THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 25, 2020 | $1.00
T IME
O UT
By Lloyd Little
Retired teacher, coach and
game offi cial
Sports &
Recreation
With more than55 years as an
athlete, coach, parent and specta-
tor, Lloyd Little has gained some
insights and perspectives regarding
athletics. Each week, he shares
what he's learned about sports
from his multiple points of view.
The impacts of
technology on sports
Calendar
Jan. 28
• SHS Basketball
hosts Elmira
Boys at 5:45 p.m.
Girls at 7:15 p.m.
• MHS Basketball
At Triangle Lake
Girls at 5:30 p.m.
Boys at 7 p.m.
Jan. 30
• MHS Basketball
At Mohawk
Girls at 5:30 p.m.
Boys at 7 p.m.
JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Mapleton junior forward JJ Neece forces his way between two Eddyville defenders.
S AILORS RALLY TO LAND E AGLES
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
Jan. 31
• SHS Basketball
At J. City
Boys at 5:45 p.m.
Girls at 7:15 p.m.
• MHS Basketball
At Triangle Lake
Girls at 5:30 p.m.
Boys at 7 p.m.
Tide Tables
Entrance Siuslaw River
High Tide
Siletz d Mapleton: 36-64
Mapleton d Eddyville: 48-37
T
he Mapleton boys bas-
ketball team won a
hard fought victory
over the Eddyville Eagles
Thursday night in what coach
Eric Wolgamott called some of
the best basketball the Sailors
have played all season.
The first quarter was a
rough start for both teams.
Two Eagles were out with
injuries, and Saliors point
guard Justyce Wierichs was
already racking up fouls.
They held off the Eagles,
8-3.
“You want to score a little
bit more than eight, but to
hold them at three is some-
thing you really have to be
happy about.”
But then problems occurred
when Wierichs picked up a
technical and was benched for
the rest of the first half.
“When he sat out, that’s
when Eddyville really picked
up on defense,” Wolgamott
said. “JJ [Neece] had to move
up to point guard, which hurts
us on the wing because we
need him to free up opportu-
nities. But we moved him to
point guard and that’s where
we got bogged down.”
The Eagles turned a 3-point
deficit into a 5-point lead by
half time, 15-10.
In the locker room at half-
time, Wolgamott explained to
the Sailors what was on the
line.
“I asked the team, ‘What do
you guys want? This could be
a turning point in the season.
We could either continue this
trend, where we underper-
form to our standards, or you
guys make the decision to
come together. Flush the first
half. You have a whole second
half in front of us. We’re down
five, it’s not ideal, but it could
be worse.’ We let them talk for
a little bit, they came out and
showed us what type of team
they’re going to be for the rest
of the year.”
In just minutes, the Sailors
was able to turn the deficit
into a lead with a tight defense
See
SAILORS 3B
Lady Sailors fall to Alsea, Eddyville
Low Tide
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
Jan. 25
12:51am / 6.6
11:54pm / 8.1
6:09am / 3.1
6:52pm / -0.6
Siletz d Mapleton: 30-52
Eddyville Charter d Mapleton: 27-51
Jan. 26
1:25am / 6.7
12:33pm / 7.8
6:50am / 3.0
7:27pm / -0.4
Jan. 27
1:58am / 6.7
1:11pm / 7.4
7:30am / 2.9
8:00pm / 0.0
JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Jan. 28
2:31am / 6.7
1:50pm / 7.0
8:11am / 2.8
8:33pm / 0.4
Jan. 29
3:03am / 6.7
2:31pm / 6.5
8:55am / 2.7
9:05pm / 1.0
Mapleton sophomore Opal Burruss is pres-
sured by Eddyville during Thursday night’s
match-up with the Lady Eagles.
After a pair of comeback wins for the Maple-
ton girls basketball team last week, the Sailors
lost two this week — one away at Siletz Valley
and another at home against Eddyville Charter.
