2B COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2018
EASTBURN from B1
ketball but it’s really the hard-
est thing to teach because I do
it on defensive principles so I
teach them all my principles
so we can play whatever de-
fense we want to – man, zone,
press, whatever – but to do the
other thing on offense you have
to have skills. If you don’t have
the skills, it doesn’t matter what
offense you’re running, what
shots you’re taking. Because if
you can’t dribble the ball to the
basket, if you can’t shoot the
ball, if you can’t pass the ball,
what’s the point? So I’m big on
fundamental skills and we will
be doing a ton of those.
CGS: What was the experi-
ence like last year at Crow?
SE: Last year. So that was the
first time I’ve ever coached at
the 2A level – completely dif-
ferent. So you talk about fun-
damentals, it was just all funda-
mentals there. And experiences
were just completely different.
Boy, we thought we travelled,
down to Medford and stuff,
but 2A you travel. We go Lost
River, we go Butte Falls. They’re
just out there in the middle of
nowhere. It was a fun experi-
ence.
And the thing was, we would
get on a bus for a trip to Lost
River or Butte Falls and we
would leave at 12:30 but first we
would have to drop off the el-
ementary students from school
on the way out because right
out there on Lorraine High-
way. So we had to drop all the
elementary kids off, which took
about an hour, and we’re on the
bus that hour. Then we take off
on our trip because they were
saving money. They don’t have
a lot of money out there and
they don’t want to hire an extra
driver.
CGS: What will you focus on
with this team?
SE: It will be just building
on those fundamentals. It re-
ally will be. We’ve got a really
good preseason, we’ve got some
tough games and then we’ve got
some games that are manage-
able.
Well – I’m thinking back
now, we start with North Bend.
We have Banks in there and
we go to Banks. But Banks and
now I’m drawing a blank. We
go to the Seaside tourney again
and going to the Stayton tour-
nament over winter break.
And then of course we jump
into league and Marshfield is in
the league who is state cham-
pion from last year and they
return everybody. They will
be really tough. Saw them this
summer, they will be really
tough. And of course Marist,
who will be tough. They’re al-
Steve Eastburn leads warmups during Cottage Grove basket-
ball camp over the summer.
ways tough. And then the rest
of the league is kind of man-
ageable. Junction City lost
everybody. Elmira, Siuslaw I
hear has really dropped in ath-
letics. And I go back to the 70s
with those guys when I was in
school. That’s how I remember
them, they were such powers in
football and everything.
CGS: What does success
look like with this group?
SE: Well, I was just telling
the kids, we want to get better
everyday. If we get better ev-
eryday and do the thins we’re
supposed to do on the court,
everything will take care of
itself. Wins and losses really
do take care of themselves. I
mean, if you have the players
and the players are putting in
work, wins and losses take care
of themselves. You’ll win the
games that you should win and
you’ll win some games that you
probably shouldn’t win against
better teams. And then loss-
es will come if you, you know,
neglect that work. They al-
ways take care of themselves.
Kids are out there on the floor,
they’re the ones playing, they
have ownership in it.
I’m really excited to be able
to coach these kids. Going to
their volleyball games and soc-
cer games this fall and getting
to know people a little bit better
but the kids are super.
GOWING from B1
the 14th hole he used his eight
iron to great success.
“It was a good shot. People I
was playing with they seen it go
in, I didn’t. Where I was stand-
ing, a little mound behind the
sand trap and it went over that
and in the hole,” he said.
And then a few weeks ago, it
happened again but this time on
the 17th hole. Someone he was
playing with said he might have
made it on the green but Gow-
ing said no, he had made it into
the hole. And to his partner’s
disbelief, there it was in the hole.
“It just happens,” said Gowing
unsure of how to explain this
run of aces.
He doesn’t know if he will hit
another one. Maybe tomorrow
or maybe never. But that was
never the goal and he remains
– as he was in the ‘50s – happy
to be playing golf in Cottage
Grove.
Mel Gowing watches his shot last Thursday at the Middle-
field Golf Course in Cottage Grove.
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