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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2020)
PAGE LABEL MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, January 8, 2020 A9 WEDNESDAY January 8, 2020 Golfing in the new year Blue Mountain Eagle Twelve people braved the weather New Year’s Day at the Snowflake Tournament at the John Day Golf Club. The annual golf scram- ble has been cancelled the last several years because of snow on the course. This year, the competi- tors played through wind, rain and hail, along with some sunshine. The team of Dan Pro- peck, Ed Winkleman, Mike Kemper and Emma Winkle- man tied for first place with the team of Tom Bedortha, Lynda Farrell, Chuck Coff- man and Kathleen Lee. A chili cookoff and rib feed followed the tourna- ment. Farrell won the chili contest with her turkey chili recipe. Dan Propeck puts during the Snowflake Tourna- ment New Year’s Day at the John Day Golf Club as his teammates Ed Win- kleman, Mike Kemper and Emma Winkleman look on. Propeck’s team tied for first place with Tom Bedortha, Lynda Farrell, Chuck Coffman and Kathleen Lee. Contributed photo SPORTS ROUNDUP Grant Union boys grow as a team on the road Contributed photo Tuck Carpenter killed his first bull elk this year with a .30-06. SHOOTING THE BREEZE Best day ever T uck had a heartbreak- ing deer season this year. He missed a cou- ple of shots at really nice bucks over the course of the season. We were both looking forward to his second sea- son elk hunt for redemption. Tuck was determined to hold out for a bull, even though he had an either sex tag. At first light opening morning, we spotted some elk headed up into the timber and tried to circle around to get ahead of them, but we weren’t fast enough. The ground was dry and tracking was tough, so we started still hunting in the direction we thought they had gone. After about a mile we sat down for a break. While munching on our candy bars, I heard a cow whistle. We quickly moved in the direc- tion of the whistle and soon could hear lots of cows call- ing. Unfortunately, by the time we found them, they were jumping the fence onto private property, but we did see a nice six-point with them as they made their getaway. The next morning we got to the spot we had first heard them at first light, and sure enough, we could hear the cows talking. It was a big herd, and the junipers were thick so sneaking in on them proved a challenge. As we snuck around trying to find the bull, a cow would bust us and take off running with the herd in tow. Nobody else knew why they were run- ning so they never went very far before settling down. It was tons of fun, with lots of excitement, but they even- tually headed for the fence to private land, and we were forced to call it a day once again. I’m a lit- tle slow, but eventually I always catch on. The third day we were wait- ing at the Rod Carpenter fence when the sun came up. Tuck was resting his new .30-06 on the shooting tripod and ready to go. We had to wait a bit, but eventually they showed up and started cross- ing. Cow, cow, cow, there is a bull! It wasn’t the six point, but it was a nice five. What to do? Had we missed the bull somewhere, or was he still in the trees? We only had a few seconds to decide. I told Tuck it was his decision, so he set- tled and pulled the trigger. We heard the slap of the bul- let, and suddenly there were elk everywhere. You guessed it, the big six was just inside the trees. When the dust settled, the five-point was still stand- ing in a small opening so Tuck shot again and put him down. We were a happy pair as we approached his first bull elk. Examination showed the first bullet had broken the front shoulder and the second the spine. After some hugs, high fives and pictures, the real work began. By cutting him in half at the hips we were able to drag him 300 yards to where we could get a wheeler to him. While we were skinning him out, we both had to agree it was the best day ever. Share your best day in the field with us at shootingthe- breezebme@gmail.com. Rod Carpenter is a husband, father and hunting fool. SPORTS SCHEDULE FRIDAY, JAN. 10 Dayville/Monument basketball vs. Four Rivers in Dayville, 5 p.m. Grant Union basketball @ Heppner, 6 p.m. Prairie City basketball vs. Echo, 6 p.m. Ukiah/Long Creek boys basketball @ Burnt River, 6 p.m. SATURDAY, JAN. 11 Grant Union wrestling @ Echo Tournament, TBA Grant Union basketball @ Union, 4 