“I think the girls played with a lot of heart and
drive tonight,” Sailors coach Mellissa Duffy said
after the Eddyville game Thursday. “They had
urgency and intensity, and we wanted them to
play with intensity. They brought that tonight, so
that was a highlight.”
After back to back wins against Crow and Al-
sea, the mood on the team was high.
“We were really excited,” Duffy said, but the
away game at Siletz was tough. “We lost a little
See
MHS 2B
Anytime you can determine
what the opposing pitcher is
going to throw on their next
pitch you gain an advantage
for the batter. As Scott Van Pelt
mentioned on ESPN, it is an
old tradition to steal signs.
Everybody tries to steal the
catchers’ signs. Sign stealing is
perfectly OK to do as long as it
is done without the aid of elec-
tronics.
Th e Houston Astros and the
Boston Red Sox broke those
rules. Managers have been
fi red and fi nes totaling in the
millions have been levied on
those two teams.
Statistics show the advan-
tages gained by the hitters on
those two teams through elec-
tronic sign stealing and hitting
the pitch were minimal.
Th e pitchers were perhaps
too good and the knowledge of
the pitch did not matter. I read
they signaled what pitch was
coming by banging on a trash
can nearest to home plate.
When I pitched at Pacifi c
University in the 1970s, my
catcher put down one fi nger
for a fastball, two fi ngers for a
curve ball and three fi ngers for
a slider. Not a very complicat-
ed system to steal.
See
LITTLE 2B
ODFW R EGIONAL F ISHING
R EPORT
www.dfw.state.or.us/RR
MID COAST LAKES
Stocking of the mid-coast
lakes will start up again the
first week of February. Check
the stocking schedule online
for dates and locations. Lakes
that are scheduled to be
stocked in February include:
Alder, Dune, Carter, Lost,
Elbow, Cleawox, Munsel,
Siltcoos, Thissel Pond, Big
Creek Reservoirs, Olalla
Reservoir and Devils Lake.
Warmwater fisheries are
slowing down for the year as
water temperatures cool
down.
SIUSLAW RIVER: Winter
steelhead
Winter steelhead typically
show up on the Siuslaw River
in December and peak
January through March.
Fishing has been fair so far
this year but should get better
as the season progresses into
January.
The river will be high and
off color after this week’s rain-
storms but will be dropping
See
FISHING 3B
Vikings swept by Spartans in close match-ups
Despite the losses, both Vikings teams had strong showings against Sky-Em powerhouse
Jan. 30
3:37am / 6.7
3:17pm/ 6.0
9:42am/ 2.6
9:38pm/ 1.5
Jan. 31
4:12am / 6.7
4:12pm / 5.5
10:36am / 2.5
10:14pm / 2.2
By Ned Hickson
Siuslaw News
Marist d Siuslaw boys: 48-31
Marist d Siuslaw girls: 32-30
On Tuesday, the Sky-Em boys
basketball league was all knot-
ted up in a three-way tie for first
place between Siuslaw, Marist
and Marshfield. By the final
buzzers that night, the Spartans
and Pirates remained in that tie,
with Siuslaw falling to Marist
and Marshfield defeating Cot-
tage Grove — who the Viks had
beaten the previous Friday.
Tuesday night’s loss dropped
Siuslaw (1-1) into a tie for third
with the Tigers (1-1).
Siuslaw was outscored in all
four quarters, which includ-
ed an 11-2 run by the Spartans
late in the second period for a
25-16 lead at halftime. Marist
continued its momentum in the
second half, outscoring the Viks
23-15 in the second half.
While Siuslaw posted 7 points
each from sophomore guard
Brody Terry and junior post
Lliam McClellan, the Spartans
were paced by double-digit scor-
ing from junior Alec Vendetti
(19) and senior Nick Stice (15)
to secure a 48-31 win at Glenn
Butler Court.
Additional scoring for the
Viks came from sophomores
Rhys Fleming and Braydon
Thornton with 4 points each.
Last night (after press dead-
lines), Siuslaw got a chance
to host rival Marshfield for a
chance to sink the Pirates and
chip away at a return to the
See
SIUSLAW 2B