The SpokeSman • WedneSday, december 29, 2021 P5
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
PET OF THE WEEK
RAVENS OFF TO HOT START
Ridgeview is 7-2,
its best opening
to a season in more
than five years
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The bulletin
Submitted photo
Meet Lucy! Lucy was surrendered to us at Bright-
side because her owners were moving and couldn’t
take her with them. Lucy’s personality is an ener-
getic, sweet and happy girl who can be a bit physi-
cally pushy at times. As far as we know, Lucy shows
no aggression to strangers and wants to show love
to everyone. Her previous owner describes her
very high energy and would do best with an active
lifestyle. Lucy does have some issues with house
training, but with the right training and family, we
believe Lucy would fit right in. If you would like to
meet Lucy, come to Brightside!
Student’s short story
among best in
nationwide contest
Redmond Proficiency
Academy sophomore Henry
Crockett’s short story was re-
cently chosen as one of the
best in the nation from more
than 1,700 submissions for
the Behind the Vision writ-
ing competition. The honor
entitles Crockett to add a
publishing credit to his re-
sume and the opportunity to
partner with the organization
on a collection of the win-
ning stories.
“I always loved to write.
It has always been my pas-
sion, but I never really had
an opportunity to showcase
my writing until my teacher,
Joe DeChistopher, showed
me this contest,” Crockett ex-
plained.
For the contest, Crockett
chose to write a first person
sci-fi story with “hair” as the
theme, one of the various
possible prompts. His fin-
ished piece was a 747-word
story about adversity, perse-
verance and seeing beauty in
unusual circumstances. The
short story can be read here.
An aspiring writer, Crock-
ett works closely with hu-
manities instructor Joe
Henry Crockett
DeChristopher in an inde-
pendent study course tailor
made to develop his creative
writing skills. Crockett does
his own reading based on his
interest and he meets with
DeChristopher biweekly to
discuss the literature, exam-
ine its particular style and
habits and discuss his writing
progress.
“It is truly remarkable for
a young writer to get pub-
lishing experience in high
school,” said DeChristopher.
“It is difficult to overstate the
significance of this accom-
plishment.”
REDMOND — The season
is less than 10 games old and
the Ridgeview boys basketball
team has already won more
games in a season since 2015-
16.
With seven wins in the bag,
the Ravens have just as many
wins as they did in a three-
year stretch from 2016 to 2019,
when the program won just
seven of 68 total games.
Ridgeview (7-2) has not fin-
ished with a winning record
since the 2014-15 season.
“We have had a little bit of
momentum during the sea-
son,” said Ridgeview coach
Jake Miller. “We have had a
lot of growth from the short-
ened season and it is starting to
build on itself.”
Despite winning just five
games in the pandemic-short-
ened season last spring, signs
of growth started to show in
the back half of the season.
Games that were once one-
sided early became close games
against quality teams like
Redmond and Crook County
when they played a second
time.
“You could kind of tell that
at that point we were in the
learning phase of how we were
going to win,” Miller said. “All
these varsity guys were here
during the summer and we
were hopeful that it would
translate.”
That was enough to get the
momentum started for this
season.
“It feels good to see it paying
off,” said senior Ryan Asplund.
“Everyone has been in the gym
all summer, hitting the weights
every day trying to get better
and it is nice to start to see the
results.”
The Ravens picked up their
seventh win of the season at
home Tuesday night against
South Albany, a program that
brian rathbone/The bulletin
Ryan Asplund drives to the basket in Ridgeview’s 65-57 win over South Albany on Tuesday night at Rid-
geview High School in Redmond.
has made it to the 5A state
tournament three times in the
past six seasons.
Ridgeview rallied from an
early 6-0 deficit to start the
game, then fended off a cou-
ple of Red Hawk rallies to win
65-57 behind 21 points from
Asplund, 10 second-half points
from junior Jeremiah Schwartz
and 11 (seven in the fourth
quarter) from junior Aidan
Brennaman.
“I think that any time you
have a chance to play teams
from the (Wilamette) Valley
and compete and win, that is a
really good feeling,” Miller said.
After Tuesday night’s win,
Ridgeview fell to Henley
Wednesday night at home,
49-41.
And the path for the Ravens
SOLUTION
will start to get even more chal-
lenging as the season contin-
ues. They will open the Sum-
mit Holiday Classic against the
unbeaten Storm on Tuesday. It
is a challenge the Ravens relish
to see where they can improve
before starting Intermountain
Conference play the second
week of January.
“I think that is probably
what we need at this point of
the season as we get closer to
league,” Miller said. “We want
to see one of the best teams in
the state with players that can
do it all. It will be a good way
to figure out what we are going
to need to do when we might
be outmatched.”
It has been several years
since the Ravens have felt pos-
itive momentum on the bas-
ketball court. But there is op-
timism that it can continue
throughout the season.
“We just have to keep work-
ing and trusting each other,”
Asplund said. “That is all we
need to do.”
e
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
Connect
with us
www.redmond
spokesman.com
Crossword on Page 2
@RedmondSpox
SOLUTION
Sudoku on Page 2
— Staff report
About Redmond Proficiency Academy
redmond proficiency academy (rpa) is a tuition-free public char-
ter school located in redmond, oregon. now in its 13th year,
rpa serves over 900 students from grades 6th-12th throughout
central oregon. With an innovative and personalized proficien-
cy-based collegiate model, rpa provides dynamic pathways to
success for all students.
OBITUARY
Vernon Roy Humphrey
February 17, 1953 - December 15, 2021
Vern passed at his home
in Redmond. He was
born to George & Doris
Humphrey in Corvallis
and grew up in Nashville
Oregon. Vern married
Sue Lalley in 1977.
Vern traveled the state
logging before sett ling
in Redmond in 1980 and
conti nued to log and work
in heavy constructi on
unti l his reti rement. He
enjoyed the camaraderie of the crews and spending ti me
with his family and friends, crabbing, traveling, NASCAR
and always ready for a party.
Vern is survived by Wife Sue of 44 years, Son Dusti n
Humphrey, son Cody Humphrey (wife Rebecca) and
granddaughter Haylee. Sister Diane Hauge and many
nieces and nephews.
A tribute to Vern will be held at a later date, with further
details provided prior to the event.
Godspeed......