p.m. TUESDAY, JAN. 14 Dayville/Monument basketball @ Sherman, 4 p.m. The first half of the Grant Union boys bas- ketball team’s season has been full of ups and downs, according to head coach RC Huerta, but these moments have prepared the team for the league games coming up. “The team has faced some tough loses and some exciting victories,” Huerta said. “The competition has been great and has helped the team grow and prepared us for the road trips ahead.” On Dec. 19 the Pros- pectors traveled to Burns to play against the Hilan- ders. After a 57-73 loss in Burns, the team then trav- eled to Willamina on Dec. 20 and came out victorious 60-55 against the Bulldogs Dec. 20. The Prospectors took on Sutherlin for their last non- league game Dec. 21 and lost 36-69. The difference in score made the loss tough, but this has helped motivate the team to improve, Huerta said. The nonleague games also prepared the team for hours on a bus. “We are now traveling battle tested and ready to go,” Huerta said. “Now one of our focuses is on defense and to control the pace of the game.” The team opened league play with two wins. The Prospectors beat Stanfield 65-51 Jan. 3 and Enterprise 48-30 Jan. 4. They’re sched- uled to face Heppner Friday. Grant Union wrestling team places second in Elgin Justin Hodge and Drew Lusco earned titles in their weight classes to help the Grant Union wrestling team to second place at the John Rysdam Memorial tourna- ment Dec. 20-21 in Elgin. Weiser won with 185 team points, followed by Grant Union with 128.5, La Grande with 92 and Elgin with 90. On Day 2 of the tourna- ment, at 160 pounds, Hodge won by fall over Logan Griffin of Adrian and by decision over Boone Ksi- azek and Clayton Beesley, both of Weiser, to earn 20 team points. Lusco, at 285, won by fall over Tristan McMahill of Weiser and Mats Ollenhauer of Adrian for 22 points. Also on the final day for Grant Union, at 106, Dan Henry placed second for 14 points; at 113, Ezra Beam placed fourth for 10; at 126, Eli Sheedy placed fourth, and Dylan Clark placed third for 14; at 132, Ben Henry placed third for 16; at 138, Tanler Fuller placed fourth for 9; at 138, Rid- dick Hutchison went 1-2; at 145, Jack Strong placed fourth for 10; at 152B, Sam McCracken placed third; at 160, Frank Douglass placed fourth; at 170, Quinten Hall- garth placed third for 13.5; at 170B, Noah Blood placed third, and Tucker Carpen- ter placed second; at 285, Rylan Cox placed third. The Grant Union girls wrestled each other Day 2 with Abby Lusco placing first with wins by fall over Kristin Cantrell, who placed POOR SOLES Contributed photo/Christy Rheu The shoe tree on Highway 26 near Mitchell burned Dec. 30. Christy Rheu said she was traveling from Bend to John Day and ended up following a fire truck to the burning shoe tree that was dropping melting shoes into the sagebrush and starting a wildfire. second, and Fallen Boll- man, who placed third. On Day 1, at 106B, Dan Henry went 2-0 for first; at 113B, Ezra Beam went 3-0 for first; at 126, Eli Sheedy went 1-2 for third; at 126B, Dylan Clark went 2-0 for first; at 132B, Ben Henry went 3-0 for first; at 138, Tanler Fuller went 0-2 for third; at 138B, Rid- dick Hutchison went 0-3 for fourth; at 145B, Isaac Koop- man went 2-1 for second; at 145C, Jack Strong went 3-0 for first, and also won a 145 pigtail match; at 152B, Sam McCracken went 0-3 for fourth; at 160, Damion Young went 1-2 for third; at 160B, Justin Hodge went 3-0 for first; at 160C, Frank Douglass went 3-0 for first, and also won a 160 pigtail match; at 170B, Quinten Hallgarth went 3-0 for first; at 170C, Noah Blood went 1-2 for third, and Tucker Carpenter went 2-1 for sec- ond; at 285, Drew Lusco went 4-0 for first, and Rylan Cox went 2-2 for fourth. For the girls Day 1, at 106, Amelia Hall went 2-0 for first, and Samantha Floyd went 1-1 for second; at 132, Ashley Henry went 1-3 for fourth; at 155, Sierra Tipton went 0-3 for fourth, and Mercedes Locke went 2-1 for second; at 170, Abby Lusco went 1-1 for second; at 232, Fallen Bollman went 0-2 for second, and Kristin Cantrell went 2-0 for first. Ukiah/Long Creek boys on a roll The Ukiah/Long Creek boys basketball team is on a five-game win streak. The team won twice at the Helix Holiday Tourney Dec. 20-21, beating Klicki- tat-Glenwood, Washington, 52-51 and Bickleton, Wash- ington, 47-42. Coach Amos Studtmann said the team is maturing this year, working on exe- cution, communication