Cottage Grove Sentinel Sports & Recreation B1 THURSDAY | DECEMBER 2, 2021 Lady Warriors looking for a fourth consecutive league title By Kendrick Murphy kmurphy@cgsentinel.com ODFW R ECREATION AND F ISHING R EPORT myodfw.com/recreation-report Updated December 2, 2021 Best bets for Free Fishing Days: There are still some late season Chinook available in the Wilson, Trask and Nestucca rivers. The first winter steelhead of the season are now in the North Fork Nehalem and Necanicum rivers and the Lower Columbia tributaries. Steelhead anglers might also find an early fish in the Alsea, Siletz and Siuslaw rivers. Coho fishing continues to be good in Siltcoos, Tahkenitch and Tenmile lakes. Anglers are starting to get serious about winter steelhead on the Coos and Coquille. Just in time for Free Fishing Days, both Expo and Reinhardt ponds will be stocked this week with some trophy trout this week. Fish Lake has been fishing well (as it should given its name). Both the resort and boat ramp will open again for this weekend. Winter whale watching Gray whales will soon be making their migration south from Alaska to Mexico. The peak time to see these interesting animals along the Oregon coast is during the winter holidays. Many state parks make good spots for whale watching. More information about gray whales is available at orwhalewatch.org/ COURTESY PHOTO – BECKY GERRARD PHOTOGRAPHY Asia Ward attacks the basketball in a game against Elkton last spring. Since 2014, North Douglas Warriors girls basketball have torn through their Skyline league opponents by winning six out of the last seven league titles. Com- ing into the 2021/22 season the Lady Warriors will be in pursuit of a fourth consecutive league ti- tle. “We went over there (to Bak- er) and won two games and lost one in the state tournament,” said third-year Head Coach Jody Cyr. “We had a lot of our kids young really come out of their shell in that tournament and didn’t lose a kid. So, the momentum from both that and then coming off a state championship in volleyball; we’re in a pretty good spot right now.” Last season the girls got off to a blazing start and saw their only loss come in the state tournament. In their first seven games, North Douglas averaged just under 50 points per game while holding opponents to an average of just over 21 points per game. “I guess the most exciting thing is that the girls are understand- ing the philosophy I want to play with,” said Cyr. “We pressure the heck out of people from baseline to baseline. The girls are just get- ting more basketball IQ, which really helps us in the long run. I’m excited for our younger girls com- ing up as our upperclassmen lead the way.” For the new girls and players returning this season, the sched- ule will be a gauntlet as they face Sutherlin, Salem Academy and Kennedy who are all ranked in the preseason top 10 of 2A and 3A schools. But coach Cyr doesn’t shy away from tough competition and only thinks it will help his team in the long run. “We have a really, really tough pre-season schedule,” said Cyr. “But my goal is to get every bit of effort out of the girls that we can. And when that happens, the rest falls into place.” Underclassmen to lead Elk Boys Basketball Sports Calendar Dec. 2 • Creswell Basketball home vs. Douglas Girls: 5:30 p.m. Boys: 7 p.m. Dec. 3 • Yoncalla Basketball home vs. Douglas Girls: 5:30 p.m. Boys: 7 p.m. • Elkton Basketball home vs. Mapleton Girls: 5:30 p.m. Boys: 7 p.m. Dec. 4 • Jingle Rush 5k @9 a.m. • Cottage Grove Wrestling @ Cascade time TBD KENDRICK MURPHY CG/SENTINEL The Elkton Girls work on defensive communication in practice. KENDRICK MURPHY CG/SENTINEL Gary Trout enters his 15th season as the leader of the Elkton Boys Basketball program. By Kendrick Murphy kmurphy@cgsentinel.com Similar to many teams across the state, the Elkton Boys Basketball team wished their season would have been longer as the team started to hit their stride. The Elks won three of their last four games with an average margin of victory of over 13 points in those wins. “Last season it was too bad that we got cut short because we were really improving as the year went on, and it was evident,” said longtime Head Coach Gary Trout. “Just the improvement that we were See LEAD B2 By Kendrick Murphy kmurphy@cgsentinel.com The Elkton girls basketball pro- gram and second-year Head Coach Noah Miller will look to continue a positive trend coming into this season. Since 2013, the Elks have not gotten less than a third-place fin- ish in their league. Last season, the girls team only had two seniors with the rest of the team being a mix of juniors and sophomores and still going 4-1 in five league games also making it to the 1A state tournament. “Last year we were number two in the league,” said Head Coach Noah Miller. “1A did a big state tournament so we were able to get in there and play quite a few good See DEFENSE B2 Sights set high for North Douglas Boys Basketball By Kendrick Murphy kmurphy@cgsentinel.com COURTESY PHOTO – BECKY GERRARD PHOTOGRAPHY Keegan Mast will look to take another step for North Douglas this season. Athlete of the Week Elkton Girls newcomers have chance to grow This week’s athletes of the week are North Douglas volleyball and football players. Samantha MacDowell and Ray Gerrard. Gerrard won defensive player of the year in Special District 3. MacDowell won player of the year in the Skyline league. Over the past two years, the North Douglas Boys Basketball team lost only two games in the Skyline league going a combined 17-2. The exciting part is The Warriors return almost every- one from last season after going 7-4 overall and getting a taste of post-season play. “I knew we were talented and I think we had the benefit of some people probably overlooking us. But I don’t think that people are overlooking us this year,” said second-year Head Coach Jesse Leman. “In the OSAA Preseason coaches poll, we were ranked fifth which is really cool to have that recognition. Obviously, we want to be ranked first by the end of the season, but it just kind of shows me that people are taking this se- riously this year.” With the shortened season last year due to COVID-19, the North See BOYS B2 MacDowell (left) and Gerarrd (right) both took home special honors to end their fall seasons. PHOTO BY BECKY GER- RARD PHOTOGRAPHY