SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
A13
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
The mighty 20 gauge
I
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Dayville/Monument’s Donovan Schafer shoots for 2 points during the final quarter of the game against Ukiah/Long
Creek Friday.
Ukiah/Long Creek boys beat
Dayville/Monument in final seconds
Dayville/Monument
rebounds for victory
against Huntington
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Ukiah/Long Creek boys
basketball team came away with a
52-50 victory over Dayville/Mon-
ument Friday in a game that came
down to the final seconds.
The Ukiah/Long Creek Moun-
tain Lions and the Dayville/Mon-
ument Tigers kept the audience
on the edge of their seats by keep-
ing the scores relatively close with
neither team having a lead greater
than 5 points.
In the final minute and 17 sec-
onds, a timeout was called with
Ukiah/Long Creek leading 50-47.
The right side of the gym erupted
with cheers in support of the
Tigers, and then the left side fol-
lowed with their own cheers for the
Mountain Lions.
Donovan Schafer, a junior for
the Tigers, got the ball to score 2
points and was fouled in the pro-
cess. Schafer made the free throw
to tie the game with 37.2 seconds
left.
The Tigers got a steal and shot
for the lead but missed. Moun-
tain Lions senior Ben Combs got
the rebound. Ukiah/Long Creek
advanced the ball and got it to
Combs who sank the final shot to
end the game.
Ukiah/Long Creek head coach
TC Connor was happy in the prog-
ress that the team has made and
their ability to trust each other,
especially in the intense final sec-
onds of the game.
“In earlier games, when we
lost, the team would get into pres-
sured situations when we are
down by 5 and start thinking they
need to be the hero and start put-
ting up threes,” Connor said. “I
tell them, ‘Hey, relax, just keep
putting in twos,’ and that’s what
they are doing now. They are trust-
ing in the system and are coming
together.”
Ukiah/Long Creek kept the
momentum going against Adrian
Saturday. The team won 67-50 at
Ukiah High School.
The focus the Mountain Lions
put into breaking the press during
practice helped them as they played
an intense game against Adrian
according to Connor. Ukiah/Long
Creek was behind at the end of
the first quarter but tied things up
by the end of the second quarter.
Once the Mountain Lions got the
lead, they ran with it. Senior James
Kreamier scored over 40 points.
The Mountain Lions will face
Four Rivers at Ukiah High School
at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31, and
then Harper Charter the following
day at Ukiah.
While the Tigers lost against the
Mountain Lions, they dominated in
their next game against Huntington
Saturday, winning 66-16.
The team worked well as the
leadership of senior Drew Wil-
burn, the ball control of junior
Mark Thomas and 28 points scored
by junior Donovan Schafer helped
in a unified win. All 10 members
of the team got the chance to play
and continue their development in
understanding their role in a game.
“The team played much better,
and it was a great team effort as
the players played their roles in the
game,” said Tigers head coach Jeff
Schafer. “We can beat anybody if
we can play our roles.”
The Tigers will play against
Crane in Monument at 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 31, and then against Adrian
the following day in Dayville at
3:30 p.m.
remember it like yester-
day. I was 9 years old,
squinting down the bar-
rel of that old J.C. Higgins
shotgun, struggling to hold
a steady bead on a tin can.
When I pulled the trigger
the tin can went flying high
and far. The dread was gone.
That gun wasn’t half bad to
shoot! My great-grandfather
Earl Valade had bought that
bolt-action 20 gauge from
one of the mail order outlets
many decades before. Though
very plain in appearance, it
was a perfect shotgun for a
kid.
For upland birds, it per-
formed flawlessly as long as I
did my part. The bolt action,
polished from years of use,
operated as smooth as any
other action out there. As a
teen, my buddies and I would
run the roads at night to hunt
for rattlesnakes. I always
liked the way a load of num-
ber 8 shot took care of the
lethal end of of those buzz-
tails. With a full choke, inte-
gral to the barrel by design, I
could not use the state-man-
dated steel shot for water-
fowl hunting, but for every
other use regarding birds
or small game, I was very
pleased. Newer shotguns do
not have this issue as they
are equipped with a remov-
able choke tube that can be
exchanged for whichever
choke tube is desired for the
job at hand. Most come from
the factory with a middle of
the road choke tube called
“modified choke.” It doesn’t
hold as tight of a pattern as
a full choke but is more gen-
erally versatile for most
applications.
In some of the eastern
states and even certain “short
range weapon only” hunts in
western states, a shotgun fir-
ing a sabot or rifled slug is
required for hunting deer spe-
cies. A quick comparison of
ballistic charts favors the
lighter weight (.62 ounce),
higher velocity 20 gauge
loads versus the 12 gauge.
Although the 12 is chuck-
ing a consider-
ably larger (1
ounce) hunk
of lead and
both have an
effective range
of about 100
Dale Valade yards. A few
gunmakers
even have a product line with
shotgun deer hunters in mind.
When Emma started bird
hunting with her father and
I back in Eastern Idaho, the
shotgun she used was a sin-
gle barrel Harrington and
Richardson 20 gauge. With
its mild recoil and fast han-
dling skills, she took the first
dove she ever shot at with
it. Recently when we looked
into buying a new shotgun,
there was no question about
which gauge to go with. I
think she may even have
her spring turkey picked out
already!
Many first time shotgun-
ners are issued a .410 rather
than a 20, and while some-
times this is due to availabil-
ity, the 20 is a much more
versatile, economical choice.
The 12 gauge is the cheapest
to buy for, occasionally as lit-
tle as $4.95 a box, owing to
its popularity, but the 20 isn’t
far behind at around $6 per
box. Compared to the price of
.410s, you’re nearly getting
two for the price of one.
While I’ve seen a decline
in the number of grouse in
our forests, doves, quail and
chukars seem to be doing
quite well. Whichever shot-
gun you end up taking out
into the field, be safe. Pay
extra attention to your ammu-
nition. It’s quite easy to get
confused. Search the internet
for “12/20 shotgun burst” if
you’re curious as to why that
could matter. It’s only a good
day if we all make it home.
What’s your favorite shot-
gun gauge? Write to us at
shootingthebreezebme@
gmail.com!
Dale Valade is a local
country gent with a deep love
for handloading, hunting and
shooting.
The Law Office of Robert Raschio would
like to introduce and welcome our two
new associates to the law firm.
Greg graduated from law school
at the University of Oregon as
the youngest member of his class.
During law school, he participated
in the Frohnmayer Leadership
Program and the University’s
Army ROTC program. He also
volunteered at the Eugene office
of the Oregon Law Center and
earned Pro Bono Honors for his
service. Greg is happily married to
Daisy Goebel, who is an Associate
Planner for the City of John Day.
They have been married for two
years and are expecting their
first child this Spring. When not
working, Greg likes to lift weights,
hike, and watch Star Trek.
Kati Dunn has been practicing law
for twenty-two years, twenty of that
as a criminal defense attorney.  She
began her practice at the Newport
office of Legal Aid Services of
Oregon with a general practice
including landlord-tenant law, family
law, and benefits advocacy. For two
years, she served as staff attorney at
Southwest Oregon Public Defender
Services in Coos County. In 2000,
she joined Metropolitan Public
Defender in Portland, the largest
public defender office in Oregon as
a misdemeanor attorney. In 2007,
she was promoted to management as
Attorney Chief of the Major Felony
Division. In 2012, she was promoted
to Multnomah County Director,
assuming responsibility for the daily
operations of a 100-employee office.  
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