and playing smart. “The team spirit his high,” he said. “Everyone is committed to growing. Nobody wants to be com- placent. We’ve got good leadership in our seniors and even from one of our juniors.” Hosting Burnt River Jan. 4, Ukiah/Long Creek won 81-31. Studtmann said every- one played in the game, and it was good for them to feel the game pressure. The team will travel to face Burnt River again at 6 p.m. Friday, Studtmann said, and is focused on improving. “Everybody has got to get better,” he said. “Every- body has got to improve, and we’ve got to continue to execute and play smart.” Ukiah/Long Creek girls recovering from injuries The Ukiah/Long Creek girls basketball team is bouncing back from injuries. The team was forced to cancel games against Mitchell/Spray Dec. 6 and Dec. 10 but played in the Helix Holiday Tourney Dec. 20-21. “We were rather short- handed, but for how little practice we’ve been able to do with all the injuries, our girls played well,” said coach Amos Studtmann. The team lost 28-47 to Griswold and 27-54 to a Nixyaawii junior varsity team. “Our opponents both days played with a lot of class,” Studtmann said. “When we couldn’t put five on the court, they didn’t either, so at times we played four on four.” A game against Crane planned for Jan. 7 is being rescheduled, but the coach said the team is ready to bounce back. Of the three girls origi- nally injured, one is out for the season, but the other two are back on the court, giving the team six healthy players. “Playing without kids you expect to have is always rough,” he said. “The chal- lenges are where you grow, though, and the experience is good for all of us.” Dayville/Monument girls making adjustments The Dayville/Monument girls basketball team is hard at work in preparing for the second half of the season, according to head coach Cheyenne Perkins. The team lost 4-46 against Union, 17-44 against Elgin and 17-63 against Council, Idaho, at the Union Bobcat Classic Dec. 19-21. Going to tournaments and playing a variety of teams have helped in show- ing the girls where things are going well and what to work on. “We know what we need to work on, and we are mov- ing forward to try things with a couple of players and making sure we work as a team,” Perkins said. “We want to focus as a team on offense adjustments.” Perkins wants to work on offense by improving rebounds, stops and shoot- ing. These are a part of the little goals the girls have in accomplishing bigger goals in the season. “There are a couple of plays that we are working on and we are excited to try them out on other teams,” Perkins said. “We are look- ing forward to having fun working on the basics of basketball and working on our little goals.” While the team is mak- ing adjustments offensively, the team has great defense with the help of taller girls in their post positions, Per- kins said. The girls will have their next game on Jan. 10 against Four Rivers. Prairie City teams do well on the road After losing the first game of the season, the Prairie City boys basketball team has been unstoppable, winning seven in a row. The boys traveled for the last four wins, beating Sherman, 40-30, Horizon Christian, 55-51, Crane, 55-47, and Imbler, 55-21. The Prairie City girls basketball team won three of its last four games on the road. The girls beat Sher- man, 45-27, Hood River Valley junior varsity, 47-20, and Imbler, 47-29. The team lost to Crane, 33-72. The teams were sched- uled to face Mitchell/Spray Tuesday past press time and Echo on Friday. Coach Bo Workman could not be reached for comment. Grant Union girls looking to rebound The Grant Union girls basketball team traveled to Burns Dec. 19 and lost 37-73. The team lost against Brewster, Washington, 25-46, and College Place, Washington, 43-47, during the DeSales Tournament in Walla Walla, Washington, on Dec. 27-28. The team had their first two league games of the season and lost 19-46 against Stanfield Friday and then 24-43 against Enter- prise Saturday. They’re scheduled to face Heppner Friday. Coach Kristi Moore could not be reached for comment. Dayville/Monument boys earn first win The Dayville/Monument boys basketball team got its first win of the season, beat- ing Cove 51-44 on Dec. 21. The team lost against Union, 27-55, and Elgin, 27-45, in two earlier games at the Union Bobcat Clas- sic. The team is set to Face Four Rivers Friday. Coach Jeff Schafer could not be reached for comment.
