Union High
School, 7:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Bobcat Christmas Classic,
Union and Powder Valley High
Schools
Enterprise vs. Powder Valley, Pow-
der Valley High School, 3 p.m.
Jordan Valley vs. Cove, Union High
School, 3 p.m.
Crane vs. Imbler, Powder Valley
High School, 6 p.m.
Elgin vs. Union, Union High
School, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, DEC. 17
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Lewis-Clark State at Eastern Ore-
gon, 7:30 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
Lewis-Clark State at Eastern Ore-
gon, 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S WRESTLING
Eastern Oregon vs. Wayland Bap-
tist, Reno, Nevada, 6:30 p.m.
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
La Grande vs. Bonners Ferry,
Idaho, Stanfield High School,
7 p.m.
Wallowa vs. Umatilla JV, Helix
High School, 4 p.m.
Joseph at Prairie City, 7:30 p.m.
Bobcat Christmas Classic,
Union High School
Elgin vs. Union JV, 9 a.m.
Cove vs. Enterprise, 1:30 p.m.
Powder Valley vs. Imbler, 4:30 p.m.
Union vs. Jordan Valley, 7:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wallowa vs. Umatilla JV, Helix
High School, 2 p.m.
Joseph at Prairie City, 6 p.m.
Bobcat Christmas Classic,
Union High School
Enterprise/Powder Valley loser vs.
Crane/Imbler loser, Union High
School, 10:30 a.m.
Jordan Valley/Cove loser vs. Elgin/
Union loser, Union High School,
noon
Enterprise/Powder Valley winner
vs. Crane/Imbler winner, Union
High School, 3 p.m.
Jordan Valley/Cove winner vs.
Elgin/Union winner, Union High
School, 6 p.m.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Mountaineer Breanna Shaffer (14) defends against a serve from Evergreen University at Eastern
Oregon University on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021.
Out with a bang
Upperclassmen lead
way to undefeated start
EOU duo earns
second consecutive
spot on All-American
honors list
Tigers jump out
to 4-0 start after
weekend sweep,
No. 1 ranking in
Class 4A
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Two
Mountaineers are
back on the NAIA
All-American lists after
stellar seasons.
Junior Cambree Scott
was named to the second
team and senior Breanna
Shaffer was named honor-
able mention on Thursday,
Dec. 9. Both players made
the All-American list for the
second consecutive season
and were also named first-
team all-Cascade Collegiate
Conference.
“It’s such an honor for
them as well as Eastern
Oregon volleyball,”
Eastern head coach Kaki
McLean-Morehead said.
“Both Cam and Bre are the
foundation that our offense
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Eastern Oregon University volleyball player Cambree Scott, shown
Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, prior to the Mountaineers’ match against
Walla Walla University, is EOU’s career leader in blocks and block
assists.
is built upon.”
The duo was crucial
to Eastern’s 26-9 season,
anchoring the front line for
the Mountaineers.
The team defeated
See, EOU/Page A8
A twist — Wilcox turned down Ducks
JOHN
CANZANO
TALKING SPORTS
T
urns out Justin
Wilcox didn’t get
passed over for the
University of Oregon head
coaching job.
He turned the Ducks
down.
Oregon AD Rob Mul-
lens formally offered
Wilcox the job on Friday,
Dec. 10, per multiple
sources. The kid from
Junction City High inter-
viewed well and was told a
marketing campaign would
be shaped around his
return to Oregon. The plan
even included T-shirts that
would be printed and dis-
tributed at his introductory
news conference.
On Dec. 10, Wilcox told
Oregon, “No thanks.”
I’ll bet Mullens nearly
fell over.
Dan Lanning was intro-
duced Dec. 13 as Oregon’s
head football coach. The
35-year old former Georgia
defensive coordinator
jumped all over the oppor-
tunity. I hope he wins big
and gives Phil Knight the
national title he covets.
But I’ll forever wonder
what Wilcox might have
done at Oregon.
Maybe Wilcox, who
played his college ball in
Eugene, will talk about it
one day. Maybe he’ll even
take the UO job the next
time it opens, but as we
peel back the events of
the last week a few things
become evident. Among
them:
•Oregon interviewed
UCLA coach Chip Kelly
but the Ducks appeared
focused on putting a great
defensive mind in charge.
Three confirmed candi-
Brady Hutchins (22) drives past Nyssa defender Carlos Ramirez (2)
during the match between La Grande and Nyssa boys’ basketball
teams at La Grande High School on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. The
La Grande Tigers secured a convincing 61-43 victory over the vis-
John Hefti/The Associated Press, File
Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens formally offered California head coach Justin Wilcox, pictured,
the Oregon head coaching job on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, per multiple sources. Wilcox turned the job
down.
dates: Lanning, Wilcox
and BYU coach Kalani
Sitake are stars on the
defensive side of the ball.
Going with a defense-
first hire is an interesting
course correction for
Oregon and may end up
being an antidote to the
offensive-minded hires
at USC (Lincoln Riley)
and Washington (Kalen
DeBoer). Not the worst
strategy for Oregon.
• The Ducks strong
denial that Lanning had
the job on Dec. 10 makes
more sense now. Lanning
moved into the No. 1 posi-
tion after Wilcox turned
Oregon down. Lanning
probably knew he had
the job but I’m told the
Ducks paused to make one
final “Hail Mary” run at
Wilcox early Dec. 11. The
Cal coach slept on it and
told Oregon he still wasn’t
coming. Lanning was then
announced as the hire at
2 p.m. PT by Mullens.
