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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 2019)
PAGE LABEL NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, December 11, 2019 A9 WEDNESDAY December 11, 2019 Grant Union boys win opener against Burns Morris scores 19 in game By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Tristan Morris runs through the Hilanders to score 2 points with a layup. The Grant Union Pros- pectors claimed a 42-37 victory over the Burns Hilanders Dec. 4 in a game that came down to the final seconds. Defense carried 2A Grant Union as the team held 3A Burns to less than 40 points in the Prospec- tors’ opening game of the season in John Day. “Tristan Morris, with 19 points, he attacked the The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Devon Stokes looks to pass against the Burns Hilanders Dec. 4. basket really well tonight and handled the pressure extremely well with some defensive stops, and Devon Stokes’ defense was stellar and did a great job both- ering the best player from Burns,” said Grant Union head coach RC Huerta. In the first half of the game, Grant Union and Burns were close with both defenses dominating. Grant Union had slight lead, 25-21, at the half. The Prospectors took off in the third quarter, scoring 13 points with 6 from Mor- ris. The team held Burns to 5 points in the quarter. Grant Union had a 12-point lead at the start See Win, Page A13 SPORTS PREVIEW Tiger boys basketball team returning strong, confident By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle DAYVILLE/MONUMENT TIGER BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE D ayville/Monument Tiger basketball head coach Jeff Schafer said this year’s motto is still holding true as in previous seasons: Play as a team. “It’s the same thing I say every year,” he said. “It’s just life,” said the coach who is in his Drew seventh year of Wilburn coaching the var- sity team. “If you focus on your- self, you’re only going to go so far, but if you focus on everybody else and work as a unit, then you can go Wesley quite a bit farther. Adams It’s just unselfish- ness. You see things from a dif- ferent point of view.” The Tigers lost Gabe Walk- er-Hopkins and Cade Milton to graduation. Returning starters are senior Drew Wilburn and juniors Donovan Schafer, Mark Thomas and JT Hand. Another senior on the team is Wesley Adams. Ten Tigers make up the team with three sophomores and two freshmen rounding out the roster. Wilburn and Donovan Scha- fer both scored well in the district game against the Adrian Ante- lopes at last year’s 1A High Des- ert League District Tournament. It was a 57-49 loss for the Tigers, but Wilburn garnered a game- high 16 points, Schafer scored Dec. 12: vs. Condon/Wheeler in Mon- ument, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13-14: @ Arlington Tournament, TBD Dec. 19-21: @ Union Tournament, TBD Dec. 27: vs. Alumni in Monument, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 3: vs. Horizon Christian in Day- ville, 6 p.m. Jan. 10: vs. Four Rivers in Dayville, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14: @ Sherman in Moro, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 17: @ Prairie City, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18: @ Harper, 3:30 p.m. Jan. 23: vs. Sherman in Dayville, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24: @ Ukiah/Long Creek in Long Creek, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25: vs. Huntington in Monument, 3:30 p.m. Jan. 31: vs. Crane in Monument, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 1: vs. Adrian in Dayville, 3:30 p.m. Feb. 7: @ Four Rivers in Ontario, 6:30 p.m. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Dayville/Monument Tiger Jaydon Hoffman passes the ball in a practice scrimmage last week with Mark Thomas, back left, and Drew Wilburn in the action. 15 points, and all of this year’s returning players scored in that contest. The team went on to beat the Huntington Locomotives in consolation. Jeff Schafer said winning the district is always the goal, and this year he’d like to see more wins. “I would love to see my team go to state, but most of all I want these young men to feel success and love the game,” he said. With a total of 10 teams in the league, each team will only face their opponents once during the regular season. The coach said he’d prefer facing the other teams more than once. He said the competition will be challenging. “Crane is always tough, Prai- rie City, Jordan Valley — they’re the normal ones who are always tough,” he said. He said one See Tigers, Page A10 Feb. 8: vs. Prairie City in Dayville, 3:30 p.m. Feb. 14: @ Jordan Valley, 2:30 Feb. 15: @ Burnt River in Unity, 2 p.m. Feb. 20-22: HDL District Tournament in John Day, TBD Feb. 26: State playoff, first round, TBD Feb. 29: State playoff, second round, TBD March 5-7: OSAA State Tournament in Baker City, TBD SHOOTING THE BREEZE Elk hunting with good friends A fter drawing a perfectly good Murder- er’s Creek second-season elk tag, I nat- urally had more spring to my step this summer. I daydreamed of branch bulls and the thought of hunting up something nice. How- ever, after hunting five straight days in the warm November weather without seeing a sin- gle elk on the hoof or hanging in anyone’s camp, I was contemplating breaking out the tag soup recipe book. Having exhausted my vacation, I returned to work empty-handed. Still, there was a glimmer of hope. Although I’ve just recently perused the 2020 ODFW regulations and realize the dam- age control tag situation may change, for this year I was able once again to trade in my unpunched elk tag for a private lands dam- age tag. This time of year, the snow is deep, the daylight fails before 5 o’clock and the elk are especially cautious since they have had to dodge arrows or bullets since August. Joining me were my two good friends Zach and Baldy, who also had elk tags burning a hole in their pockets. Zach had just recently finished developing a fine new load for his .338 Lapua Magnum rifle. In the initial load workup, he decided to use the grandiose 270- grain Hornady ELDX bullet and a healthy dose of pow- der. It shot well, and thanks largely to the muzzle break, which looks like something that belongs on a field how- itzer, the recoil is quite man- Dale Valade ageable. Despite having it around for a couple of years, he had yet to have taken any big game with it. Although I instinctively grabbed my trusty .30-06 for this freezer-filling endeavor, I feared that the wariness of the elk, the position-betray- ing high winds and wide open country could prove to be more than a match for my capabil- ities with my favorite firestick. It was mutually decided that the .338 Magnum would accom- pany us for the extra power and reach afforded by its long-range scope setup. Although I don’t encourage long-range shots of a flippant nature as a rule, a hunter or huntress armed with an accurate rifle of sufficient power and a prop- erly calibrated rifle scope for the game they are engaging can ethically take longer-than-usual shots with confidence on big game. Baldy, on our first hunt, took a cow elk at just over 600 yards with a single, well-placed shot. There was no wind, lots of time to set up a rock steady rest and take the shot on the dis- tant, oblivious cow elk. A few days later, I connected on my cow elk with the borrowed .338 Magnum. I chose to tote it along that evening expecting an opportunity like Baldy’s but ended up tak- ing a 325-yard shot near dusk after a long hike through steep, rocky country. Although I could have made the shot with Old Reliable, it was neat to try something new. With my friend’s rifle, it was one and done, and like all of you elk hunters know, that’s when the work began. Only your truest and best friends will help you pack out an elk. It’s good to know I have some I can count on. Upon further inspection of the synopsis, it looks like the state created quite a few new hunts starting next year. Maybe it’s time to call up a buddy and plan your elk hunt. Maybe they will even help you pack it out! Did you get your winter’s meat this year or will it be tag soup? Write to us at shootingthebreezebme@gmail. com! Contributed photo Dale Valade is a local country gent with a deep love for handloading, hunting Columnist Dale Valade took this cow elk with and shooting. a borrowed .338 Magnum.