• The University of
Oregon is a dramatically
different place than what
Wilcox left in the late
1990s. The facilities look
different. The expecta-
tions are sky high. Mario
Cristobal, for example,
won 10 games this season
(including a victory over
Ohio State) and was
greeted with rampant fan
criticism for not winning
11 or 12 games. Mark Hel-
frich, another native Ore-
gonian, took the Ducks
to the College Football
Playoff but then got vili-
fied and fired two seasons
later. I wonder how all this
played into Wilcox’s deci-
sion to stay put.
• None of what I’m
reporting here reflects
poorly on Lanning. In
fact, Wilcox may have
given the Georgia assis-
tant even more leverage
in his negotiations with
the Ducks. Lanning
badly wanted the job. He
was enthusiastic about it
and will be armed with
budget, resources, a deep
assistant coaches’ salary
pool. It reminds me of
the Oregon men’s basket-
ball hire of Dana Altman
in 2010. Altman was not
Oregon’s first or second or
third choice in that hiring
process. UO offered Tom
Izzo and Jaime Dixon
first. It also talked with
Mark Few and some
others about the job but
Altman was the one who
actually took it. That story
ends with a line of 20-win
seasons and a Final Four.
If Lanning takes the foot-
ball program to the prom-
ised land, it’s a massive
win.
See, Canzano/Page A8
LA GRANDE — After
a 2-0 start to the season,
La Grande High School
boys basketball head coach
Mark Carollo said that this
weekend’s road trip to the
Portland area would be a
huge early-season test.
The Tigers passed that
test with flying colors.
La Grande defeated both
Molalla and Estacada by
large margins to improve
to 4-0 on the year and earn
a top spot in the OSAA
Class 4A state rankings.
The Tigers beat the Indians
53-22 on Friday, Dec, 10
and followed up with a
56-30 win over the Rangers
on Dec. 11.
While other teams look
for new players to step
up at the beginning of the
year, the Tigers’ pack of
upperclassmen is already
setting the tone.
Seniors Devin Bell
and Brady Hutchins have
been the models of consis-
tency thus far, leading the
way on both ends of the
court. Hutchins has heated
up from beyond the arc
on several occasions and
averages a team-high 11.5
points per game early in
the year.
For Bell, the senior
commands the paint on
both offense and defense.
Bell is scoring 8.5 points
per game and dominating
in the post.
The Tigers have been
off to a hot start in non-
league action, holding
opponents to 35.8 points
per game and averaging
over 50 points per contest.
With 14 upperclassmen on
the roster, La Grande is
looking like a fine-tuned
unit early on. After the
road trip to Portland, the
Tigers have three straight
home contests this week,
against Fruitland, Vale and
Bonners Ferry.
Glenn off to scoring
spree for undefeated
Bobcats
UNION — The Union
girls basketball team is
off to a red-hot start to the
season behind a strong
showing from senior Callie
Glenn.
Glenn is averaging
24.3 points per game and
leading the charge for a
6-0 Bobcats team early
in the season. Union has
cruised past its opponents,
outscoring opposing teams
by an average margin of
49.5 to 26.3.
The Bobcats left their
mark at this weekend’s
Calvin Hiatt Memorial
Tournament in North
Powder, sweeping their
three-day slate of games.
Union knocked off Prairie
City 51-33 and Pine Eagle
64-9, then won the finale
against Powder Valley
51-30.
Glenn was solid
throughout the tourna-
ment as she scored 27, 22
and 26 points on consecu-
tive days. Her season high
stands at 31 in a win over
Adrian at the Union Lions
Tournament on Dec. 4.
With Glenn leading the
way for a steady group of
upperclassmen on Union’s
roster, the Bobcats are
off to an ideal start to the
season.
La Grande wrestlers
setting the tone early
LA GRANDE — At
the area’s largest wrestling
tournament of the year,
the La Grande boys wres-
tlers defended home turf
in a strong showing at this
year’s Muilenburg.
The Tigers took home
four individual title win-
ners en route to a narrow
team title over sec-
ond-place Hermiston at the
annual tournament in La
Grande on Dec. 11.
Senior Braden Carson
has looked unstoppable
early on, as the two-
time state champion is
aiming for similar suc-
cess this season. Carson
went undefeated during
the 145-pound competi-
tion and defeated Bishop
Kelly’s Carlos Valdez in
the final match. Carson is
the anchor for the Tigers
as he seeks to make his-
tory with a third individual
title and help La Grande
reclaim the team 4A state
championship.
Sophomore Mason
Wolcott has been dom-
inant at the 106-pound
level, taking home a
first-place title at the
Muilenburg.
An added boost to La
Grande’s already deep
roster has been senior
Brody MacMillan, who
missed all of last season
with a knee injury. Mac-
Millan was back at this
year’s Muilenburg and
took home top honors
at the 195-pound weight
class.
Junior Cole Shafer won
the 170-pound weight divi-
sion, rounding out a strong
overall showing by the
Tigers.
Through two tourna-
ments this year, La Grande
has come away with top
placements. A strong mix
of young talent with con-
sistent upperclassmen
will go a long way for the
Tigers in their pursuit of a
state championship.
Powder Valley boys
defend home court
at Calvin Hiatt
Tournament
NORTH POWDER —
Recent success on the grid-
iron may have fans thinking
Powder Valley is a football
school, but the Badgers’ hot
start on the hardwood sug-
See, Prep news/Page A8